We address the stabilization of higher order multipole surface solitons localized at the interface of nonlocal thermal media by three different approaches. First, we investigate the existence and properties of the surface vector soliton complexes in such material. Both the existence and stability regions of the vector solitons are relatively narrow and show dependence on the sample width. We reveal that the vectorial coupling shows a remarkable stabilizing action on the multipoles with more than two poles which are unstable in the scalar case. Second, we find that the introduction of a linear refraction index ramp exhibits a more significant effect on stabilization of such multipoles. Third, we put forward the notion that stabilization of the higher order multipoles could be achieved by trapping a certain part of such solitons. Setting a nonlinear defect at suitable positions close to the thermal insulating interface constitutes a representative example of such a concept.