26-05-2025
Two British fugitives are arrested on Thailand's White Lotus island running hotel and bars - ten years after fleeing armed robbery and fraud charges
Two British fugitives wanted by Interpol for robbery and fraud were arrested on a Thailand 's White Lotus island.
Kieren Daniel Farrer Thornton, 38, and Ashton Kevin Saunders, 37, were detained in two separate raids on Koh Samui in southern Thailand on May 24.
The pair, who are reportedly cousins from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, were said to have been hiding in the country for more than 10 years to escape jail in the UK. They were arrested following co-ordination between the Thai immigration bureau and the UK's National Crime Agency.
Police in the UK had arrested Kieren over robbery at a pier before he fled. He will be extradited to England to face legal action, officials said.
Ashton, who also goes by 'Ben Ash', was reportedly convicted of fraud in the UK and sentenced to prison but fled the country before serving his sentence.
He was found to be staying in Thailand on a tourist visa and had opened a string of bars on the popular Chaweng Beach. The seven businesses he ran in Thailand allegedly used local nominees to skirt the country's ownership laws.
Police Major General Songprod Sirisukha, commander of Immigration Division 6, said: 'Both of the suspects' permission to remain in the country has been revoked, as they are wanted by a foreign country. They will be extradited to the UK accordingly.
'The arrests align with the policy of the Royal Thai Police and Immigration Bureau to continuously prevent and suppress transnational crime and offenses committed by foreigners who attempt to secretly hide in Thailand's tourist cities.'
Authorities said they were further reviewing the business licenses and ownership structures to find irregularities.
Under Thailand's Foreign Business Act of 1999, foreigners may establish joint ventures with Thai partners but are restricted to a maximum ownership of 49 per cent. However, some business owners bypass these regulations by hiring Thai nominees.
In 2014, Kieren and Ashton reportedly created a fake webpage copying British newspaper The Guardian, where they published glowing reviews of their scam company, Business Grants & Loans.
Victims would allegedly pay to take out loans from their website, but never received the promised money.
In 2015, Ashton was also given 18-month suspended prison sentence for running an online advertising scam that defrauded small businesses.
Between 2012 and 2013, he tricked business owners into paying fees for fake grants and poor marketing services through his company, Blue Tech Media.
Judge Jameson, who handed down the verdict, had said: 'This is an internet version of advanced fee fraud of which you had a leading role. Remorse was not shown initially, but your offer to compensate victims, now I take as regret.
'I am going to give you the maximum amount of unpaid work I can. If I had not been able to do that, my sentence would have been one of immediate custody.'
Koh Samui has seen a surge of tourism among US, British and European travellers following the success of The White Lotus's third season.
The Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui, which serves as the show's fictional setting, saw a tenfold increase in demand, its executive vice president Marc Speichert said.
The spike in interest, called the 'White Lotus Effect', also boosted tourism in the previous filming locations of Hawaii and Sicily.
