Thailand Approves First Environmental Rules for AI Data Centers

The Cabinet of Thailand approved the country's first environmental regulations for data centers on Tuesday to manage a construction boom driven by artificial intelligence. The new rules establish a noise limit of 70 A-weighted decibels at site boundaries and cap nearby temperature increases to between 1 and 2 degrees Celsius. Operators are now required to recirculate cooling water and test it before discharge.

Zoning requirements have also tightened, mandating that facilities consuming more than 20 megawatts of energy be located in industrial zones under stricter oversight. These measures follow a September order that paused work on nearly 50 projects under construction. Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas noted that the government faced numerous speculative applications, with only about a quarter of those requesting over 30,000 megawatts of electricity possessing genuine investment plans.

Projects approved before August 14 have one year to comply with the new guidelines. According to the Thai Board of Investment, 57 projects have been approved nationwide. AI-related investments accounted for approximately 70% of the $50 billion in total investment-promotion applications submitted during the first nine months of the year.