Cracking Down on Crypto Mining: Thai Authorities Bust Illegal Operation
Thai authorities recently conducted a successful crackdown on an illegal crypto mining operation suspected of stealing electricity. The raid targeted two locations in Samut Sakhon and Ratchaburi, resulting in the seizure of over 650 mining devices valued at more than 200 million baht (approximately $5 million).
Suspicious Activity Leads to Raid
- Following reports of unusually high electricity consumption, officials from Thailand’s Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau and the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) obtained warrants to raid the suspected locations.
- The raid in Samut Sakhon uncovered 187 crypto mining devices hidden within a temple compound in the Ban Phaeo district.
- Another 465 phones, computers, and tablets potentially linked to the illegal mining operation were seized from a separate warehouse in Ratchaburi.
- Investigators from the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) discovered evidence of tampered electricity meters at both sites, indicating electricity theft amounting to an estimated 5 million baht ($135,000).
- Three individuals, Sombat Tangnawadee, Kiatkongel Tumthong, and a third individual whose last name was not disclosed, were apprehended for their roles in managing the illegal mining operations.
- All three suspects admitted to overseeing the mining activities, which had been operational for approximately two months.
- Sombat and the unnamed individual took charge of the operations in Samut Sakhon, while Kiatkongel managed activities in Ratchaburi.
- They also confessed to illegally importing mining equipment from China with the intention to sell it to other crypto miners.
- In addition to selling mining equipment, the suspects provided hosting services for miners’ machines, offering space for the equipment and charging a monthly fee of 6,200 baht ($167) to cover electricity expenses.
- Authorities had already been investigating these locations prior to receiving complaints about the illegal mining operations.
- Similar crackdowns on illegal crypto mining have occurred in other countries, such as in Russia, where hidden data centers in Siberia were shut down, and in Malaysia, where unauthorized mining operations were discovered in various locations.
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