Bitcoin miners steal electricity in Kanchanaburi

KANCHANABURI – Investigators are trying to track down the perpetrators behind a bitcoin mining operation that consumed millions of baht worth of stolen electricity from 10 locations in Tha Muang district.
Authorities armed with warrants on Wednesday searched houses and commercial buildings at 10 locations where suspicious electricity consumption patterns had been detected.
The raids were led by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), joined by police and Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) staff, following a complaint from the power utility.
Investigators say the cryptocurrency miners used electronic devices to tamper with electricity meters, so that each place paid a power bill of only 100 to 400 baht a month. Actual electricity use was more than 250,000 baht a month per location.
Studies in the US showed that, in 2023, dedicated mining companies with highly efficient setups would consume about 155,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity to mine a single bitcoin. In Thailand, assuming a power tariff of 4 baht per kWh, that works out to 620,000 baht. The average household power bill in Thailand has been estimated at 750 baht a month.
Bitcoin was trading yesterday at 2.1 million baht, or $63,100.
Electricity thefts at the 10 locations caused the PEA to suffer losses of more than 2.5 million baht, said Pol Maj Yutthana Phraedam, acting director-general of the DSI.
Many mining rigs and other hardware for cryptocurrency mining were seized, he said. The investigation is continuing to find and arrest those involved.