Global tech giant Google has announced plans to invest $1 billion in establishing a state-of-the-art data center in Thailand to bolster its cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure in Southeast Asia.
Google's data centers will be located in Bangkok and Chonburi province. According to research by Deloitte, this investment is expected to create 14,000 jobs per year in Thailand over the next five years and could contribute up to $4 billion to the Thai economy by 2029.
Google's investment plan was jointly announced with Thailand's newly appointed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, demonstrating the Southeast Asian government's efforts to attract foreign tech companies. Southeast Asia, a region with a population of approximately 675 million, is rapidly becoming a new battleground for tech giants. Companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Amazon are also actively investing billions of dollars to build artificial intelligence data centers in countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.
Ruth Porat, Chief Investment Officer of Google's parent company Alphabet, mentioned in an email: "We are investing in building cloud service regions, data centers, and undersea cables across the region, which is a continuation of our years-long effort to bring cloud infrastructure closer to local people and organizations. This region has tremendous development potential."
Google has already announced billions of dollars in investment plans in Malaysia and Singapore this year. Amazon announced a $9 billion investment plan in Singapore in May, while Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella toured the Southeast Asian region, unveiling a plan involving approximately $4 billion in spending for the construction of data centers and other infrastructure.
Governments worldwide are striving to find a balance between maintaining digital sovereignty and attracting foreign investment. Their goal is to protect citizen data and cultivate local tech companies while leveraging the investment and expertise of global companies to develop artificial intelligence and cloud computing infrastructure.
The new data center in Thailand will support Google's artificial intelligence services, including search engines, map services, and workspaces. Since entering the Thai market 13 years ago, Google has trained over 3.6 million students, educators, developers, and small and medium-sized enterprises in the past five years, helping them enhance their digital skills.
Paetongtarn stated in a declaration that Google's investment aligns with Thailand's cloud policy and will "accelerate the development of innovative digital services, thereby stimulating economic opportunities."