The paper De-risking Geothermal Exploration and Development Through Data makes an important point: geothermal development is not held back by technology or capital alone. It is held back by subsurface data — data that is scattered across different agencies, hard to access, and has never been analyzed together in any systematic way.
In many countries, de-risking geothermal begins by gathering what already exists: oil and gas well data, subsurface temperature measurements, geological maps, faults, geophysical structures, groundwater records, and hot spring data. All of it is then combined into a geothermal resource map showing which areas hold real potential — before anyone commits to drilling.
Thailand has a good deal of this data already.
We have data from petroleum wells both onshore and in the Gulf of Thailand. We have a large volume of groundwater well records. We have geological maps covering faults, granite formations, sedimentary basins, and hot springs. And we have subsurface temperature data from a number of areas that look genuinely promising.
What's missing is the step of bringing it all together, interpreting it collectively, and producing a Thailand Geothermal Resource Map that can actually support policy decisions and investment.
Geothermal is not an energy source we have to start from zero. We have to start from the data we already hold — and organize it properly.
If Thailand is serious about the Road to Net Zero 2050, the place to begin is a national geothermal map, used to select high-potential areas for further work such as temperature logging, slimhole drilling, and pilot projects.
Geothermal mapping isn't merely an academic exercise. It reduces risk ahead of investment, it builds a national clean energy database, and it is the first step toward making geothermal a real 24/7 contributor to Thailand's power system.
The question today may not be whether Thailand has geothermal resources.
The question is how quickly we can organize the data we already have in order to unlock them.
It's time for Thailand to establish a serious National Geothermal Mapping Program.
De-risking Geothermal Exploration and Development Through Data: Global Lessons and a Fit-for-Purpose Framework for Saudi Arabia — https://www.kapsarc.org/our-offerings/publications/de-risking-geothermal-exploration-and-development-through-data-global-lessons-and-a-fit-for-purpose-framework-for-saudi-arabia/