Thailand urged to go green to attract data centres

Thailand can become a trusted, sustainable digital hub for Southeast Asia by investing in renewable energy and leveraging its geopolitical neutrality, regulatory stability and green credentials to position itself as a secure destination for sovereign cloud and advanced digital services, says consulting firm Deloitte.

- SUCHIT LEESA-NGUANSUK

According to a Deloitte study, Southeast Asia's total data centre capacity is expected to more than quadruple, from 1.68 gigawatts in 2024 to 7.59GW in the long term.

Thailand has a committed longterm supply of 619 megawatts, with 111MW operational and another 61MW set to come online by 2028.

Based on committed capacity, Thailand ranks as the region's fifth-largest data centre hub, trailing Singapore (3,221MW), Malaysia (2,782MW), Indonesia (1,519MW) and Vietnam (642MW).

"Thailand is at an inflection point for accelerating AI [artificial intelligence] adoption, rising cloud demand, and semiconductor momentum creating a multi-billiondollar opportunity for the country to become a regional digital hub, especially for northern Southeast Asia," Piyush Jain, technology, media and telecom industry strategy, risk and transactions leader at Deloitte Southeast Asia, told the Bangkok Post.