The government should set up a Thai-Cambodian joint technical committee to speed up talks on joint petroleum production in the overlapping claims area (OCA) between the two countries as gas production from existing blocks in the Gulf of Thailand is declining, says the Petroleum Institute of Thailand (PTIT).
The decrease in domestic gas supply means Thailand needs to import more costly liquefied natural gas (LNG) to serve the country's power generation.
As the negotiations and subsequent gas exploration and production are a lengthy process, the government should start the process now, said Kurujit Nakornthap, director of the PTIT.
"It will likely take at least eight years to use natural gas from the OCA," said Mr Kurujit, also a former energy permanent secretary.
A source at Government House who requested anonymity said earlier there were no proposals for further talks after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet visited Thailand and met former premier Srettha Thavisin in February this year.
Mr Kurujit urged the administration to establish the joint technical committee, comprising Thai officials from the foreign affairs and energy ministries and the National Security Council as well as officers from the military.
He suggested the government gather opinions from proponents and opponents of the OCA before pushing ahead with the talks.
"The government must assure all parties it is working for the nation's interest, not alleged personal benefits," said Mr Kurujit.
He warned Thailand is likely to encounter the impact of lower domestic gas volume from existing gas fields in the Gulf, which is expected to be depleted within 15 years, following the peak level of production in 2012.
Last year, Thailand consumed 4,200-4,300 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day.
Imported LNG represented 33% of the total, a sharp increase from 2015 when its proportion stood at just 5%, according to the Department of Mineral Fuels.
If the government continues to import LNG, it will hardly avoid price fluctuations, eventually leading to more electricity generation costs and pricier power bills for businesses and households.
The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand may be asked to help the government subsidise electricity prices, but this will worsen its current multi-billion baht loss, caused by previous subsidy programmes.
The OCA, which is claimed by Thailand and Cambodia, has the potential to be a new source of natural gas because it is located near the Bongkot and Erawan gas blocks in the Gulf.
The government can also connect the OCA with a network of gas pipelines, operated by PTT Plc, said Mr Kurujit.
The company's pipelines are only 50-100 kilometres from the OCA, so authorities can take only 4-5 months to install new pipelines that will link with the existing ones, he said.
Thailand has three gas pipelines with carrying capacity of 3 billion cubic feet per day. The facilities carry 2 billion cubic feet of gas per day from the Gulf.