Thailand Pauses 166 Data Centre Projects as Bangkok Probes Fuel Spill at Unopened Facility

BANGKOK — Thailand's newly formed data centre policy board ordered a temporary pause on 166 projects at its first meeting on Sept. 4, covering 49 sites under construction and 117 awaiting approval from various agencies as officials draw up national standards on resource use, site selection, safety and economic benefits.

Four subcommittees have one month to produce the criteria. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas, who chaired the meeting, identified three immediate priorities: consolidating data on the industry, setting minimum standards and increasing the benefits Thailand derives from the investment.

The panels have been divided by subject and will be chaired by senior officials. The economic benefits panel will be led by the secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Council, infrastructure by the permanent secretary for energy, sites and buildings by the permanent secretary for interior, and environmental issues by the permanent secretary for natural resources and environment.

The week that led to the decision

The pause did not emerge from a policy paper. It followed a week in which a Bangkok data centre that has yet to open was found discharging oily water into a public drain.

Residents near Soi Rama IX 6 in the Bang Kapi subdistrict of Huai Khwang reported a strong oil-like smell that caused nasal irritation and itching. Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suchart Chomklin ordered the Pollution Control Department to identify the source.

Inspectors found murky brown water, sediment and an oily film at a drainage outlet leading from the premises. Similar contamination was found in a public drain in front of the building that connects to Khlong Samsen Nok. Preliminary testing detected total volatile organic compounds at 6 parts per million inside the site and 3 ppm in the public drain outside. Laboratory results are expected in about seven days.

The facility has not started operating and was testing its cooling system. Based on preliminary information provided to officials by the operator, a contractor hired in July to test backup generators placed fuel containers near a wastewater collection pit. An accidental spill then sent fuel onto the ground and into the public drainage system. The Pollution Control Department said further scientific testing is needed to confirm the cause.

Huai Khwang District Office has ordered the operator to remove the residue, comply with discharge standards and put preventive measures in place within seven days.

What the "pause" means — and what it may not

The scope of the pause has not been settled, and the discrepancy is worth spelling out.

The board's decision has been described as a temporary halt covering all 166 projects. But Danucha Pichayanan, secretary-general of the NESDC, separately told AFP that the government does not have the power to suspend construction at the 49 sites already under development and that developers are being asked to cooperate voluntarily.

One interpretation reconciles the two statements: the state controls approvals, meaning the 117 applications can genuinely be held, while the 49 projects already under construction can only be asked to stop. No official has said this explicitly, and it is an inference rather than an account from any party. However, it is the interpretation most consistent with both statements. Until the board publishes its decision, whether work stops at the 49 sites depends on goodwill.

An industry the government cannot count

The most striking admission in the board's own material is how little the government knows about the sector it is now pausing.

Data collected from 16 agencies identified 35 data centres already in operation. Eleven had received investment promotion from the Board of Investment, while 24 had obtained permission through other channels, most of them within industrial estates already subject to site controls. Financial institutions operate a further three or four smaller facilities.

Investors currently apply separately to electricity utilities, water authorities and local building regulators, with each assessing only matters within its own remit. No single agency has a complete picture of a project's resource requirements, its distance from residential areas or the economic return it generates relative to its costs.

Some data centres are registered under other business categories, including warehousing, making it difficult to determine the industry's true scale. The board has instructed the Department of Business Development to create a dedicated classification.

Officials will also revisit a proposal to regulate data centres using more than 2 megawatts as industrial factories. The board considered that threshold too low given the scale of projects now entering the market.

Bangkok's own tally

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said six data centre projects had applied for permission in the capital, each requiring between 9 and 23 megawatts of electricity. Three were approved and began operating between 2022 and 2024. The remaining three will remain on hold until national standards are established.

City officials will conduct spot checks on noise, heat, safety and other nuisance effects on surrounding communities, with the findings to be incorporated into the new rules. Deputy Governor Pornphrom Vikitsreth has already visited Telehouse Thailand in Huai Khwang and DAMAC Digital Thailand's BKK02 site in Suan Luang as part of the broader oversight effort. Neither visit was connected to the Rama IX complaint.

What the rules are intended to achieve

New projects will face requirements covering urban planning, separation from neighbouring buildings, safety, electrical systems, backup fuel storage and environmental protection. Existing operators will be given a transition period.

Beyond physical standards, the board wants data centres to deliver benefits domestically, including affordable access to cloud services and AI computing capacity for Thai users and small businesses. Future projects will also be assessed through a competitive process covering employment, technology transfer and clean-energy commitments.

One line in the board's reasoning stands out. It says water and electricity prices should reflect direct and indirect costs, so households and other businesses do not subsidise large operators' resource use. That is a considerably sharper position than the investment-promotion language that has surrounded the sector until now.

Board of Investment secretary-general Narit Therdsteerasukdi said clear rules would strengthen long-term investor confidence by enabling businesses to understand costs, conditions and resource availability from the outset.

Originally published on IBTimes Thailand