The Director of the Economic Crime Suppression Division (ECD) of the Royal Thai Police, Major General Thap, reported that the ECD's third division, with court approval, recently conducted a joint operation in Bangkok, Chonburi, and Phuket under the code name "Crypto Phantom," targeting illegal digital asset exchange stores.
The operation involved searches at eight locations, including residences, commercial buildings, and digital asset exchange companies. The police seized a large amount of electronic equipment, bank books, mobile phones, surveillance systems, company registration documents, tax records, and extensive data related to cryptocurrency transactions.
Major General Thap pointed out that these illegal exchange venues are not only involved in money laundering but have also been proven to be the source of funds for multiple cases of kidnapping, robbery, and extortion. Preliminary estimates show that the related money flow has exceeded 14 billion Thai baht, with some cases linked to Chinese telecom fraud gangs.
The investigation revealed that these stores were secretly providing cryptocurrency exchange services without authorization from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand, constituting a violation of the Digital Asset Business Act. Their clientele mainly comes from Russia, China, and other countries, with funds suspected to be linked to illegal activities such as drug trafficking, telephone scams, and war funding. These funds were exchanged through anonymous blockchain wallets to evade financial regulation and tax scrutiny.
Data shows that the eight stores processed over 1,000 digital asset transactions, amounting to 425,104,595 USDT (approximately 14 billion Thai baht). The funds were mostly retained in Thailand for trading and investing in real estate, with some flowing into the real estate markets of popular areas like Chonburi and Phuket.
Of particular concern is that although these stores are registered as Thai companies with Thai shareholders and operators, they are mostly jointly operated with spouses from China or Russia, with the actual funds provided by foreign spouses. The police also found that these stores do not serve Thai nationals, only foreign customers, and the storefronts are marked "Digital Asset Exchange Services," with mostly foreign staff.
During the operation, the police found a large number of round cryptocurrency models in a safe in a Phuket store and are currently testing whether they are made of real gold. Twelve managers and shareholders of these eight stores have been summoned for investigation, with at least five preliminarily confirmed to have violated the Digital Asset Business Act.
Major General Thap emphasized that although these illegal shops hold currency exchange licenses issued by the Bank of Thailand, according to Thai law, operating a digital asset exchange business also requires SEC authorization. Currently, only 33 cryptocurrency traders are authorized in Thailand.
He urged the public and businesses to be vigilant and not to engage with unauthorized digital asset platforms to avoid being involved in money laundering or transnational fraud chains. According to the revised 2025 version of the Digital Asset Business Act, illegal operators can be sentenced to 2 to 5 years in prison and fined between 200,000 and 500,000 Thai baht, with an additional daily fine of up to 10,000 Thai baht, and may also violate the Anti-Money Laundering Act and the Anti-Fraud Act.
