Anutin orders clearer Thailand data centre rules and greener power

Legacy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul called for clearer rules and greater adoption of green energy for Thailand's data centres during a meeting of the Data Center Business Policy Committee on September 4. These facilities are crucial to the digital economy but also place significant demands on resources like electricity, water, land, and public utilities, leading to environmental and cybersecurity issues.

Anutin instructed the committee to establish clearer legal definitions for data centres and to develop Green Data Center standards. These standards would encompass the use of renewable energy, data protection, cybersecurity, and support for AI and cloud industries. He stressed that Thailand should not merely attract data centre investment, but instead leverage the sector to attract related industries, promote technology transfers, develop Thai workers, and strengthen the broader digital ecosystem.

Anutin expressed concern that businesses were requesting large quantities of electricity capacity in advance, with preliminary applications from data centre developers totalling around 20,000 megawatts. He emphasized that power consumption should increasingly be met by green energy sources such as solar and wind, with fossil fuels and generators carrying less of the load.

While Anutin acknowledged that data centres remain necessary, he stressed the need to "put them in order." Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt reported that authorities are reviewing data centres in the capital following complaints about fuel smells and generator noise. Of the six data centres established in Bangkok, only three have received permits.

The facilities had been classified as warehouses due to the absence of clear legal definitions for standalone data centres. Chadchart suggested that the government should consider updating laws related to urban planning, building control, and environmental impact assessments to better accommodate data centres.