Thailand is expected to finalize new data center regulations by mid-October. According to Nation Thailand, the framework will set rules covering facility size, electricity use, and location. Government agencies have provided data on existing operators, size classifications, and average electricity and water consumption. The Energy Ministry will also set limits on data center electricity use under the country’s dedicated data center electricity tariff.
The proposed rules could classify data centers using 100MW or more as hyperscale facilities, although the final threshold remains under review. Data centers classified as industrial operations would also need to be located in designated industrial estates to limit impacts on residential areas. Thailand suspended construction of 49 data centers last month while drafting the regulations and also froze approvals for 117 planned facilities. Officials have not disclosed which projects were affected.
Thailand has attracted significant data center investment as developers seek to capitalize on AI demand. In H1 2026, the Board of Investment approved 88 AI and data center projects worth around 886 billion baht ($27 billion). AWS launched a cloud region in Thailand in January 2025, followed by Google in Bangkok. Microsoft is developing its own region, while Alibaba Cloud operates two data centers in the country.
