Prasad, winner of the Faldo Series Grand Final in China, is part of a strong 16-man contingent from India, which is hoping to grab some Tour cards at the Q-School.
Prasad, who is due to appear in his High School examinations next week, is two shots behind leader, American William Cannon who fired a sparking eight-under-par 64 to share the lead with Australia's Todd Sinnot.
Prasad, who was seven-under with seven bridies through 16 holes, dropped his only bogey of the day on 17th and then finished at 66.
"It's a good morale booster for me. I played some solid golf today and didn't make too much mistakes. I followed my game plan closely. This is my second week in Thailand and it's getting pretty tiring already. My high school exams are next week and I'm making a big sacrifice by being here," he said.
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"I've been playing golf for the last eight years and I won the Faldo Series Asia Grand Finals in China last year. My golf career has been good so far. I plan to turn professional if I can earn my Asian Tour card this week. I always look up to Jeev Sir as my inspiration from the very start.
Apart from Prasad, who is tied 11th on a tight leaderboard, Khalin Joshi, Abhijit Chadha, M Dharma and Manu Gandas carded 67 each to be tied 19th alongside former two-time PGA Tour winner, Daniel Chopra.
Ajeetesh Sandhu, Honey Baisoya and Sujjan Singh shot 68 each to be tied 48th.
Other Indians were Ashok Kumar (69 and tied 70th), Aman Raj (70), Veer Ahlawat (71), Gaurav Pratap Singh (71), Udayan Mane (71), C Muniyappa (72) and Deepender Kullar (75).
The top-35 players and ties from the field of 222 will earn playing rights on the region's premier Tour in 2017.
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