Thailand's data centre boom may be moving slower than the headlines suggest
Record deals are being signed, but the pace of development tells a more nuanced story.
It seems like Thailand is signing data centre deals left, right, and centre. But how quickly are these developments actually moving ahead?
Slower than the headlines suggest
I've previously written about how, after years of middling data centre growth, Thailand's rapid expansion of late has drawn comparisons to Johor's hypergrowth. There's no question the momentum is real, with multiple major players announcing their entry and data centre investments approved at unprecedented scale.
But lately, I've also heard that some operators who rushed to the Land of Smiles are reconsidering or fine-tuning their plans. Some appear to be switching their expansion focus back to Johor, where it is now much harder to get approvals for new data centres. But at least it is a known entity with established infrastructure and processes.
Others appear to be moving ahead with plans to develop data centres elsewhere in parallel with their development in Thailand. To be clear, I am not suggesting that operators are retreating. Rather, the indications are that developments are taking place at a slower pace than initially projected. The deals are real, but the timelines are stretching.
The bigger picture
In my opinion, Southeast Asia and APAC need many more data centres than we currently have. This is especially the case with AI, and specifically AI inference.
Love AI or hate AI, there is no question about its impact. I've been dabbling with Claude Code for the past two weeks, and what I've been able to build with it is mind-boggling. That kind of capability, multiplied across industries and geographies, will require enormous amounts of compute.
I expect AI use to increase dramatically in the years ahead. A common prediction is that AI inference will overtake AI training within the next few years, a prediction that Nvidia's Jensen Huang himself has repeated.
All these new data centres, and more, will be needed to support surging demand. Whether in Johor, Thailand, Singapore, or elsewhere, we will need a lot more of them. The only question is: what will the shape of the market look like when the dust settles?
