Data centres: Thailand’s gateway to the global AI stage

Thailand holds strong potential to become ASEAN’s AI hub. Yet AI processing demands enormous energy and generates extreme heat, posing a major challenge for digital infrastructure.

AI is transforming the world across every dimension
As nations race to become the next global hub for artificial intelligence, the key question is no longer “Will AI truly transform every industry?” but rather “Which country will have the infrastructure ready to lead that transformation?”

Tiwa Petcharat, Executive Vice President of ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (Thailand), says this is a critical moment Thailand cannot afford to miss, a chance to leverage its strengths and position itself as ASEAN’s number one hub for AI infrastructure.

Thailand’s digital turning point
Thailand now stands at a major crossroads in its digital transformation journey. The country already hosts more than 55 operational data centres, strategically located at the heart of Southeast Asia, supported by robust submarine cable networks and investment incentives from the Board of Investment (BOI).

“These fundamentals give Thailand a strong foundation to meet the fast-growing demand for advanced digital infrastructure,” Tiwa said.

According to DC Byte, Bangkok is now one of the fastest-growing data centre markets in Southeast Asia, with a total IT load capacity exceeding 2.5 gigawatts, ranking second only to Johor, Malaysia.

In the next five years, new investments are projected to reach 200 billion baht, boosting the country’s total power capacity to 500 megawatts, more than three times the current 157 MW.

This rapid growth is building the backbone that supports Thailand’s ambition to become a regional AI powerhouse, driving both computation and data-led innovation.

AI as a new economic engine
Artificial intelligence has long left the laboratory. Today, it’s reshaping daily life and industries worldwide, from finance and logistics to medical diagnostics and advanced manufacturing. But as AI grows more powerful, so does the demand for processing energy, reaching unprecedented levels.

This creates both challenges and opportunities: while energy consumption and infrastructure readiness are pressing issues, countries capable of developing hyper-scale, energy-efficient data centres stand to gain enormous economic advantage.

Running AI workloads requires tremendous power; a single high-performance AI server rack can consume over 30 kilowatts of electricity, equivalent to the usage of 30–50 households. In the near future, this figure could soar to 100 kilowatts per rack.

The result is a new frontier of energy and thermal management challenges. 
Data from Statista forecasts that by 2030, global electricity demand for AI workloads alone will reach 156 gigawatts, more than four times the level expected in 2025.

Why ‘Liquid Cooling’ matters
According to Tiwa, the enormous energy consumption of AI systems generates massive heat, a particular challenge in Thailand’s hot, humid climate, where traditional air-based cooling systems have reached their limit. To handle the next generation of high-performance computing, he said, new cooling technologies are no longer optional, they’re essential.

Gartner has named liquid cooling as one of the key infrastructure trends reshaping data centre strategies in 2025, underlining its pivotal role in the next era of digital infrastructure.

Unlike air cooling, liquid cooling systems absorb heat directly from processing chips using specialised fluids that transfer heat up to 1,000 times more efficiently. They can support AI workloads with extreme heat output, use less coolant than conventional methods, and extend the lifespan of equipment through better temperature management.

But liquid cooling is more than just a thermal management technology, it represents a crucial step forward for Thailand’s digital economy.
Tiwa explained that adopting advanced liquid-cooling infrastructure will give Thailand a decisive advantage, enabling it to drive AI innovation while maintaining energy sustainability.

The benefits go beyond infrastructure. When AI workloads can operate continuously at full capacity, they unlock transformation across industries:

• Finance: real-time fraud detection, risk assessment, and transaction monitoring.

• Manufacturing: predictive maintenance and advanced quality control.

• Retail: smarter inventory management and consumer insight analysis.

• Agriculture: precision farming powered by data, integrating AI and weather forecasting for smarter crop management.

• Healthcare: AI-driven medical imaging for faster, more accurate diagnoses.

For Thailand, liquid cooling is not merely about expanding data capacity faster; it is about building the backbone of a digital economy powered by AI across all sectors, from finance to public health.

As a pioneer in deploying liquid-cooling technology in Thai data centres, STT GDC Thailand views this investment as a national mission. It is more than an innovation in cooling; it is a game-changer that will accelerate AI growth, boost Thailand’s competitiveness, and drive sustainable economic development in the years ahead.

This article was published in The Nation on October 23, 2025.