It means he wants to drink. And "to drink" means to take a liquid into the mouth and swallow. Neither word is specific.
To know what he wants to drink, you need to rely on context. Usually, it means any kind of drink--water, juice, a soft drink. If someone says "I'm thirsty," and you aren't outside a bar, they probably do not mean alcohol.
However, the word "drink" itself can mean either "anything liquid you can put in your mouth and swallow," OR "an alcoholic beverage." For example, the related word "drunk" means "intoxicated with alcohol." "Don't drink and drive" means "don't drink alcohol and drive." So, in context, "thirsty" can mean "wanting alcohol." So you could say, for example, "during Prohibition, when alcohol was illegal in the United States, illegal 'speakeasies' sprung up to satisfy a thirsty public."