Thailand is located near the equator and has low to moderate
wind speeds that average about 3–5 m/s. A study of wind energy
potential in Thailand began in 1975, when the Department of
Energy Affairs of the National Energy Policy Office made a map of
wind speed for use in planning, design, and installation of wind
turbines. Average wind-speed data were supplied by the Thai
Meteorological Department. Field studies then surveyed, measured,
collected, and analyzed the wind-speed data. However,
since there were several restrictions in making a map of windspeed
potential, the data are only available for low elevations.
In 2001, the map of wind-speed potential in Thailand was
improved to include higher-elevation wind data in the analysis.
The suitable areas that were selected have average wind speeds of
not less than Class 3: 6.4–7.0 m/s or 300–400 kW/m2 at an elevation of
50 m [5]. The existing data indicate that the coastal area of the Thai
Gulf has the best wind energy potential in Thailand, followed by the
upper southern region around the western coast of the Thai Gulf,
which has an average annual wind speed of 4.4 m/s at an elevation of
50 m, as shown in Table 2 and Fig. 3.
In the same year, the World Bank proposed a wind energy
resource atlas report for four countries in Southeast Asia: Cambodia,
Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam [6]. As shown in Tables 3 and 4, the
report uses simulations based on global winds to demonstrate
which areas are best for the development of wind energy. Table 3