Thailand's DSI Follows the Watts, Finds a $300M Washing Machine 🧺

Thailand's Department of Special Investigation said Friday it has widened a probe into illegal crypto mining that it links to Chinese-linked crime syndicates, with financial flows exceeding 10 billion baht ($300 million) a year, according to a DSI press release. The investigation builds on 2025 raids in which the DSI's Technology and Cyber Crime Bureau dismantled three mining networks accused of stealing electricity to run their rigs, seizing more than 6,390 machines and putting damage to the state-run Provincial Electricity Authority at over 953 million baht (roughly $29 million), one of the largest utility thefts in recent memory.

Investigators say the mining operations served as a hub for laundering proceeds from call-center scams and online gambling, with Myanmar nationals recruited to withdraw 30 million to 50 million baht, around $920,000 to $1.5 million, in cash from Thai banks each day. The DSI has issued arrest warrants for eight suspects, including four Chinese financiers and four Myanmar nationals, and is seeking seven more while summoning five other people to face charges. One key figure, named by the DSI as Wang Yicheng, is a suspect in a major digital-asset fraud case flagged by U.S. law enforcement; the U.S. Secret Service has seized more than $17.8 million (around 620 million baht) in crypto linked to him, connected to losses exceeding 2 billion baht. Wang, a Bangkok-based businessman, previously drew American scrutiny when the Secret Service traced funds from a U.S. scam victim to a crypto account in his name, which authorities linked to a "pig butchering" operation.

The probe has also ensnared Thai officials. The DSI has referred two cases to the National Anti-Corruption Commission involving seven electricity authority officials, a law enforcement officer, and 13 investors or alleged accomplices accused of helping the miners tap power and dodge detection. Separately, Thai authorities have seized $8.6 million worth of Bitcoin mining equipment (300 million baht) from seven operations suspected of bankrolling Chinese transnational scam gangs operating from Myanmar. The Department of Special Investigation raided six locations in Samut Sakhon province and one in Uthai Thani on Tuesday, impounding 3,642 mining devices valued at $7.7 million (270 million baht) and electrical equipment worth $860,000 (30 million baht), according to a Bangkok Post report. The expansion follows a series of raids that began last December, when the DSI seized 3,642 rigs worth $8.6 million from sites linked to Chinese scam networks operating out of Myanmar.

The crackdown mirrors a wider Southeast Asian push against crypto-linked power theft, as Malaysia's state utility has reported roughly $1.1 billion in losses from similar activity.