Thailand aims to become ASEAN data centre hub by 2027

Public and private organisations in the data centre industry attended the ‘NextGen Data Centre Conference 2024’ on Wednesday to exchange ideas and business plans to transform data centres in Thailand into sustainable, resilient, scalable and efficient operations.

The event hosted by Siemens and Krungthep Turakij at Pullman Bangkok King Power Hotel also aimed to attract domestic and foreign investors and push the country towards becoming the data centre hub of the ASEAN region by 2027.

Ross Conlon, chief executive officer of Siemens Thailand, opened the event by referring to the government’s Thailand Vision 2030 initiative, which aims to make the country the region’s industrial hub in tourism, wellness and medical, agriculture and food, aviation, regional logistics, future automotive manufacturing, digital economy, and finance.

“To achieve these goals, Thailand needs to attract investors in future industries, including digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI),” he said. 

Conlon added that the country also needs to promote research and development in AI adoption and establish technological infrastructure, including data centres, to cope with increasing demand and to support cloud computing and related businesses.

He suggested that Thailand follow the example of Singapore, the current leader of the data centre industry in Southeast Asia, thanks to its position as the base of global high-tech industries. Malaysia, meanwhile, has fast tracked its data centre development in the past two years and is becoming an emerging leader.

Conlon said Siemens is ready to support Thailand in achieving its goal of becoming the regional data centre hub with the latest cutting-edge data centre solutions that increase flexibility, connectivity, and automation with the emphasis on energy efficiency and sustainability.

"Data centre businesses need to find ways to make their companies more sustainable, flexible, and efficient by transitioning through their own data centres. Green transition is considered a game changer for data centres in the future," Conlon said.

Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) announced that the kingdom had 13 data centres as of 2023, with an estimated market value of US$ 2.2 billion, which is expected to grow to $2.8 billion this year.

Ratchanee Wattanawisitporn, executive director of BOI’s Foreign Investment Marketing Division, said factors that drive the growth of the data centre industry include various investment privileges granted to investors, namely tariff exemption for imported machines, corporate tax exemption up to 13 years, and free visa for expats working in Thailand.

She added that several leaders in technology have expressed interest in investing in Thailand’s data centre business including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Internet Data Centre, Alibaba Cloud, Huawei and Microsoft Azure.

Ratchanee noted that the government has continued to improve the country’s digital infrastructure through various projects, including bringing submarine fibre optic cables up to a total of 13 to prepare the country for future expansion in the data centre industry and becoming a regional hub.