The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) has reiterated its call to the government to seriously consider its proposal of setting up a public-private committee on energy to better manage national energy, following changes in America's energy policy under the incoming Donald Trump administration.
The demand and supply of energy have become increasingly important as fossil-derived fuels are blamed for causing global warming. However, Trump has announced that he will support additional fossil fuel exploration and production in order to serve industry.
"We need to keep an eye on what will come after this announcement," Kriengkrai Thiennukul, chairman of the FTI, told participants on Thursday at the 2024 Petroleum Outlook Forum, jointly held by national oil and gas conglomerate PTT Plc and the FTI's Petroleum Refining Industry Club.
Amid this uncertainty, the Thai government needs to carefully plan the country's energy management.
Authorities cannot work on this task alone, said Mr Kriengkrai. They need opinions from businesses on the government's controversial plan to pursue Thai-Cambodian talks on joint petroleum production in the overlapping claims area (OCA) that lies between the countries as well as a push for the development of a small modular reactor, a form of nuclear power technology.
The FTI has been voicing concerns over high energy costs in Thailand, which will affect manufacturers' competitiveness. This is not good for the export sector, which is one of the country's key economic drivers.
"The manufacturing sector would tend to employ fewer workers but consume more energy in the future," said Mr Kriengkrai.
As businesses adopt more modern technologies, notably those utilised in the digital segment, they require more electricity to run their operations.
The world is promoting a greater use of renewable energy, which has led to growing demand for clean electricity across various industries, including data centres and cloud services.
Thailand earlier invited foreign firms specialising in data centre development to invest in the country, but these firms want the government to first clarify how it will be able to facilitate their purchases of clean power in Thailand.
It is expected that the change in America's energy policy under a Trump presidency will affect Washington, DC's plan to achieve a net-zero target, a balance between greenhouse gas emissions and absorption, by 2050.
But Trump's support of the oil industry should be among the factors behind a decrease in global oil price fluctuations, preventing a surge in the price of goods in the US.