Digital infrastructure company Equinix announced on Tuesday it will invest around US$500 million in phases over the next ten years to cash in on Thailand's bustling data centre scene, starting with two new IBX data centres in Bangkok.
The US$500 million figure includes Equinix’s recent purchase of land in the Bangna area of Bangkok for US$34 million. The site, which covers over 18,700 square meters, is located next to the main transport route connecting the airport and the city centre, giving it access to the existing Bangkok interconnection ecosystem, Equinix said.
Equinix plans to build two International Business Exchange (IBX) data centres on the Bangna campus that it says will provide more than 3,375 cabinets at full build out. No other details were given in terms of capacity or timescale.
Equinix said the investment is the latest step in its Asia-Pacific expansion strategy, following its recent entry into the Philippines in July via a deal to buy three data centres from Total Information Management (TIM). Equinix also kicked off expansion projects in Hong Kong, Malaysia and India earlier this year. The company currently runs 58 data centres in 15 metros across Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.
Equinix also said it is capitalising on the Thai government’s Cloud First-Policy, which has become a magnet for data centre investment from big-name cloud players including Google, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, among others.
Thailand is one of several southeast Asian countries trying to establish itself as regional data centre hub to meet demand for cloud services, edge computing and hyperscale workloads, particularly AI. According to a recent report from Next Move Strategy Consulting, Thailand’s data centre market value is expected to grow from US$652 million in 2023 to over US$1.5 billion in 2030 at a CAGR of 13%.
Narit Therdsteerasukdi, secretary general of Thailand Board of Investment, said that Thailand's proximity to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (a.k.a. the CLMV sub-region), along with its Cloud First-Policy, has spurred an “unprecedented” surge in demand for greater digital interconnectivity that will fuel long-term growth of digital infrastructure for the region.
“The next decade will see accelerated shifts in supply chains and migration to the cloud, with manufacturing and digital economic production diversifying across Thailand and the rapidly growing CLMV sub-region,” Narit said in a statement. “Thailand has emerged as a prime investment destination in this supply chain transformation, attracting substantial investments in prominent industrial clusters, particularly in cloud services, electronics and electric vehicle sectors.”
“Thailand stands at the forefront of digital growth in Southeast Asia, with immense untapped potential as it becomes a key player in the region's digital economy,” added Cyrus Adaggra, VP of corporate development for Asia-Pacific at Equinix. “Equinix's entry in Bangkok is yet another milestone advancing our overarching strategy to enhance interconnection across Thailand and Southeast Asia.”
