The Thais comfortably beat Turkmenistan 3-0 in Group B in Wellington.
In the first singles, Thailand’s Anchisa Chanta defeated Arzuv Klycheva 6-2, 6-1.
In the second singles, Thailand’s Chompoothip Jundakate defeated Bahar Toymyradova 6-0, 6-1 for an unassailable 2-0 lead.
In the doubles, Thai duo Watsachol Sawatdee and Tamachan Momkoonthod saw off Klycheva and Rozhan Karajayeva 6-1, 6-1.
In the other Group B game, the Philippines defeated Guam 3-0.
Group A comprises Singapore, Pakistan, Mongolia and hosts New Zealand.
The winners of each group will square off in a play-off to determine which nation will advance to Asia/Oceania Group I.
Thailand will next meet the Philippines tomorrow (Feb 6) and play their last match of the group stage on Friday (Feb 7) against Guam.
After yesterday’s match, Anchisa said she had a difficult time at the beginning as she made a lot of unforced errors.
“I had to adapt to the windy conditions in the first set but got better in the second set,” she said.
Chompoothip said she did not have any problem but admitted that she needed to improve her serve.
Thai veteran star Tamarine Tanasugarn, who did not play yesterday, said her young teammates did very well.
But she added that they had to improve their serve.
Earlier, Thailand manager Somsak Rintranurak said his team were good enough to gain promotion to Asia/Ocenia Group I.