Thailand’s data centre capacity is projected to more than double over the next few years, but the government must upgrade power transmission lines and substations as electricity shortages are emerging in key provinces such as Chon Buri and Rayong.
Norasak Suphakorntanakit, head of capital markets and investment at property consultancy Cushman and Wakefield Thailand, said the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand is holding discussions to identify sites and accelerate substation upgrades to increase power capacity.
“In the past, provincial electricity planning focused on serving local communities or industrial estates that required limited power,” he said. “But with the exponential growth of data centres, substation expansion has failed to keep pace with demand.”
Bangkok’s data centre market continues to grow rapidly, building on strong momentum from the second half of 2024.
Having moved beyond its initial development phase, the sector is now entering its early stage of maturity, noted Cushman and Wakefield.
In the first half of 2025, Thailand’s data centre projects tallied around 800 megawatts of capacity. There are 25 operators managing 53 data centres, with a combined capacity of 109MW in operation, 169MW under construction, and 515MW in planning.
Those under construction and planning also jumped from 46MW and 186MW previously planned, respectively.
In comparison, Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur accounted for 800MW, while Johor Bahru has 2,306MW, a combined 3,106MW.
This indicates that Thailand still has room to more than double its capacity, supported by available electricity reserves of 12-13 gigawatts.
Another factor driving investment to Thailand is that Johor Bahru and Singapore are facing shortages of both electricity and water, limiting new data centre development in those cities and shifting growth to Bangkok and the Eastern Economic Corridor.
Of the 13 leading co-location providers active in Asia-Pacific, most have already established a presence in Malaysia and Singapore, while eight are currently operating or entering the Thai market, with half already running and half in the process of setting up.
“In the next few years, more global providers are likely to enter Thailand as the country is increasingly attractive for those seeking high-quality, high-standard facilities,” Mr Norasak said.
Although operational capacity growth remains modest, demand is robust, reflected in a sharp drop in colocation vacancy rates from 24% in the second half of 2024 to 16% by mid-2025.
“In the past, demand for Thailand was limited due to a lack of high-quality, high-standard providers,” Mr Norasak added. “But after global players entered the market, demand surged. Bangkok is now emerging as a key data centre hub in Asia-Pacific.”
He also said the government should promote green or renewable energy, which is increasingly required by leading international data centre providers.