132% Increase from January's Approved Amount of 5.55 Trillion KRW
"Infrastructure to Support 50 Million Users"
Chinese ByteDance's video platform TikTok has decided to invest $8.8 billion (approximately 12.9 trillion KRW) in data center services in Thailand over the next five years. This amount is more than double the investment approved by the Thai government two months ago.
According to Bloomberg on the 3rd (local time), Helena Rush, TikTok's Vice President of Public Policy, met with Thai Prime Minister Pattontan Chinnawat in Bangkok on the 28th of last month and announced plans to build infrastructure to support 50 million TikTok users in Thailand.
This amount is more than twice the $3.8 billion (approximately 5.55 trillion KRW) investment plan approved by Thai authorities in January.
However, Vice President Rush did not provide detailed explanations regarding the specifics of the investment.
In a related statement, TikTok said this investment policy is "a step toward more localized and efficient operations," and through this, it will be able to provide services more effectively to customers in Thailand and Southeast Asia.
In response, Prime Minister Pattontan welcomed TikTok's plans on X (formerly Twitter), stating that they will help develop Thailand's artificial intelligence (AI), content production, and technical workforce.
Amid national security threat controversies in the United States and increasing business uncertainties, TikTok, like other big tech companies, is increasing its investments in Southeast Asia.
Following the 'TikTok Ban Act' enacted by the U.S. Congress, TikTok temporarily suspended its service in January but resumed it after former President Donald Trump's service ban exemption.
President Trump expressed his desire to maintain TikTok services in the U.S. and indicated a preference for selling the company to an American firm.
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