Thailand backs registration for data centers from 0.5 MW

Data center board backs registration from 0.5 MW and sets September deadline

Thailand’s data center policy board has approved in principle a framework under which facilities with a total electrical load of at least 0.5 MW would register with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society.

The board, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas on Wednesday, agreed to classify facilities by total facility load. It directed its infrastructure, land-use and environmental subcommittees to finish minimum standards and operating guidelines by the end of September for the board’s consideration.

The digital ministry said the meeting also considered a central screening mechanism to assess projects’ suitability and economic value when allocating electricity and water. Its proposed oversight framework would link energy use to licensing, registration, annual reporting and resource-management plans.

The ministry and the Big Data Institute are developing the TH-DC dashboard to track applications, approvals and operating projects, combining project records with geographic information for site screening. The registration framework has been endorsed in principle; the minimum standards still await the board’s review.

Daily News · Ministry of Digital Economy and Society

Engineers prepare data center guidance to close building-control gaps

The Engineering Institute of Thailand is preparing data center guidelines for the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning and Bangkok’s administration, according to Thansettakij.

At a working-group meeting on 22 September, members raised concerns that treating data centers as warehouses or offices leaves gaps in oversight. They pointed to designs that divide developments into smaller buildings below regulatory thresholds and weaknesses in checks that completed facilities match their permits.

The group proposed a short-term guide and clearer distinctions between facility types, with attention to electricity, water, noise, heat and backup fuel. Its recommendations would support additional building-control rules; they are not binding requirements.

Thansettakij

EEC property executives report stronger industrial land demand

Industrial investment is increasing competition for land in Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor, while the property-market impact of data centers remains uneven, according to executives interviewed by Thansettakij.

The chairman of eastern-region developer Life and Living said Chinese manufacturers were expanding beyond industrial estates into surrounding land. He welcomed growing data center investment but called for clearer controls on water, electricity and heat affecting neighbouring communities.

The president of the Chonburi Real Estate Association offered a more cautious assessment of data centers’ current contribution: their effect on the property market was not yet clearly visible, although he expected them to become a further driver over the next five to ten years. He identified electric vehicles, electrical appliances and established industrial activity as more immediate sources of demand.

Thansettakij