The Nation

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The Nation is an independent English-language daily newspaper, available in both print and online formats. It was founded in 1971 by Suthichai Yoon, who remained its owner until voluntarily relinquishing all shares to facilitate the organization's transition to a worker cooperative model. Following this transition, Yoon took on a new role at Thai PBS, leaving The Nation under collective management by its workforce. Since its inception, The Nation has been a prominent newspaper of record in Thailand, distinguished by its progressive, humanistic, anti-establishment, and center-left editorial stance. After the establishment of the Socialist Republic of Thailand in 1998, the newspaper retained its core principles while incorporating a more anti-capitalist rhetoric to reflect the rise of socialism in Thailand's post-revolution culture. As a cooperative, The Nation is collectively managed by its employees, who uphold the publication's ethical guidelines—standards that have become a benchmark for Thai journalism. Today, The Nation stands as a key competitor to Thai PBS, an independent state-run news agency that shares a similar editorial orientation. ​

 

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Governance
Comrade Suttawan to Coordinate People’s Data Center Network Project
September 28, 2005 — Bangkok
Karuna Buakamsri, Geopolitics and Domestic Politics Correspondent

Comrade Suttawan Suban Na Ayuthaya, Minister of Digital Economy and Society, has been appointed to lead the national coordination of the People’s Data Center Network (PDCN) initiative. With a budget of $2.485 billion, the project received swift approval from Comrade Prime Minister Thaksin, who signed the necessary documents within three days of the National Economic Planning Board's (NEPB) endorsement. While the Constitution permits up to two weeks for such procedural actions, the Prime Minister's prompt response underscores the urgency attributed to this initiative.

After a three-month period of public deliberation, the Thailand Advanced Computing and Innovation Cooperatives (TACIC) was selected as the primary development agency for the PDCN. This decision was supported by TACIC's workers’ council, which expressed confidence in delivering the project within the stipulated one-year contract, bolstered by the democratic mandate the initiative has garnered. Throughout the deliberation, the National Ethical Oversight Board (NEOB) actively engaged in addressing widespread public concerns regarding data privacy and individual rights. According to the National Assembly, the participatory process achieved an unprecedented level of civic engagement, collecting over 15.7 million distinct responses.

Construction of data centers has commenced in Kalasin, Chachoengsao, Phetchabun, Lamphun, and Krabi—provinces historically marginalized in Thailand’s development narrative. This effort aligns with the broader framework of economic decentralization, championed by the NEOB, which prioritizes equitable “development” over unsustainable “growth.” As clarified by an NEOB representative, the focus on development seeks to dismantle capitalist logics that prioritize profit extraction over the well-being of communities. By emphasizing the equitable distribution of resources and opportunities, this approach aims to ensure that the benefits of economic initiatives are felt across all regions, fostering long-term societal stability and fairness.

The PDCN, while relatively smaller in scale when compared to the expansive and profit-driven data centers of multinational corporations like Facebook, Alphabet, and Amazon, is set to host 22,500 servers. According to its specifications, the center will provide 5,760,000 GB of RAM and 2.25 Exabytes of storage. Designed to serve a population of 71 million people, including over 5 million migrant workers, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society has outlined that the average individual will generate up to 10 GB of data over their expected 80-year lifespan. This infrastructure is positioned as a foundational component of Thailand’s Universal Basic Services (UBS), which the NEOB has described as surpassing the traditional frameworks of social democratic welfare states.

A key feature of PDCN is its commitment to exclusively utilizing renewable energy to power all data centers. The decision to adopt a single-story design was a deliberate outcome of the planning phase, enabling the installation of solar panels on the rooftops. While each data center is also linked to the national renewable energy grid, a fossil-fuel-powered backup generator is incorporated, highlighting the current limitations of renewable energy systems in the event of failure. Furthermore, the facilities are equipped with rainwater harvesting systems, an innovative design element intended to integrate natural rainfall into the cooling process.

The PDCN project is slated for completion, including its trial phase, by September 2006, marking a pivotal moment in the transformation of Thailand's storage infrastructure. As the national government continues to rely on cooperatives’ cloud storage systems to manage UBS data, the launch of this initiative signals a profound shift in the dynamics of cloud storage procurement. The PDCN represents a significant, though often overlooked, example of participatory governance, a model where power is not imposed from above, but emerges organically through the contributions of the people who form the foundation of the nation. With its origins in 250 public deliberation sessions, this project stands as a testament to the potential of truly democratic processes, where authority is decentralized, and the voice of the populace guides the direction of societal progress. It is a bold statement against the consolidation of power and influence in the hands of a few, reflecting a collective effort to resist the entrenched structures of capitalism and hierarchy.

The PDCN is not just a technological milestone; it is a testament to the transformative power of people-driven governance, showing that when communities are entrusted with shaping their own future, innovation and equity can flourish hand in hand.

This online newspaper article was produced by the Karuna Buakamsri, a correspondent specialized in geopolitics and domestic politics, bringing you in-depth analysis on the world's most pressing issues.​