Thailand Suspends 49 Data-Center Projects While Drafting Resource and Safety Rules

Thailand has suspended construction of 49 data centers while regulators draft rules on resource use and safety. The September 4 action places a new checkpoint in Asia’s competition to add AI computing capacity.

Asian governments have been courting data centers with tax breaks, land discounts, and access to power and water. Microsoft and Amazon have pledged billions of dollars for data centers and AI infrastructure across the region. But Kevin Guan, chief investment officer and executive vice president at Bridge Data Centers, said there are physical limits on how quickly facilities can be built at scale, with significant delivery delays and challenges.

A permit pause versus design changes

Thailand is setting rules before the paused projects can resume. Elsewhere, operators and designers are changing facilities to address the same pressures. John Taylor, Gensler’s global critical facilities leader, said data centers should serve communities as civic infrastructure, not function only as industrial sites.

Cooling chips can require large amounts of freshwater. Bridge built a wastewater-treatment plant at its Johor, Malaysia, campus to recycle municipal wastewater. The company says the plant minimizes the campus’s impact on the city’s potable-water supply and that unused water is returned to the community as clean water.

Land is another constraint. Taylor said data centers in land-constrained Asian cities already reach 10 or 11 stories and sit close to homes. Bridge is using modular materials to make equipment easier to replace. Buildings may last up to 20 years, while the latest AI chips may last less than five.

Redesign does not resolve the power mix

Building differently does not settle the climate question. The International Energy Agency estimates that coal and natural gas provide roughly 56% of the energy consumed by data centers worldwide. Taylor said the AI boom is making Gensler’s commitment to reach zero carbon by 2030 extremely challenging.

Thailand’s suspension does not answer what its new rules will require or when the projects might resume. It does make one choice clear: in a region eager for more AI infrastructure, construction can be held back until the resource and safety terms are set.