Table of Contents
Pritesh Swamy, head of data center research and advisory for the APAC region at Cushman & Wakefield, told RCRTech that Thailand’s government is also using incentives to attract investment in the AI infra field.
In sum – what to know:
Pipeline growth – Thailand’s data center development pipeline increased from 232 MW to 1,051 MW following major hyperscaler investment announcements.
Government incentives – BOI support includes tax exemptions, import-duty benefits, foreign ownership rights and incentives tied to AI-ready services.
Infrastructure challenges – Power availability, grid upgrades and access to hyperscale-ready land with fiber connectivity are becoming key constraints.
Thailand’s data center development pipeline has increased more than fourfold as hyperscalers and digital infrastructure providers expand investment plans tied to AI and cloud services, according to Cushman & Wakefield.
Pritesh Swamy, head of data center research and advisory for the APAC region at Cushman & Wakefield, told RCRTech that Bangkok was still a relatively small market as recently as the fourth quarter of 2024, with 105 MW of operational capacity and 232 MW in the development pipeline. However, investment announcements made during 2025 have significantly changed the outlook. “Since then, the development pipeline has increased 4x to 1,051MW,” Swamy said.
Major technology companies including AWS, Microsoft, Google and ByteDance have announced investments related to cloud, AI, and digital infrastructure in Thailand. According to Swamy, several colocation operators and digital infrastructure providers have also announced plans to invest in the market.
“These investments are not just towards data centre development but also towards digital literacy and talent development, AI-transformation, and supporting the national government initiatives,” he said.
Thailand’s government is also using incentives to attract investment. Swamy said the country’s Board of Investment (BOI) incentives are increasingly linked to operators’ ability to provide AI-ready services such as cloud GPUs and model-training platforms. Current measures include corporate income tax exemptions, import duty exemptions on data center equipment, 100% foreign ownership for BOI-promoted entities, and streamlined regulatory approvals.
At the same time, infrastructure constraints are emerging as the market expands. “Meeting power requirements reliably and sustainably is one of Thailand’s biggest infrastructural challenges, currently,” Swamy said.
He added that access to power is becoming more difficult because grid upgrades are not keeping pace with data center development. Swamy also noted that “availability of suitable hyperscale-ready land with grid access and connected fiber is increasingly scarce.”
Looking ahead, Swamy said Thailand could become one of Southeast Asia’s larger data center markets. While Malaysia maintains a significant lead, he noted that “Thailand has the potential to be a similar size market as Indonesia over the next 2 to 3 years.”
