Sarath Ratanavadi, currently ranked the second richest man in Thailand, is now directing more of his efforts toward the growing technological sector, specifically data centers. This strategic move is being implemented at a time when his company, Gulf Energy Development, and its partners are poised to make a substantial investment to capitalize on the increasing demand for cloud and AI solutions.
Gulf Energy Development Public Company has revealed a new development plan to spend an additional 10 billion baht ($368 million) to build a new data center located on the outskirts of Bangkok. This ambitious project aims to recover twice the initial commitment and enhance the facility’s operational capacity by raising energy demand from 25 MW to 50 MW. According to the projection, the work is expected to be completed in March.
Sarath’s business operations, which also encompass virtual banking and cryptocurrency trading, undergo another substantial transformation with the expansion, as he endeavors to capitalize on the surplus power generation capacity of Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy. The decision is made at a time when the data center market in the region is experiencing a substantial demand as a result of multinational IT titans investing billions in cloud services and artificial intelligence to expand their services in Asia Pacific.
In an interaction with the press in Bangkok, Sarath emphasized the importance of this action and stated that the company has initiated the second phase of expansion due to the anticipated increase in demand for data center services. He then proceeded to elaborate that the increase in the reliance on cloud services is anticipated to coincide with the expansion of AI, resulting in a significant demand for a robust data center.
Not only is Gulf Energy’s decision intended to meet the increasing technological requirements of the region, but it also aims to revolutionize companies in the Southeast Asian market to align with the market trends, he added.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranks Sarath as the second-wealthiest Thai, with a net worth of $9.1 billion, behind only real estate magnate Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi.
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