Crime
Scotish Expat Walter Douglas Deported from Thailand to the UK
BANGKOK – Walter Douglas, who began his working life as a milkman in Glasgow, was flown from Thailand after police raided his villa in Koh Samui and also his nightclub. He was met at Heathrow by officers from the National Crime Agency. A spokesman said: “He has been charged with obtaining goods by deception.”
Douglas’s ‘Dreamers’ club and restaurant which he started with a local influential Thai businessmenDouglas, known as ‘The Tartan Pimpernel’ and once described as one of Britain’s ten wealthiest drugs traffickers, disappeared in the late nineties after a career linked to narcotics.
But when he was tracked down to the island of Koh Samui last year, he said stories about him were grossly exaggerated. No charges were pending, he said.
But on Tuesday Thai Police raided his villa in Bangrak on the island’s north coast and also his nightclub called ‘Dreamers’ where he went under the name ‘Bobby Brown’.
And on Wednesday night he was flown to Bangkok and put on a London bound plane which was met on Thursday at Heathrow by officers of the National Crime Agency.
Douglas’s deportation and arrest in police custody has caused a panic among a group of British expats, known to British police, living in an enclave in Bangrak, Koh Samui, just five minutes from the airport. Others have been arrested on return to the U.K.
Although this site uncovered Douglas’ presence on the island last year we cannot claim credit for this latest action. A source close the Foreign Affairs Division from the Royal Thai Police say officers acted on information from the island. The fact that the National Crime Agency deny they were involved in the operation, apart from receiving Douglas on his return, seems to support that view.
Douglas’s ‘Dreamers’ club and restaurant which he started with a local influential Thai businessmen remains open but quiet. His Russian girlfriend is believed to be still in residence looking after his affairs. – Andrew Drummond, Herald Scotland
