Miller stormed from 15th to fourth on a wet Buriram International Circuit and was gifted the final place on the podium when Gresini’s Marc Marquez crashed at Turn 8.
The Australian streaked clear of his factory KTM teammate Brad Binder who soon found himself besieged by Tech3 rider Pedro Acosta.
The MotoGP rookie didn’t take long to dispatch Binder and set about hunting down Miller.
With a lap and a half to go, Acosta got by for third. Miller fought hard, however, and made Acosta work for the podium place as they traded positions over the first sector.
Ultimately, Miller couldn’t hang on and ended up conceding another place to VR46 rider Fabio Di Giannantonio.
“A good race. A long old one,” said Miller.
“The first laps were a bit hairy and the spray was hectic and so was the carnage.
“I found my way through to fourth and when Marc threw it down I was third for a while.
“I was really suffering from the front end as I’d cooked the front tyre and all my roll speed has pretty much gone.
“With three laps to go, there was nothing left and I was being hunted. I gave it all I could to be on the podium but it wasn’t to be.
“It was a good race though and good pace. Consistent and perhaps coming through the pack cost us the most and put the most stress on the tyre.
“I really wanted that podium.”
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KTM team manager Francesco Guidotti hailed the efforts of his riders to stay upright.
Six riders were not classified and two more fell before returning to the race.
“The visibility in the first laps was crazy but both Jack and Brad recovered a lot of positions and we had third until two laps from the end,” said Guidotti.
“We missed the podium by almost nothing. The conditions were hard, a mess, and to stay-up was a miracle. Congratulations to our guys for their job and we’ll look forward to Sepang.”
MotoGP returns on November 1-3 at Sepang International Circuit.
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