The Faculty of Tropical Medicine was co-founded by Prof. Chamlong Harinasuta and Prof. Khunying Tranakchit Harinasuta in 1960 as one of the faculties of the University of Medical Sciences (presently Mahidol University).  Its three main tasks include teaching, research for advanced knowledge in medical sciences, and medical services, with the emphasis on tropical diseases.

At the beginning, there were five departments sharing offices with the Faculty of Medical Technology (in the same compound with the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital).  The objective of the establishment was to teach Thai medical doctors in the Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (D.T.M. & H.).  The Faculty was relocated to its present location in 1961, the same time as the establishment of the Hospital for Tropical Diseases with 20 beds.  At present, the Faculty comprises an Office of the Dean, a 250-bed hospital and 10 departments (with the dissolution of the Department of Tropical Radioisotopes in 2009), namely

• Department of Clinical Tropical Medicine
• Department of Helminthology
• Department of Medical Entomology
• Department of Microbiology and Immunology
• Department of Protozoology
• Department of Social and Environmental Medicine
• Department of Tropical Hygiene
• Department of Tropical Nutrition and Food Science
• Department of Tropical Pathology
• Department of Tropical Pediatrics
• Department of Molecular Tropical Medicine and Genetics