Thailand’s cabinet approved rules on noise and water use for data centres on 10 November 2026, AFP reported. The decision follows a government review prompted by public concern about construction driven by AI investment. Developers now face proposed limits on noise and heat around their sites and requirements for cooling water, while larger facilities face a separate proposal governing where they may be built.
Key points
- A proposed site-boundary noise standard is 70 A-weighted decibels, according to a government data centre board.
- Temperature increases at site boundaries would be limited to one or two degrees Celsius. Cooling water must be recirculated and discharged water tested.
- Zoning rules approved in principle would put centres consuming more than 20 megawatts in industrial zones under stricter oversight.
- Eligible projects approved before 14 August have one year to meet the environmental guidelines.
Noise and heat at site boundaries
A government data centre board put the proposed noise ceiling at 70 A-weighted decibels, or dBA, measured at the boundary of a site, AFP reported. The measure accounts for how people perceive sound. Danucha Pichayanan, secretary-general of Thailand’s economic planning agency, said noise should be kept at around 70 dBA when uninterrupted power-supply systems are running, Bloomberg reported. His account identifies a particular operating condition for the limit.
Danucha also said increases in temperature at a data centre’s boundary would be limited to one or two degrees Celsius. Cooling water must be recirculated, and water discharged from a facility must be tested. Facilities in industrial estates face additional requirements, according to his account. Together, the noise and temperature measures put limits at the edge of a facility, where its operations meet neighbouring land.
Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas told a news conference that “the use of national resources must not adversely affect the public”. The government had said in September that it would tighten data centre oversight and asked developers of nearly 50 projects under construction to pause work while it drew up rules. The review followed public concern about the pace of AI-related building.
Industrial zones for centres above 20 megawatts
The cabinet also approved new zoning rules in principle. Under that proposal, data centres consuming more than 20 megawatts of energy would be located in industrial zones and subject to stricter oversight. That threshold addresses the siting of large facilities, alongside the conditions on noise, temperature and water that apply to their operations.
Electricity demand extends beyond the projects already in development. Ekniti said more than 110 applicants had sought over 30,000 megawatts of electricity, but estimated that only about a quarter or fewer had genuine investment plans. His distinction places the applications alongside the construction pause without treating every request for power as a facility that will be built. AI Affairs has also reported on Thailand’s seven-tier data centre power plan prepared for cabinet review.
Narit Therdsteerasukdi of Thailand’s Board of Investment said 57 data centre projects had received approval across the country. Seventeen were operating, 20 had construction permits and another 20 were preparing to invest. Those groups are at different stages, a distinction that matters when applying requirements to existing operations, permitted construction and projects still being prepared.
Investment applications and the 14 August cutoff
Thailand received more than US$50 billion in investment-promotion applications during the first nine months of 2026, Bloomberg reported. AI-related projects accounted for about 70% of their value. The figures describe applications for investment promotion rather than spending already completed, while the project counts describe approvals and the stages those projects have reached.
Ekniti said projects failing to meet security and environmental requirements “will not be allowed to proceed”, Bloomberg reported. For developers whose projects already have approval, the timing of that approval also matters: eligible projects approved before 14 August have one year to meet the environmental guidelines, AFP reported.
