Thailand emerges as key hub for data centres and cloud services

Thailand continues to emerge as a strategic hub for investment in data centres and cloud services, driven by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital services in the region.

The Board of Investment (BOI) Secretary General, Narit Therdsteerasukdi, highlighted that 37 projects worth 98.539 billion baht have already been approved for investment in data centres and cloud services. These projects are predominantly located in Bangkok, Samut Prakan, Chonburi, and Rayong.

Leading global companies have made significant investments in establishing data centres in Thailand. Amazon Web Service (AWS) announced an investment of over 200 billion baht to build data centres in Thailand by 2037.

In the first phase, AWS has already invested over 25 billion baht to create three data centres. Other notable investments include Australia’s NextDC with 13.7 billion baht, Singapore’s STT GDC with 4.5 billion baht, Singapore’s Evolution-Data Center with 4 billion baht, the United States’ Supernap (Switch) with 3 billion baht, Japan’s Telehouse with 2.7 billion baht, and Hong Kong’s One Asia with 2 billion baht.

Moreover, global tech giants like Google and Microsoft have announced plans to invest in data centres in Thailand and are currently in discussions with the BOI and the prime minister’s team.

The cloud service sector also sees substantial investments from leading companies. Alibaba Cloud has invested over 4 billion baht, while Huawei Technologies has invested over 3 billion baht. Additionally, several high-potential Thai companies are investing in data centres and cloud services, such as True Internet Data Center, Internet Thailand, and GSA, a joint venture between Gulf, Singtel, and AIS.

Thailand’s attractiveness

Thailand’s attractiveness as an investment destination for data centres and cloud services is driven by at least five key advantages:

1. Strategic Location: Positioned centrally, Thailand offers excellent connectivity to other ASEAN countries.
2. High Security and Low Natural Disaster Risk: Data centres require high stability, and Thailand provides secure, low-risk conditions with international standard digital regulations.
3. High-Quality Infrastructure: The country boasts reliable electricity systems and the potential for clean energy procurement, essential for data centre investments. Thailand also ranks among the top ten globally for high-speed Internet and has the most extensive 5G network coverage in ASEAN, capable of handling significant data transmission volumes.
4. Expanding Domestic Market: The domestic market is growing, driven by the digital transformation of various organisations, the government’s Cloud First Policy, and high internet penetration, with 88% of the population accessing the internet and over 70% using social media.
5. Attractive Incentives: The BOI offers compelling incentives, which are critical factors for global technology companies.

Narit stated…

“Thailand’s strategic location, robust infrastructure, and supportive government policies make it an ideal destination for data centres and cloud services.”

These factors collectively position Thailand as a prominent and appealing market for global technology investments, underscoring its potential to become a key player in the regional digital economy, reported Khaosod.