Thailand plans seven-tier data-centre rules as investment queue grows

The November 6 report identified 63 operating facilities and 20 under construction for the proposed 8–12-month Code of Practice transition. Source: The Nation.

Seven tiers and obligations for existing facilities

The proposed tiers use electricity demand to distinguish smaller facilities from projects facing stricter requirements:

Under the November 6 account, tiers 1–4 would face basic requirements and could locate in commercial zones; tiers 5–7 would face tougher requirements. The reported bands share endpoints, without explaining how facilities exactly on those boundaries would be classified.

The standards would address location and land use, reserve fuel storage for power generation, connections to electricity and water networks, an environmental Code of Practice, and economic and social benefits. The account does not give numerical water-efficiency limits or explain how domestic benefits would be scored against resource demand.

The framework also reaches beyond the queue. The same report says 63 operating data centres and 20 under construction would have 8–12 months to meet the Code of Practice. Projects without a licence would be treated as new projects. That distinction makes licensing status consequential for operators already planning or developing facilities.

The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society would build Dashboard TH-DC, a shared government record consolidating permits and approvals across agencies. The dashboard would help agencies track the same projects; site assessments would address whether the necessary resources are available.

The BOI’s May 2025 conditions linked the highest eight-year exemption to efficiency standards and advanced computing capabilities; other projects were capped at five years. Source: Thailand Board of Investment — May 2025 requirements.

Domestic-benefit tests have a history

The proposal would extend a policy direction already visible in investment incentives. In a May 2025 announcement, the BOI said it had revised conditions for data-centre, data-hosting and cloud-service investments to secure clearer economic benefits and improve management of natural and energy resources.

Under those announced conditions, eligibility for the highest corporate-income-tax benefit—an eight-year exemption—required meeting power usage effectiveness standards and offering advanced computing capabilities such as graphics processing units. Other projects’ exemptions were capped at five years. Applicants also had to submit economic-contribution plans, potentially covering training, collaboration with local educational institutions, skills for Thai entrepreneurs or supply-chain support, and complete those plans before claiming the exemption.

Those were conditions for investment-promotion benefits. The pending framework adds a proposed classification by power demand, coordination of permits and minimum standards for existing facilities. The distinction matters: electricity consumption bands describe project size, while the earlier efficiency conditions concern how effectively resources are used.

Selective growth also has a regional precedent. In a January 2022 parliamentary reply, Singapore’s trade ministry said a review begun in 2019 had addressed data centres’ resource intensity. Singapore would continue welcoming investment while favouring resource efficiency and contributions to economic and strategic objectives, and would raise existing facilities’ efficiency over time.

Cabinet must clarify when projects can proceed

The timetable is unresolved. An October 27 report quoted Danucha Pichayanan, secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Council, as expecting new applications to open in early 2027 and giving existing facilities one year to meet minimum requirements. It anticipated Cabinet submission the following week.

The later November 6 account instead identified November 10 for submission, an 8–12-month transition for Code of Practice compliance, and the possibility of first new approvals in December 2026. The transition descriptions differ in scope, while applications and approvals are separate stages. The reports do not establish how a December approval schedule would fit with an early-2027 application opening.

Cabinet consideration and the implementing criteria need to settle those dates and specify what evidence will demonstrate adequate power, water and domestic benefit. For waiting operators, the decisive question is which projects can satisfy those tests and obtain permission to proceed. Investment applications alone do not establish that their infrastructure needs can be met.