Bangkok: The Prime Minister opened the Gastech 2026 forum, positioning Thailand as a hub for regional energy cooperation.
According to Thai News Agency, Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Anutin Charnvirakul presided over the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote address at the Gastech Exhibition and Conference 2026. He stated that all countries are currently facing a common challenge: ensuring energy security to meet demand at reasonable prices, while simultaneously transitioning to cleaner energy sources. For Thailand, energy directly impacts the cost of living, business operating costs, and competitiveness. Simultaneously, the demand for electricity continues to rise due to industrial growth. Therefore, the government must strike a balance between energy security and sustainability at affordable prices.
The Prime Minister outlined three key approaches to driving Thailand's energy policy. The first approach focuses on ensuring energy security at reasonable prices, with natural gas and LNG continuing to play a crucial role in maintaining the stability of the power system. Meanwhile, Thailand aims to increase the proportion of renewable energy sources, diversify energy sources, improve energy efficiency, and mitigate the impact of global market volatility, ensuring that citizens and businesses have access to energy at affordable prices.
The second approach is to make the energy transition a reality by increasing renewable energy sources, developing power grids, and energy storage systems. From mid-October, the government will launch a 50 billion baht project to support households installing solar panels, along with exempting import taxes on certain components, to help reduce electricity costs and provide greater access to clean energy for the public. This will also build upon bioenergy from the agricultural sector to create added value and distribute income to farmers and communities.
The third approach involves linking energy policy with investment and economic opportunities. The government aims to develop regulations, infrastructure, human resources, and clean energy systems to support long-term investment. In the first half of the year, Thailand saw a 37% increase in investment promotion applications, with the potential to create over 82,000 jobs. The government wants these investments to not only bring revenue into the country but also upgrade the skills of Thai people, strengthen supply chains, and create better jobs and incomes for the population.
The Prime Minister emphasized that international cooperation will be another key driver of the energy future. Thailand is ready to cooperate with other countries in the areas of natural gas and LNG, renewable energy, energy storage systems, carbon management, hydrogen, bioenergy, and clean energy technologies. Leveraging its strategic location in the heart of ASEAN, infrastructure, and skilled human resources, Thailand aims to become a regional hub for investment, innovation, and energy cooperation.
The Prime Minister stated that for over five decades, Gastech has been a vital platform connecting the global energy community, and he hoped that this conference would lead to investment, technology development, knowledge exchange, and cooperation that yields tangible results. He affirmed that Thailand is ready to be a reliable partner in jointly building a secure, accessible, clean energy future that supports sustainable growth.
Gastech is an annual global energy conference and exhibition held to facilitate policy exchange and knowledge sharing among governments, the private sector, and experts worldwide. Gastech 2026 was held in Bangkok, Thailand, from September 14-17, 2026, with energy ministers from over 15 countries in attendance.