In a move to strengthen Thailand’s digital backbone, tech giants Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are set to invest a substantial 300 billion baht ($8.46 billion) in advancing the nation’s cutting-edge data center capabilities. Each of these industry leaders will contribute 100 billion baht ($2.85 billion) to this ambitious initiative.
Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon’s Cloud unit, has unveiled plans to infuse $5 billion over a span of 15 years for the construction of a state-of-the-art data center. While the government has disclosed this budgetary allocation, specific details regarding locations, specifications, or timelines for these developments remain undisclosed.
Emphasizing the strategic significance of this investment, AWS has underlined that the capital infusion will not only bolster Thailand’s digital infrastructure but also enhance the nation’s overall competitiveness. In parallel, Microsoft and Google are actively exploring substantial investments in data centers within Thailand.
This development follows Google’s announcement in August 2022 regarding the establishment of a cloud region in Thailand. Subsequently, Amazon made a similar declaration in October 2022, culminating in the inauguration of a Local Zone Edge location in Bangkok in December 2022.
The growing data center market
The Thailand data center market is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of approximately 25% between 2019 and 2028. With over 48 million internet users in the country, there is a surging demand for digital infrastructure. Consequently, both Chinese and U.S. cloud providers are positioning themselves to offer cloud services in this burgeoning market.
Recognizing Thailand’s appeal as a data center hub, various investors, including corporate entities, private equity firms, pension and infrastructure funds, and sovereign wealth funds, have injected substantial capital into the country’s data center market.
Recent investments
In August 2023, ST Telemedia Global Data Centres Thailand (STT GDC Thailand) announced its plans to launch its third data center, “STT Bangkok 3,” in partnership with Frasers Property Limited (FPL) within the One Bangkok district. Expected to be operational by the end of 2023, STT Bangkok 3 aims to seamlessly integrate data center solutions with premium Grade A commercial spaces, catering to the evolving needs of digital-centric businesses.
In this year itself, CtrlS Datacenters Ltd, Asia’s largest Rated-4 Datacenter operator, announced its collaboration with National Telecom Public Company (NT), a prominent telecom provider with extensive international communication networks and numerous submarine cables landing in Thailand. This collaboration is part of CtrlS’ upcoming 150-MW data center campus in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) in Chonburi, Thailand. This is CtrlS’ first international market expansion and its inaugural hyperscale data center campus in Thailand.
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