Objectives: To give an opportunity to health workers in South Asia (SEA) to improve their knowledge in the comprehensive management of SCI. Setting: Chiang Mai, Thailand; 5 ± 7 November 1997. Participants: Sixteen faculty members (from Europe, Australia and Thailand) and 160 participants (94 Thais, 66 from SEA, China, India and Bangledesh). Methods: Two days of lectures and 1 day of workshops and discussion. Evaluation was performed by questionnaires. Suggestions and comments are reported. Results: Ninety-two per cent of participants said the workshop was really useful. Eightyeight per cent were very satis®ed with the quality of the programmes and 92% with the workshops and discussion on the last day. Conclusions: A follow-up study should be conducted by the Educational Committee of IMSOP. This will help to plan more e cacious training programmes for the future.