The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) stormed 13 locations across Kanchanaburi province on October 9.
Police Major Yutthana Praedam, DSI acting director-general, said the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) Region 3 had flagged the houses and commercial buildings in the Tha Muang District for suspected Bitcoin mining.
Each location reportedly paid a power bill of just 100 to 400 THB (2.28 to 9.1 GBP) a month when the actual cost was 250,000 THB (5,690 GBP) per month.
PEA said the estimated damages reached more than 100 million THB annually (2.3 million GBP).
Authorities said they seized a total of 300 Bitcoin mining machines in the raids. They also arrested a man named Kritsada, who allegedly admitted to being involved in the scheme.
Thana Choksombat, assistant governor of Provincial Electricity Authority Region 3, said: 'The mining of Bitcoin uses a large amount of electricity, comparable to that of an industrial plant. However, investigations found that the suspects tampered with the electric metres to display a value much less than the actual electric consumption.'
Police said the offense is punishable under Sections 334 and 335(1) of the Criminal Code regarding 'theft and nighttime theft'.
The DSI urged residents and building owners to report any suspicious activity to the police.
