Alphabet Inc.’s Google plans to invest $1 billion to build data centers in Thailand, joining global tech companies in adding cloud and AI infrastructure in Southeast Asia. The company will add facilities in Bangkok and Chonburi, a province southeast of the capital.
The outlay could help add $4 billion to Thailand’s economy by 2029 and support 14,000 jobs annually over the next five years, Google said Monday, citing a Deloitte study. The investment was unveiled by Google and Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thailand’s recently appointed prime minister, underscoring the push by Southeast Asia’s governments to attract foreign tech firms. Long seen as a tech hinterland, the region of about 675 million people is fast emerging as a growth opportunity for Apple Inc.
, Microsoft Corp., Nvidia Corp. and Amazon.
com Inc., which are spending billions of dollars to ramp up AI data centers from Thailand and Malaysia to Singapore and Indonesia. "We are investing in cloud regions, data centers and subsea cables across the region, building on our many years of work to bring cloud infrastructure closer to the people and organizations here,” Alphabet Chief Investment Officer Ruth Porat said in an emailed response to questions ahead of an event with the prime minister in Bangkok.
"This region holds great potential.” Google has already announced billions of dollars in investment in Malaysia and Singapore this year. Amazon unveiled a $9 billion outlay in Singapore in May, and Microsoft CEO Satya.