Data centre pause in Thailand is slowing the build-out of computing capacity across south-east Asia, as governments in the region rethink how much power and water the new facilities should use. Thailand paused 49 projects under construction and 117 approvals on 4 September, after a committee chaired by Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas decided the rules needed a rethink. The pause has put a brake on a pipeline that was running at record levels, and it has raised questions about how fast the region can keep building.
The data centre pause in Thailand followed the discovery of unlicensed fuel storage at a data centre on Rama IX Road in Bangkok, where about 200,000 litres of fuel were removed on 3 September. The incident raised concerns about safety and oversight, and the government moved to pause the projects while it drew up new rules. A draft regulation now requires data centres to reuse 80 per cent of their water, and the board that oversees the rules is due to decide on 27 November. The pause covers projects already under construction as well as those waiting for approval.
Data centre pause aside, the scale of the build-out in south-east Asia is large. The region holds about 50 per cent of the data centre capacity under construction in the Asia-Pacific, according to the Guardian, and Cushman and Wakefield put the pipeline at a record 26.5 gigawatts in the first half of 2026. Of that total, 4.8 gigawatts is under construction and 21.7 gigawatts is planned. Malaysia has 1,039 megawatts under construction, and Thailand has 859 megawatts, the two largest figures in the region.
Data centre pause and the Thai approvals
The data centre pause in Thailand has not stopped the flow of approvals altogether, and the Board of Investment approved 88 artificial intelligence and data centre projects worth 886 billion baht, or 27 billion dollars, in the first half of 2026. That figure is higher than the 623 billion baht approved in all of 2025, and it shows how much money is still flowing into the sector. The pause applies to the projects that were already under construction and those waiting for approval, and the new rules will decide which of them can go ahead.
Data centre pause concerns are not limited to Thailand. In Indonesia, the governor of West Java halted one data centre, and in Malaysia the government is rethinking its approach, with Treasury Secretary-General Johan Mahmood Merican among those raising the issue. The concern in Malaysia is power, and Wood Mackenzie has said data centres in Johor now use 24 per cent of the power in the state. The governments in the region are weighing the investment the centres bring against the power and water they consume.
Data centre pause and the wider rethink
The data centre pause in south-east Asia mirrors a move in the United States, where Texas Governor Greg Abbott paused new data centre connections to the grid on 3 August. The pause in Texas was driven by the same concerns about power, and it shows that the rethink is not limited to Asia. The data centre boom has been driven by artificial intelligence, which needs vast amounts of computing power, and the power and water demands of the new facilities have grown faster than the grids and water systems that serve them.
Data centre pause rules in Thailand will be decided by the board on 27 November, when it votes on the draft regulation that requires 80 per cent water reuse. The regulation is one of several that the government is drawing up, and the pause will stay in place until the rules are set. The 49 projects under construction and the 117 approvals that were paused will then be reviewed against the new rules, and the ones that meet the standards will be allowed to go ahead.
The data centre pause has shown how fast the build-out has grown, and how far the rules have lagged behind it. The pipeline of 26.5 gigawatts is the largest on record for the region, and the governments in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia are now trying to set the terms on which it can continue. The board decision on 27 November will be the next test, and the projects that were paused will be waiting for the answer.