Thailand aims to slash electricity costs by more than 25% by next year to emerge as a hub for data centers and artificial intelligence infrastructure, according to Thaksin Shinawatra, the de facto chief of the ruling Pheu Thai Party.
The government headed by his daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra plans to bring down the electricity tariff to about 8 U.S. cents per unit from about 11 cents now, Thaksin told a business seminar in Bangkok late on Friday. He didn’t elaborate on how the government would slash the rate, which is currently subsidized by state utilities.
Thailand has secured billions of dollars in investment commitments from tech majors including Amazon, Google, TikTok, and Alibaba to build projects for large data centers and cloud services. Building on that success would depend on the country’s ability to offer clean and cheap energy, Thaksin said.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.