Fire management systems are being developed in many tropical countries, including Indonesia and Malaysia. As part of that development, this study set out to develop a fuel classification system and map for Malaysia and western Indonesia. We developed a template of fuel characteristics from temperate fuel classification systems and gathered data from literature and the field. The result was eight fuel types and two soil modifiers, which were characterized in terms that affect fire occurrence, fire behaviour and therefore fire management. Furthermore, we developed a method to map those fuel types based on existing global vegetation data. The result was a fuel type map at 1 km resolution suitable for coordination of international fire management efforts. This new map was also suitable for emission and smoke modelling efforts.