Thai authorities uncover an illegal mining farm with millions of dollars in damages

The company modified meters to connect the rigs

10.01.2025 - 12:35

3 min

What’s new? Thai police and electricity officials have seized 996 bitcoins mining devices from a JIT company in Chon Buri province. Law enforcers said the company was registered to trade digital assets but was also stealing electricity by using modified meters to run cryptocurrency mining rigs.

Material by Bangkok Post

What else is known? Losses incurred by electricity suppliers have been estimated at “hundreds of millions of baht,” local media report. At the current exchange rate, 100 million baht is valued at $2,9 million.

Cryptocurrency mining is an extremely energy-intensive activity. According to US research, in 2023, even the most highly efficient rigs would consume about 155 000 kWh of electricity to mine a single bitcoin.

According to this data, in Thailand, at a tariff of 4 baht per kWh, it would cost 620 000 baht to mine 1 BTC. At the same time, the average household electricity bill in Thailand is estimated at 750 baht per month.

Earlier, mining was banned in 10 regions of Russia from 2025 to 2031 due to power shortages.

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Crypto regulation in Thailand. Early last year, Thailand’s Ministry of Finance eliminated VAT on cryptocurrency trading to stimulate market growth. In April, Thailand’s local Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the blocking of unregistered crypto exchanges to combat money laundering.

In October, the SEC proposed to allow private and mutual funds to invest in cryptocurrencies to meet growing demand from institutional investors. At the same time, Thailand’s leading bank Siam Commercial Bank launched cross-border transfers in stablecoins in conjunction with institutional custodian Fireblocks.

In 2025, Thai authorities announced that tourists in Phuket will be allowed to use cryptocurrencies for payments as part of a pilot project.

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