The Thai U23 team need only a draw against North Korea tonight to progress to the final of the M-150 Cup tournament in Buri Ram.
However, assistant coach Worrawoot Srimaka said his men would go for a win as playing for a draw would be more difficult.
Thailand beat Japan 2-1 while the Japanese defeated North Korea 4-0 in the previous Group A matches.
Group B features Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Myanmar.
The two group winners will meet in the final and the two runners-up play in the third-place play-off on Friday.
"Although we need only a draw against North Korea, we will play to win because it is more difficult to play for a draw,'' said Worrawoot. "I think we can beat North Korea and they can beat us too. So it will be a difficult game for us."
Two North Korea players are suspended after being sent off against Japan while Thailand have three injured players.
"We are in the same situation. They can't use two players while three of our players are unavailable through injury," Worrawoot said.
North Korea coach Ju Song-il said this was not the country's best U23 squad as a couple of key players had not travelled to Thailand.
"We have two players suspended and this will surely affect our team,'' he said.
"I have seen Thailand play and feel that their midfield is not very strong. They use two wingers and this may create a gap in midfield for us to get through."
The tournament is a warm-up event ahead of next month's AFC U23 Championship in China where Thailand will meet Japan and North Korea again.
Meanwhile, the Thai futsal team were yesterday drawn to meet Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon and Jordan in Group D of the AFC Futsal Championship in Taiwan in February.
Hot favourites Iran are in Group C with Iraq, China and Myanmar.