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Today in Focus

The secretive billionaire bankrolling Nigel Farage

28 Apr 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 8.24 The Guardian

This is The Guardian.

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8.26 - 12.133 Tom Burgess

Today, the secretive billionaire bankrolling Nigel Farage.

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27.841 - 45.057 Chris Harborne

I'd like to transport you to the Thai island of Koh Samui. It's this kind of paradise island. Lush, jungly foliage, good luck plants with these kind of burgundy leaves. Rich foliage all around, the lapping waters of the Gulf of Thailand.

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49.087 - 56.578 Tom Burgess

This is Tom Burgess, an investigations reporter at The Guardian. He's describing the Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary in Thailand.

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Chapter 2: Who is Christopher Harborne and why is he significant?

56.598 - 61.986 Tom Burgess

That's where, one balmy evening last year, the resort manager was welcoming guests to a talk.

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62.767 - 65.952 Unknown

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I hope everybody's fine.

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66.372 - 68.856 Tom Burgess

On longevity and anti-aging medicine.

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68.876 - 78.139 Unknown

Today, we have the pleasure to... have the two very distinctive, exceptional people who embody this vision.

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78.539 - 84.466 Tom Burgess

The manager introduces two men on the stage. The first, a Thai doctor with impeccable credentials.

84.747 - 90.193 Unknown

A seasoned leader in wellness, healthy ageing, anti-ageing and longevity.

90.774 - 94.618 Tom Burgess

And then, a white guy in khakis and a pale blue shirt.

96.657 - 108.268 Unknown

Slim, about 60, kind of graying, whitening beard. Equally passionate about holistic wellness is our Kamalai owner, Kun Chakrit.

108.289 - 133.54 Chris Harborne

He's a regular at these talks, and sometimes he talks about his own life experiences, even once like a brush with mortality. And I had a heart attack maybe 12, 13 years ago, 49 years old, which really is much too young. Any heart attack at any age shouldn't happen. Chakrit speaks with this lovely, kind of soothing voice. You could listen to it all day. Very measured, very precise and calm.

Chapter 3: How much money has Harborne donated to Farage's political parties?

1173.434 - 1179.563 Chris Harborne

And then Thorage will later become specifically a very vocal supporter of Tether itself.

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1179.543 - 1201.534 Nigel Farage

Tether is a stable coin. Stable coins are the way which money goes from conventional currencies through into cryptocurrencies and back again. Tether is about to be valued as a $500 billion company. You know, stable coins, crypto, this world is enormous. And I've been urging for years that London should embrace it.

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1201.919 - 1220.988 Chris Harborne

But before that happens, you've got Boris in power and you've got money going from Harborne to the Conservatives once again. And they say they want to make UK a sort of crypto hub. So there is a correlation between people who get Harborne's money and being very pro-crypto. There are other reasons to support crypto.

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Chapter 4: What is Chris Harborne's background and upbringing?

1221.408 - 1232.989 Chris Harborne

It has some very positive uses. There are lots of people who make a good case that Crypto is a good thing in some ways, but it's definitely the case that the people who've got Harbourn's money become pro-crypto.

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1233.357 - 1254.248 Tom Burgess

And in your magazine piece, there are some previously unpublished pictures of Farage attending Chris Harbourne's 60th birthday party back in December 2022. Is that right? When Farage had supposedly taken a step away from frontline politics and the party is at the Thai wellness resort that Harbourne owns, where he prefers to be known as Chakrit and not Chris.

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1254.789 - 1261.018 Tom Burgess

And I've got to say, it's pretty much the last place on earth I would expect an unrepentant drinker and smoker to turn up.

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1262.095 - 1273.907 Chris Harborne

So a source tells me that they did witness Farage and co sitting down to a few bottles. Maybe this was kind of like wellness wine. Or maybe it was like stronger stuff. I'm not really sure.

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1274.148 - 1277.758 Tom Burgess

How has Farage explained his presence at this birthday party?

1277.772 - 1278.674 Chris Harborne

He says it's just a party.

1278.975 - 1279.176 Tom Burgess

No.

1279.497 - 1296.729 Chris Harborne

He says it's just a party. Well, actually, he doesn't say anything. We've got a legal letter that comes from an email address called legal at reform. Okay. Let me grab it. I've got a thickening pile of legal letters. Here's the reform one. So it's basically, yeah, this is just a party. Don't read too much into it.

1296.89 - 1314.972 Chris Harborne

What it certainly isn't is some sort of like political strategy gathering where they're plotting Farage's takeover of the UK. They gather, they go to a birthday. 200 people are there. It's just a birthday party. No political discussions of the nature implied took place and to suggest otherwise is a complete fabrication.

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