Interpol-wanted Brits found running hotel, bars on Thai resort island

Kieren Daniel Farrer Thornton, 38, and Ashton Kevin Saunders, 37, were apprehended by Thai immigration police on May 24, according to commander Songprote Sirisukha, as reported by the Bangkok Post.

The two are reportedly cousins, according to the Daily Mail.

Thornton, wanted in the U.K. on charges of robbery, was taken into custody at the Petcherat Marina and is awaiting extradition proceedings. Saunders, convicted in the U.K. for fraud but having previously escaped prison time, was arrested in the Chaweng Beach area, where he had been posing as a businessman.

Thai authorities revealed that Saunders and his family illegally operated several tourism-related businesses, including a hotel and six bars and restaurants, by using Thai nominee shareholders, a practice strictly prohibited under Thai law. Police conducted a targeted raid on seven establishments linked to Saunders.

Following his arrest, Thai immigration authorities revoked Saunders's visa and classified him as a "prohibited person," effectively barring him from future entry into Thailand. U.K. officials have requested his extradition to serve his pending prison sentence.