PM insists data centre investment not being blocked, pushes for dedicated law to govern resource use

RegulationMacro
โดย InfoQuest·TH·Read original
Summary · why it matters

Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has confirmed that the government does not intend to signal any restriction or blocking of investment in the data centre business, but that rules must be laid out carefully, because Thailand currently has no dedicated law to regulate this business, even though it is an activity that consumes large amounts of electricity, water and resources. At the same time, employment may not be as high as the volume of resources used, so investment and employment figures cannot be compared directly. The Prime Minister said the government has set up a committee to oversee this matter specifically, in order to design regulations, set direction and draft a dedicated law for the data centre business, with the goal of delivering the greatest benefit to the country and to investors, alongside ensuring fairness in resource use, covering energy, fuel, cooling water and the environment. Regarding data centres in the Bangkok area, Anutin said that Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt found that some data centres store fuel oil inside their buildings, which must be seriously investigated because it may pose a safety risk, and they must obtain permits under the relevant laws. He also asked the Department of Public Works and Town and Country Planning, the Department of Provincial Administration, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, the electricity authority, agencies involved in water management, and the provinces that host data centres to establish a mechanism for exchanging information and working together systematically, so that data centre investment can move forward without creating a burden on energy, water, safety and the environment for local residents.

Impact on stocks 0

Theme Impact 3

Related news

Suppajee Meets Indian Envoy, Pushes Co-Creation and Studies Baht-Rupee Use

Suppajee Suthamphan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce, disclosed the outcome of talks with the Ambassador of the Republic of India to Thailand, Puneet Agrawal, that Thailand and India will advance cooperation in a "Co-Creation Co-Investment" format across six potential sectors: herbs and pharmaceuticals, IT, processed food, green industry, automotive, construction, and the hospitality industry, in order to link into global supply chains rather than merely exporting goods to each other's markets. Both sides assigned the start of joint work and progress within 45 days to pilot a model. Most recently, five to six Thai investors have shown interest in cooperating with India under this concept, and the Indian Ambassador reported that Indian companies are preparing to invest in data centers in Thailand, with several already in joint ventures with Thai companies. Both sides agreed to use the JTC platform as a mechanism to monitor cooperation, with India proposing that the JTC meeting draw up a Plan of Action for the services sector. The two sides are in the process of linking India's UPI payment system with Thailand's PromptPay, and are discussing the possibility of using local currencies, the baht and the rupee, to facilitate trade and reduce costs. India is Thailand's seventh-largest trading partner in the world and its number one trading partner in South Asia. Over the seven months from January to July 2026, trade between Thailand and India was worth 13.97456 billion US dollars, expanding 8.07 percent from the same period the previous year, with Thailand exporting 10.27032 billion US dollars to India and importing 3.70424 billion US dollars from India.
InfoQuest·32mRead more →

INVX Says Clearer Data Center Rules to Lift Clean Energy and Industrial Estate Stocks, Recommends Selective Buy

The equity and derivatives market strategist at InnovestX Research, InnovestX Securities, said efforts to push Thailand as a regional data center hub are taking clearer shape after the first meeting of the Data Center Business Policy Committee resolved to accelerate integration of data and legal provisions into a single dashboard, in order to set a clear industrial strategic framework within one month. The criteria define data centers using more than 2 MW of electricity as industrial businesses, set resource utilization fees to reflect true direct and indirect costs, and impose strict energy conditions to support Green Data Centers, including a separate electricity tariff category for the group, a mandatory clean energy share of no less than 60% to meet Net Zero goals, and tighter standards for backup power systems. Four subcommittees will be set up covering the economy, infrastructure, land and buildings, and the environment to draw up technical standards, and decisive measures are being prepared to suspend water and electricity allocation for projects not yet under construction if they fail the criteria. InnovestX assesses that these clearer policies will create significant positive ripple effects for two main industries. The first is clean energy, where the 60% minimum clean energy requirement will turn clean power from an option into a necessity, sharply driving real demand. The second is industrial estates, where classifying data centers as industrial businesses will draw foreign direct investment, or FDI, into leading estates equipped with smart grid networks and environmental management, leaving estates reliant on fossil fuels far behind. The investment strategy therefore recommends Selective Buy, focusing on accumulating leaders in these two main industries. For industrial estates, it favors companies with stable smart grid networks sufficient for Tier 3-4 data centers, joint ventures with multinational technology firms, and their own water recycling management systems, namely AMATA and WHA. For clean energy, it favors companies making progress on direct power purchase agreements, or Direct PPAs, with global hyperscalers, with high ESG scores and green certificates, and investing in battery energy storage systems, or BESS, to maintain the stability of electricity supplied to data centers, namely GULF, GPSC and BGRIM, as well as GUNKUL, a contractor for high-voltage transmission line systems.
ทันหุ้น·4hRead more →
impact 4

Nvidia-Backed Nscale Files for US IPO After $1.02 Billion Loss

Nscale, the London-based AI data center developer backed by Nvidia and Microsoft, filed publicly for an initial public offering in New York, seeking to raise as much as $3 billion. The company reported a net loss of $1.02 billion on revenue of $140.6 million for the six months ended June 30, compared with a net loss of $368.9 million on revenue of $10.4 million a year earlier, according to its Friday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Spun off from a cryptocurrency mining operation in early 2024, Nscale was valued at about $14.6 billion in a March Series C round led by Aker ASA and 8090 Industries, with Nvidia and Nokia Oyj also participating. The company has agreed to add more than 30,000 Nvidia chips to an existing rental agreement with Microsoft at its Narvik, Norway gigafactory, and Anthropic has agreed to spend $45 billion to rent AI cloud computing power from its flagship West Virginia data center development. The offering is being led by Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, with shares expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NSCL.
Bloomberg·11hRead more →