Bank of England robber had bought house on Koh Samui
John Fowler, 57, who is now being held on charges of kidnap and robbery, invested in an exclusive housing development for Britons on Koh Samui, and planned to settle down among the palm trees and frangipani.
The hideaway estate of 27 designer homes with swimming pools and a private gym was ideal, Fowler told the developer.
"The security is good and it seems safe from villains and thieves with just the right sort of people."
Fowler from Staplehurst, Kent, was charged on March 1 with conspiracy to rob and three charges of kidnapping after the heist at Securitas, which even taking into account inflation easily tops the Britain's "Great Train Robbery" in 1963. Securitas is responsible for destroying used notes for the Bank of England.
Since the robbery on February 22 in Tonbridge, Kent, during which the depot's manager Colin Dixon, his wife Lynn and nine-year-old son Craig were kidnapped, some ?19 million has been recovered and a number of other arrests have been made in a massive manhunt by Scotland Yard and Kent Police.
Fowler, more than 18 months ago, had been making plans to move abroad to the beaches of Thailand which long ago replaced the Spanish coast as Britain's new "Costa del Crime".
Stuart Evans, a former estate agent, is the developer of Samran Gardens, Maenam, Koh Samui, with his Thai wife. Prices for homes at the estate started at Bt15 million.
He said: "I'm shocked and more than a little angry. This is a very small estate with an elite clientele. I vet all the applicants to see if they are suitable as I live on the estate myself.
"We have oil and car production executives, and the like, all Britons who have made their living honestly and are getting ready to retire in the sun.
"I interviewed John and his wife Linda. Okay, they were not particularly up market but at the same time they were not champagne people with a beer attitude. I liked them both, especially Linda.
"Also I did not want to fill the place with gin and tonic Hong Kong Brits, the sort of people I could really do with out.
"John and Linda bought in to the property over 18 months ago. Since then prices have trebled. They were originally looking for a place on the beach. But he said he like the placed because of its solitude and security and the fact that I also live on the estate and am available 24 hours.
"This is most upsetting. My wife is from a well-respected family on the island. They will feel like they were tricked.
"I knew there were problems because the property has been lying empty and I urged them to complete their landscaping plans.
"But I got a message from Linda four days ago saying they had been away on a skiing holiday but there was a family crisis.
"They have bought the house outright on a lease and were in the process of forming a Thai company to buy the freehold.
"They can forget about buying the freehold, and take their money back."
In the last few years, foreign police have extradited American, French, German, Italian, Scandinavian and Greek nationals from Thailand on murder and robbery charges.
These extraditions have now become almost a monthly routine.
Among the British nationals strongly connected with homes in Thailand have been John Palmer, the Time-Share king, who is suspected of smelting the bullion from the Brinks Matt robbery; and Michael Mescal, a former East London market trader, accused of being a leading drug trafficker, who is facing narcotics charges in Italy.
Pattaya has a notorious criminal reputation and was where Robert Henry, 48, a Coventry boxing promoter, was gunned down three years ago.
While no foreigner can own land in Thailand, British criminals and foreigners in the sex trade take the usual course in circumventing the law by establishing Thai companies to buy property.
Technically they own no more than 49 per cent but the companies do not trade and the Thai shareholders are usually appointed by their lawyers and have no real control.
They stand to lose everything, however, if their cover is blown by criminal associates back home.
Andrew Drummond
Special to the Nation
