Thai police seized some 247,000 SIM cards, all purchased from Thailand's three major cell carriers, as well as 476 cell phones that were networked to drive up website clicks on Chinese social media.
WeChat, China's most popular social media app, benefitted from the clicks, and the arrested men, who were living in a house in a quiet Thai village, claimed that depending on the number of likes and views generated, they were paid the equivalent of between $2,950 and $4,400 per month, Yahoo News reported.
The click farm, used to inflate the number of likes and views on a website and increasing advertising revenue, was specifically aimed at the WeChat social media mobile community, according to Thai immigration police.
Sunday's arrests occurred some 120 miles east of the Thai capital city of Bangkok.
The three Chinese citizens have been charged with working without a permit, as well as importing phones without paying the necessary duties and fees.
An investigation into how the men were able to acquire so many Thai SIM cards is currently underway.
