Thai authorities searched 14 locations in five northeastern provinces on June 21st. Authorities recovered 315 illegal Bitcoin mining devices during the operation. Authorities also claimed that illegal miners had amassed more than $1.2 million in stolen electricity bills.
Authorities searched Ubon Ratchathani, Yasothon, Amnat Charoen, Roi Et and Maha Sarakham provinces, which make up Thailand’s Isan region. Investigators discovered that the operator had tampered with power meters to keep the rig running, illegally connecting it to the power grid.
Authorities determined that the miners had stolen a total of more than 40.38 million baht, of which the fine for the electricity violation itself was 5.38 million baht and the unpaid electricity bill was reduced to about 35 million baht.
(Updated) Authorities announced that a wide-ranging crackdown on illegal cryptocurrency mining operations resulted in raids at 14 locations in five northeastern provinces and the seizure of 315 mining machines, with total losses estimated at 40.38 million baht.
The operation was carried out by…
— Thai Enquirer (@ThaiEnquirer) June 20, 2026
Cryptocurrency mining is the main cause of electricity theft in Thailand
Thai Government Deputy Spokesperson Lalida Periswivatthana said They noticed and became curious about unusual power consumption patterns in the area. Continued power outages led authorities to believe that illegal mining was taking place in the area.
Isan is one of Thailand’s less developed regions, where land is cheaper and public facilities are less supervised than in the country’s industrial centers. This situation makes it difficult for off-grid mining setups to attract attention for some time.
Thai authorities have dealt with several similar cases in the past. The arrest is at least the fourth meter tampering case recorded in the area in the past 18 months.
In January, Chonburi police seized 996 mining rigs from a company called JIT, which ran meters straight during the day and switched to illegal taps at night. Authorities said total estimated losses were in the hundreds of millions of baht. This was followed by smaller busts in Nan and Pathum Thani earlier this year.
In December, the Thai Department of Special Investigation also raided seven mining sites in Samut Sakhon and Uthai Thani, seizing 3,642 rigs worth an estimated $8.6 million. Thai investigators traced the operation to a Chinese cross-border fraud network operating out of Myanmar, and found that financial transactions totaling more than $143 million flowed through the organization.
Underground mining causes electricity costs to soar in Southeast Asia
In April, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime warned that transnational criminal organizations across East and Southeast Asia were using illegal cryptocurrency mining as a tool to launder billions of dollars in illicit proceeds. Criminal groups are said to be converting stolen electricity into “clean” freshly mined coins.
Mining rigs also serve as a means of generating revenue while integrating dirty money into the system through a process that on paper looks like normal network activity.
Yet within Southeast Asia, Malaysia’s state-owned power company Tenaga Nasional Berhad reported that illegal cryptocurrency mining had drained some $1.1 billion worth of electricity from its power grid over the past five years, and Malaysian authorities announced they had begun deploying drones with thermal imaging capabilities to track hidden rigs.
Although Thailand has a well-developed framework for cryptocurrency exchanges and token offerings through the Securities and Exchange Commission, much of the physical infrastructure for mining is outside the scope of that system.
