Thai energy billionaire steps up data centre push to tap AI boom
Demand for data centres is rising in the region, with global tech companies spending billions of US dollars to spur cloud computing and AI services
ENERGY billionaire Sarath Ratanavadi, Thailand’s second-richest person, is accelerating his push into data centres to tap a booming market fuelled by rising demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
His energy company, Gulf Energy Development, and its partners plan to spend an additional 10 billion baht (S$368 million) to double their outlay on a data centre facility in suburban Bangkok.
The expansion will increase the centre’s energy consumption to 50 megawatts from a previously announced 25 megawatts, with completion expected in March, Gulf Energy chief financial officer Yupapin Wangviwat told reporters on Thursday (Jun 27).
Sarath is expanding his empire into virtual banking, cryptocurrency trading and other technology businesses as electricity generation in South-east Asia’s second-biggest economy has excess capacity.
Demand for data centres is rising in the region, with global tech companies spending billions of US dollars to spur cloud computing and AI services.
“We set the expansion of the second phase now because we expect a surge in demand for our data centre services,” Sarath said at the press conference in Bangkok. “A jump in AI adoption and cloud computing will substantially increase demand for our data centre bandwidth.”
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Friday, 8.30 am
Asean Business
Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies.
Technology and other non-power businesses are expected to contribute a “significant proportion” of Gulf Energy’s revenue in the near future, said Sarath, declining to elaborate.
Earlier this week, Gulf Energy and Alphabet held a joint briefing about their cloud computing partnership in Thailand.
Sarath has a net worth of US$9.1 billion, making him Thailand’s richest person after property tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, according to the Bloomberg billionaires Index.
Shares of Gulf Energy have declined 8.5 per cent this year, compared with a 7.5 per cent drop in the benchmark SET Index. BLOOMBERG
Share with us your feedback on BT's products and services
