Thai police has shut down an a Bitcoin An estimated $3,000,000 worth of electricity was stolen by a mining operation.
According to officials, the operation was located in Chonburi’s Phanat Nikhom in eastern Thailand and involved up to 1,000 machines.
According to English language Thai news outlets The NationThough the authorities couldn’t provide an exact number, they estimated that it had been worth “hundreds of millions of baht.” As of this writing, 100 million Bahts is approximately $2.95 million.
Apparently, they tampered the power meter at the Provincial Electricity Authority to divert the electricity needed for their equipment. The Nation Unidentified employees at the facility told the police that the theft of electricity only took place at night. The power meters were used correctly throughout the day, to prevent detection.
The Crime Suppression Division of Thailand (CSD) and the PEA have seized from the site 996 Bitcoin miners, as well as other mining devices. CSD has stated that it does not know the identity of the individuals or company responsible for this operation but is seeking court warrants to arrest them.
This news comes after numerous cases in which Bitcoin miners have stolen large amounts of electricity in Thailand. Thai police raided a second illegal Bitcoin operation in Samut Sakhon on May 15, seizing equipment worth nearly 69m baht.
Bitcoin miners were arrested in October for tampering electricity meters and giving false readings. They also stole millions of Baht of electricity. In November, nine illegal Bitcoin mining farms in southern Thailand were dismantled for stealing over €270,000 ($278,000) worth of electricity.
Thailand is still a small player in global bitcoin mining despite numerous serious cases of electricity theft. In 2022, Judge Business School of Cambridge University calculated that Thailand produced only 0.97% the global Bitcoin. This country lags behind the major players, such as Kazakhstan and Russia.
The same type of electricity theft occurs in many other areas of Southeast Asia. From 2018-2023, a Malaysian official estimated that his country had lost $754,000,000 (RM3.4 Billion) due to Bitcoin miners draining the electricity supply.
This type of theft occurs in both the West and East.
In 2021, a British man was jailed after stealing £32,000 ($44,000) worth of electricity to mine Bitcoin at two sites in Leicestershire.
Stacy Elliott is the editor.