Data centres sprouting in Thailand fuel fears of public health impact

At a market in Bangkok, stallholders say they had no idea initially about a boxy structure covered in gunmetal grey panels that was quickly built and installed opposite their stalls.

According to them, nauseating oil began to waft through the area, where a hospital is also located, several months ago along Rama XI, an arterial road in the heart of the Thai capital, prompting complaints that led to the revelation that a new data centre might have been set up.

More worryingly for the stallholders, the facility was later found to have stored 200,000 litres of oil without a permit.

The revelation last week spurred Thai authorities to carry out inspections and close a legal loophole – the energy- and water-guzzling facility could not be registered as a data centre and instead could only be classified as a warehouse or a factory.

For the people who have worked in the area for years, the discovery has fuelled concerns that the country is welcoming big investments such as data centres too fast without proper consultation and explanation.

“I don’t know much about what this data centre is for. But it’s frightening that even the oil could leak into our drainage,” said Yui, a stallholder in her 60s, giving only a nickname.