Thailand's data-centre rulebook has slipped from a mid-October finalisation target to a draft framework in the first quarter of 2027, Bangkokbiznews reported via W.Media on 21 October1. Projects worth more than 1 trillion baht (about US$30bn) await the rules, according to Board of Investment plans cited in the report. Deputy Minister of Digital Economy and Society Nan Boonthida Somchai said the main open question is how data centres are classified under industrial and urban-planning rules, which decides where they may be built. Singapore tabled its own Digital Infrastructure Bill in September, creating security, resilience and energy-efficiency licences for data centres.
22OCT
Thailand's data-centre rules slip to Q1
2 min read
16:40UTC
Thailand's data-centre policy committee now expects a draft rulebook in the first quarter of 2027, after missing a mid-October target, W.Media reported.
IndustryDeveloping
Key takeaway
Thailand's data-centre rulebook is now due as a draft in early 2027.
Deep Analysis
In plain English
Thailand wants to attract data centres: large buildings full of computers that run online services. But it has no single set of rules for where they can be built and what they must do. The government set up a committee to write those rules. It had hoped to finish by mid-October. Now, according to a Thai business newspaper, a first draft is expected only in early 2027. One idea under discussion: data centres that store a lot of diesel fuel for backup generators would have to sit at least 100 to 200 metres away from homes, schools, hospitals and temples.
Root Causes
Thai planning law has no settled category for data centres, so each agency applies its own rules on fuel storage, electricity and telecoms connections. The policy committee's four subcommittees, covering economic policy, data, infrastructure and land use, must reconcile those before a single framework can exist.
The committee treats diesel backup as the main local hazard. The draft setbacks scale with fuel stored: at least 100 metres from homes, schools, hospitals and temples for 90,000 to 180,000 litres, and at least 200 metres for 180,000 to 500,000 litres.
What could happen next?
- Consequence
Projects lacking approvals, particularly for electricity use, wait at least until the 2027 draft for clarity.
- Risk
Investors may move projects to other Southeast Asian markets while Thai rules are unsettled.
First Reported In
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