Thailand and Indonesia Look to Become Data Center Hubs For APAC
With Microsoft, Google, and Amazon all discussing plans to launch new cloud regions in Thailand and nearby countries, the government of Thailand is looking to attract data center development.
Recent announcements of $2.7 billion in investments for 3 new data centers indicate that they interest is there for Thailand as a data center hub. Bloomberg has reported that Thaksin Shinawatra, the de facto chief of the ruling Pheu Thai Party, discussed the cost reduction at an event in Bangkok in March.
Thailand returned to an elected civilian government in 2023 after more than 10 years of military-backed leadership, a change which has encouraged the major hyperscalers as well as electronics manufacturers to begin investing in the country.
Total investment announcements exceeded $33 billion in 2024.
Thaksin is well aware that energy costs are a driving factor for data center development, saying:
We want to be competitive in data centers and AI, so we need to have more green energy that’s not too expensive.
Energy Plans
Former Premier Thakskin’s daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, leads the current government of Thailand and plans to bring the per watt electricity tariff, currently approximately 11 cents, down to 8 cents. There is a goal to bring costs down to between 2 and 6 cents, yet how this would be achieved has not been discussed.
Current rates are subsidized by the government and no specific announcement has been made as to how the cost would be reduced. Thaksin expressed that his goal was to see a specific area in Bangkok set aside for data center locations and to eventually develop as a reginal AI hub. The former premier holds to explicit role in the current government but is believed to be the architect of many of the latest policy initiatives.
Hyperscalers Lead Data Center Projects
Previously Google has announced a $1 billion investment in the region, while AWS has pledged $15 billion over 5 years. Microsoft recently announced that Thailand would be the location for its lead regional data center, though it hasn’t announced a dollar value for this investment, and Bytedance (TikTok) announced an almost $4 billion investment plan, for data centers across three Thai provinces.
The bulk of the recently approved $2.7 billion spend in Thailand as cited above is in three data center projects. The first is Beijing Haoyang Cloud Data Technology Company, spending $2.16 billion to build a 300 MW data center site in the Rayong Province. This would almost double the company’s total capacity, as they have previously built 360 MW of capacity in data center sin mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macao.
The second data center is a 35 MW facility. This is a joint venture between Thailand's Gulf Energy and Advanced Info Services, and Singaporean telco Singtel. The third development is a smaller, 12 MW data center by Empyrion Digital, another Singaporen investor.
Quoted on Nikkei, Narit Therdsteerasukdi, secretary-general of the Thai Board of Investment said:
Ensuring that the digital infrastructure, including data centers, keeps in line with the demand of foreign investors and local entrepreneurs is essential to Thailand's competitiveness in the age of the digital economy.
Digital Realty Enters Neighboring Indonesian Market Through Joint Venture with Bersama Digital
Digital Realty is expanding its global footprint in Southeast Asia, announcing a strategic 50/50 joint venture with Bersama Digital Infrastructure Asia to develop and operate data centers in Indonesia. The move represents a significant investment into one of the region’s fastest-growing digital economies, and a signal of accelerating demand in the Jakarta data center market.
As part of the agreement, Digital Realty will invest approximately $100 million for its 50% stake in the joint venture. The new entity will own and operate a 5-megawatt data center campus in Central Jakarta, currently known as CGK10. Future development on the site will include CGK11, a facility expected to scale the campus up to 32 megawatts of total capacity once fully built out.
According to Structure Research, the Jakarta data center market is projected to generate $499 million in revenue by 2025, with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11%. Demand is forecast to climb sharply, with expected uptake of 54.6 MW, driven by cloud adoption, digital transformation initiatives, and increasing demand for local interconnection infrastructure.
Bersama Digital Infrastructure Asia, a subsidiary of Indonesia’s Tower Bersama Group, brings deep local knowledge and operational experience to the venture, which will focus on meeting the growing needs of global hyperscalers and regional enterprises alike.
For Digital Realty, this deal marks a continuation of its strategy to deepen its presence in high-growth markets through targeted partnerships. It follows recent expansions across the Asia-Pacific region, including new facilities and joint ventures in Japan, South Korea, and India.
The CGK10/CGK11 campus is expected to tap into the growing demand for scalable, carrier-neutral infrastructure in Indonesia’s capital, positioning the joint venture as a key player in a market that is just beginning to see the impact of global digital investment.
Serene Nah, Managing Director and Head of Asia Pacific, Digital Realty, identified the importance of this investment, saying:
Digital Realty is committed to powering the growth of Indonesia's digital economy by providing businesses with the critical foundation they need to succeed in the digital age and to leverage emerging technology like AI. This JV combines Digital Realty's global data center expertise and scale with BDDC's local market knowledge and robust connectivity, creating a unique value proposition for our customers. We are excited to collaborate with our partners to deliver unparalleled value to this dynamic market and to introduce PlatformDIGITAL to Indonesia, empowering our customers to achieve their digital ambitions.”
Setyanto Hantoro, Chairman of Digital Realty Bersama, stated, "“The launch of Digital Realty Bersama marks an exciting next chapter in Indonesia’s digital evolution. We look forward to a close partnership between Digital Realty and BDIA to build the vital infrastructure underpinning Indonesia’s burgeoning digital economy.”
“We are honored to collaborate with Digital Realty, to deliver the essential infrastructure that will catalyze Indonesia’s digital economy,” said Angelo Syailendra, Chief Executive Officer of Digital Realty Bersama. “Digital Realty Bersama will provide swift, cutting-edge, and well-connected data center capacity in central Jakarta, designed to support the market’s next wave of growth, driven by high-performance computing and AI-powered advancements.”
Both Indonesia and Thailand are competing with neighboring Malaysia, which currently has been drawing the lion’s share of interest and investment from hyperscalers and data center developers such as Vantage Data Centers, as seen in the video below from DatacenterHawk.
NTT in Indonesia
Significantly, in June of 2024, NTT announced the groundbreaking of a new data center in Jakarta, marking another strategic expansion in one of Southeast Asia’s most dynamic digital markets. The Jakarta 2 Annex Data Center (JKT2A) is the company’s third facility in Indonesia and is slated to begin commercial operations in early 2026.
JKT2A rises seven stories and will deliver 12 megawatts of IT load across 5,800 square meters (62,430 square feet) of space. The facility is purpose-built for high-density deployments, supporting racks of up to 40 kW—signaling NTT’s readiness to accommodate the increasing power and performance demands of hyperscale and enterprise customers in the region.
The new development extends the footprint of NTT’s existing JKT2 facility, which provides 9.4 MW of capacity over 5,400 square meters (58,125 square feet) and spans eight stories. That site was brought into the NTT portfolio in 2015 through the acquisition of Cyber CSF, giving the company an early foothold in Indonesia’s emerging digital infrastructure landscape.
NTT’s investment in Indonesia has accelerated in recent years. In April 2022, the company launched its JKT3 campus in the Bekasi area, a growing hub for industrial and digital development on the outskirts of Jakarta. The four-story facility offers 18,000 square meters (193,750 square feet) of IT space and 15.2MW of initial capacity, with a full build-out potential of 45MW.
As Indonesia continues to invest in cloud infrastructure, 5G, and smart city initiatives, NTT’s growing presence positions the company to meet surging demand for scalable, high-performance data center services across Jakarta and beyond.
The impact on the recent Myanmar earthquake on the data center industry in Thailand
The 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, 2025, has done some notable damge in Bangkok, Thailand, 600 miles south of the epicenter in Myanmar. The image of the quake damage in the minds of many is the collapse of a skyscraper in Bangkok.
The building that collapsed in Bangkok was under construction and is not representative of damage done to that country. BBC.com has an article that describes why damage was done to specific buildings, despite changes in both countries to address earthquake construction standards, reporting that fewer than 10% of buildings in Thailand are estimated to have been built to withstand tremors.
Currently, none of the more than 110 data centers in Thailand has reported any damage from the Myanmar earthquake.
