Illegal Kanchanaburi Bitcoin mine exposed after shop house blaze

A fire broke out in a three-storey shop house in the Kanchanaburi town centre on Wednesday evening, exposing an illegal Bitcoin mining operation suspected of stealing electricity worth hundreds of thousands of baht.

Firefighters from Kanchanaburi Municipality rushed to the Samphan Niwet community at around 8.20pm yesterday, to tackle flames raging on the third floor of the end-terrace building. It took roughly 30 minutes to bring the blaze under complete control.

Upon entering the charred third floor, firefighters noticed several irregularities and immediately alerted Kanchanaburi provincial police.

Inside the room, officers discovered more than 20 computers and dedicated cryptocurrency mining rigs severely damaged by the fire, prompting them to call in officials from the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) for a joint investigation.

A subsequent inspection revealed that the room had been heavily modified, featuring large commercial air conditioners and extensive soundproofing foam lining the walls.

On the ground floor, investigators found that the main power lines had been illegally rigged to bypass the meter and siphon electricity directly from the PEA grid to power the mining operation.

Given the scale of the operation and the sheer number of rigs involved, PEA officials estimated the site's actual electricity consumption to be between 100,000 and 200,000 baht per month.

A review of the building’s recent electricity bills showed, however, that the occupants had been paying as little as 1,000 baht a month.

Police initially suspect that the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit at the main circuit breaker, caused by the heavy power load, before spreading through the upper floor.

Authorities are now tracking down the owner of the shop house for further questioning and potential legal proceedings.