Alphabet's Google plans to invest 1 billion to build data centers in Thailand, joining global tech companies in adding cloud and artificial intelligence 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, Microsoft, Nvidia and Amazon, which are spending billions of dollars to ramp up AI data centers from Thailand and Malaysia to Singapore and Indonesia.

Startling video footage capturing the tragic moment a robotic arm fatally crushed a worker at a factory in Thailand has emerged today. The harrowing incident unfolded at the Vandapac factory located in Thailand's Chonburi province on March 27. The unsuspecting worker appeared to be laying out sheets of material when the arm forcefully swung down and pinned him against a bench. Unsettling CCTV footage shows how the victim was incapacitated beneath the hulking metal device as a fellow employee continued working across the room, seemingly unaware of the catastrophe unfolding just behind him. Emergency responders swiftly intervened after the alarm was eventually raised, releasing the man before administering critical aid and rushing him to Chonburi Hospital.

For Thailand, Dell's vision is consistent with the government's "Thailand 4.0" initiative which focuses on the digital transformation of the Thai economy and society. Under this initiative, the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) covering parts of Rayong, Chon Buri and Chachoengsao provinces is a showcase example of smart cities and a new generation of industries and services. In his keynote speech at the 2018 Dell Technologies/World event in Las Vegas on April 30, Dell said big data is the new "rocket fuel", and when it is leveraged with AI and Machine Learning (ML) capabilities on the next 5G communication platform the results will be unprecedented. He cited smart cities and autonomous cars as examples of how massive data running to the tune of, say, 200 petabytes per day from just one city, and its IoT devices plus self-driving vehicles, can be used to improve the way people live, commute and do other activities. According to Dell, all stakeholders and businesses should benefit from the new digital infrastructure required to deliver unprecedented results as the use of cloud-based computing and storage facilities will be combined with the so-called "edge" computing capability such as that of autonomous cars and other smart devices.