Detained in Thailand, Cannabis Coffeeshop Pioneer Asks Dutch King for Rescue

[starchild5]

Do people even read here...

 

Around that date the Dutch Department of Justice starts an investigation into the business of ‘The Grass Company’ and Johan van Laarhoven is named as prime suspect.

During this investigation, the Dutch police execute several raids on the shops, offices and homes of the coffee shop chain and several telephone and e-mail taps are being used and houses searched.

The investigations by the Dutch Department of Justice are not focusing on drugs, but mainly on tax-evasion and money laundering.

According to the Dutch head Officer of Justice, Charles van der Voort, part’s of the daily turnover was being kept away from the official accounting by ‘The Grass Company’.

These investigations by the Dutch Department of Justice took place over a period of 4-5 years, with no official claim or prove of any wrongdoing by ‘The Grass Company’.

 

It was the Dutch government who started legal proceedings against him..Thai's were not interested but they kept on pressuring them

 

What a GIANT LOAD OF LIES BY THE DUTCH

 

This liaison police-officer, on July 14, 2014, sends a rather misleading letter to the Thai Officer of Justice in Bangkok.

This letter tells a totally different story than the official request for legal assistance.

 

Yeah Yeah. How convenient..Since the Dutch were not getting any help from Thai's they convinced Thailand of him being a Drug Suspect so that he could be arrested. They were jealous as he was a free man and not sucked into Dutch TAX System which is actually the real MAfIA...

 

Europeans are fed up of illegal TAX System which is used to fund illegal immigrants to your own country and destroy it your own money.

 

Why are people being so retarded now that Dutch People are protesting..The government is acting as if they are they Good guys...

Its the DUTCH government who faked him through the letter as being a DRUG SUSPECT...WAKE UP...As a result he was arrested. 

 

 

[boomerangutang]

If he's searching for a Thai lawyer, beware:   Some are not effective.  I've employed 3 Thai lawyers over the past 20 yrs.  One was a woman who couldn't stand up to male bureaucrats.  Every time a Thai official said something, she would immediately wai and agree with him - with zero resistance.   Another was a man.  I mentioned a legal issue I had (ATM rip-off). He said there was nothing I could do.   I went to another male lawyer on the same issue, and together we pursued a case and won a settlement.

 

Yet another:  I spoke at length to Joe who had property stolen by two other farang who cheated him.  The Thai lawyer Joe first went to, said there was no legal recourse.  Dead end.  Then Joe went to talk to a NZ lawyer.  The Kiwi picked up the phone, spoke for ten minutes with the farang thieves, and Joe got a decent compensation soon after.

 

Regarding ganja:   Thai officials, like other SE Asians, are still thinking archaically.  In a few years, they'll follow US/Europe toward making ganja laws less draconian.  Unfortunately, until then, some folks will have to suffer byzantine laws and the mean mindsets or SE Asian officials.   Also; in this case, Thai officials saw a way to get a bunch of money, so they're going for it.  I predict the Dutchman and his gal will get out of prison soon, but not before they've been milked of every satang possible by Thai authorities.

 

[KhunSteven]

1 hour ago, catman20 said:

this man knew he was up to no good thats why he told everyone he made his money from being a building developer before he was caught.

 

What lottery numbers should I do this week.

[KhunSteven]

10 minutes ago, ChoakMyDee said:

This is very sad but it seems like he may have brought this on himself. He was probably avoiding the Dutch government when they were trying to contact him regarding their investigation. They only went to the Thai government because he avoided them I guess? If he would have been forthcoming with the Dutch authorities then the Thais may never have become involved.

 

You can't avoid the long arm of the law by hiding in Thailand like the old days., with lots of governments cooperating with each other.

 

Where is the evidence that supports this fantasy you have created?

[AlQaholic]

Ok, so next time a Thai member of the Government visits another country they should be arrested for using corruption money abroad, a form of money laundering, which is illegal..As are military coups....

[sandgroper2]

2 hours ago, kalbo123 said:

Of course what really happened is that Thai officials took the guy's money and property in Thailand and that money is long gone...

They are in too deep and don't want or can return his and his wife money.

 

That comment can land you in the monkey house for a very long time, also the people who "like" it. The Govt. keeps advising that they are tracking social media.

[khunpa]

Anyone know what the wife was found guilty of? 

 

(Must that been hard to make the story and accusations up for that one)

Edited October 25, 2016 by khunpa

[lungnorm]

Two clear messages come out of this story. 1. Do not trust Dutch justice. 2. Do not trust Thai justice. One is too smart the other is too crazy. 

[JustNo]

I thought the justice system was bad here, and it is, but are things slowly getting worse? 

[performance]

9 minutes ago, sandgroper2 said:

That comment can land you in the monkey house for a very long time, also the people who "like" it. The Govt. keeps advising that they are tracking social media.

Monkey house please give me a spell. The man is correct.

[The Deerhunter]

2 hours ago, JohnThailandJohn said:

And for the real story ...  http://www.chiangraitimes.com/dutchman-johan-van-laarhoven-and-tukta-his-thai-wife-innocent-in-bangkok-prison.html

It reads even worse in detail.   Note; (for what t's worth) that the article was written by another Dutch man, same name, possibly a brother.  However if it is all true as written by him, then this has no bearing on it. Probably, it is all true but people under such circumstances have been known to polish the facts or omit pertinent facts from the other side.   Just saying.......!

[TheFishman1]

And they call this Justice? TIT CRAP

[khunpa]

8 minutes ago, lungnorm said:

Two clear messages come out of this story. 1. Do not trust Dutch justice. 2. Do not trust Thai justice. One is too smart the other is too crazy. 

 

I hope you are not truly believing that your countries government would actually help you, if you got into the same situation. 

 

 

[lungnorm]

Just now, khunpa said:

 

I hope you are not truly believing that your countries government would actually help you, if you got into the same situation. 

 

 

I did not say anything about my chances or possible need to obtain my countries assistance should I be in a situation. Please read properly before making any uninformed remarks or better still maybe you need to learn English as you did not read my comment correctly.

[JKfarang]

I also read the story in the link provided by John....  I agree with those posters who basically stated that the Dutch govt needs to do everything possible to get this man and his wife freed ASAP.  In addition, they need to conduct an investigation into the Dutch official(s) who pushed the Thai govt to do something back in 2014.

 

That said, these are basically 2 more victims in the ludicrous  and never to be "successful" War on Drugs.  People need to keep in mind that this is not only about the eradication of illicit drugs but is also about revenue generation by law enforcement agencies and others worldwide.  In the US alone, millions if not billions of dollars in assets have been confiscated by law enforcement (houses, cars, boats, cash, bank accounts, etc.) regardless of whether it could be proven that those assets were obtained with drug related profits. And much of these assets went into the coffers of local law enforcers.  In other words, this has become a money making scam.

 

End the War on Drugs now.  Treatment, not incarceration is the most civilized and cost effective thing to do.

[milesinnz]

The more and more I read, the more grateful I didn't sell up and move to Thailand...

Have things always been like this ?

What does the future portend ?

[Docno]

Regardless of his guilt or innocence, a sentence of 100+ years for money laundering (or selling cannabis) just boggles the mind, especially given the much lighter sentences (if any sentence at all) handed down to people who's crimes lead to the death of others...  

[OnTheRun]

2 hours ago, hansnl said:

No, the man is a victim of the Dutch Public Prosecutors who wanted dearly to "get him" but could not, because he did nothing wrong legally.

So sent a request to Thailand asking for help, in such wordings probably the Thai prosecution could only do what they did.

The man is behind bars in Thailand because of a dirty game by the Dutch justice system.

Shameful behaviour of the Dutch justice system, again.

 

 

If that is the case I doubt he'll get any help from the Dutch authorities, Govt's rarely like to admit their people have screwed up as someone would have to be made accountable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SOTIRIOS]

....more insanity.....

 

...preposterous....

 

...wonder how many of his assets they have seized to date.....or how much this is costing him...besides his freedom....

 

....again.....really barbaric....

 

...broke no crimes....yet arrested......???

 

....so a hate or a race crime......???

 

...or just more jealousy and resentment directed at foreigners...???

 

 

[Nasrullah]

8 minutes ago, Docno said:

Regardless of his guilt or innocence, a sentence of 100+ years for money laundering (or selling cannabis) just boggles the mind, especially given the much lighter sentences (if any sentence at all) handed down to people who's crimes lead to the death of others...  

your making too much sense!.....Please stop

[little mary sunshine]

Laundering drug money via his "coffee shops". Stay

where you are....another criminal off the streets

[jvs]

Yes mistakes have been made,i do not think he should have received a long sentence like that in Thailand,

but lets say you have made one euro legally in
Holland and you send it to Thailand and by some miracle it has become ten euros.

Some one(tax department) has a few questions for you.

[smotherb]

4 hours ago, trogers said:

Why write to the Dutch King? Why is the Dutch government not doing anything?

 

Democracy rules!

You may have answered your own question.

[Anthony5]

2 hours ago, hansnl said:

No, the man is a victim of the Dutch Public Prosecutors who wanted dearly to "get him" but could not, because he did nothing wrong legally.

 

Let me correct this for you.

 

No, the man is a victim of the Dutch Public Prosecutors who wanted dearly to "get him" but could not, because he did nothing wrong legally prove what he was doing illegally.

 

Later, after he had moved to Thailand already, the hidden rooms stocked with weed were discovered.

 

Yes weed is legal in your country, and Van Laarhoven ran a legal business, that is if you keep to the rules which include how much the coffee shops are allowed to stock for example.

 

Van Laarhoven didn't adhere to those rules, which is obvious from the hidden room stocked to the ceiling, and for sure also forgot to report the proceeds out of that hidden room to the taxman.

 

If it walks like a duck, sounds like a duck and looks like a duck, it most probably is a duck.

 

 

Edited October 25, 2016 by Anthony5

[Stardust314]

usa eu  UN and dutch is numero 0 in tahiland. most powerfull nation in world without "nukes"  is Thailand.

hard to believe but its true.  Russia got sanctions but thailand ...everybody is scary thailand and  give them some really powerfull sanctions.. 

i will never invest or buy property in thailand.. its like burn money )))  safe-0 

YOU never now..if one day they come and you are in shiii..hole forever

Edited October 25, 2016 by Stardust314

[55Jay]

Gives one pause......  1 person can change the course of your life so drastically.  In this case, seems the Dutch police liaison in Thailand exercised literary creativity in his last letter to Thai officials, with the intent to incite them into finally taking the desired action.   Thais would be susceptible to manipulation if you know where to put the emphasis, risking the potential they react in a culturally/emotional way, disproportionate to the alleged crime(s).  Scary stuff.

 

Would be interesting compare the letter that finally moved the Thais (Junta) to take swift action, to the ones sent previously that didn't.  

[kingstonkid]

4 hours ago, JohnThailandJohn said:

And for the real story ...  http://www.chiangraitimes.com/dutchman-johan-van-laarhoven-and-tukta-his-thai-wife-innocent-in-bangkok-prison.html

 

 

I wonder if Frans is any relation to the johann in the story LOL

[KneeDeep]

2 hours ago, catman20 said:

so if it was quite legal why did he not say i have a chain of shops that sells cannabis ????????????????? yes im really envious of being locked up in a Thai jail for 103 years 

 

 

I thought that I already covered that in my earlier post.

I can see that you weren't the pride of the litter, especially when it came to the distribution of brain power. Best to leave it at that, eh?

[Autonuaq]

Most of the comment here are speaking, and the Judge does make one primary mistake all forget the law systems that apply and the rules that apply. Things that are different from country to country or even state to state. By Dutch Law, a Dutch citizen can be sentenced in The Netherlands for things done abroad. So there is no difference between the Thai situation and the Dutch. Beside the Dutch citizen are probably the only citizen in the world since the new laws became effective and are enforced a few years ago, that can be sentenced for things done abroad even if the local (country) law is not made it punishable or illegal.

 

And most of you are confusing the selling part of the drugs is that the selling is allowed with restriction of the volume. allowed does not mean it is still not punishable by law. all based on a weird Dutch way of implementing the law combined with tolerance.

The other activities that not are allowed like the grow and to the whole process and distribution process that is before it is sold to the end user. 

The selling is depending on the volume and based on that it is allowed but still can be punishable.

The rest is NOT allowed by law, the growing, distributing and things that are involved in the production and distribution and redistribution for example.

And even the over the illegal activities you just have to pay your tax to the Revenue Department in the Netherlands. How weird it sounds research shows that many do pay income tax over their illegal activities. 

 

The Thai Sentencing relies of the person is based on activities that are even not allowed in The Netherlands as the case was presented the Dutch news. As well that the Thai's have law that makes it possible to be sentenced for activities done abroad as we have seen.

Which makes this case very interesting especially when you know the Thai legal system does not recognize the verdict or law from The Netherlands or other countries. Which implies you have to redo the whole case in court in Thailand and present all the evidence.

 

Most Dutch people know that, and that is why they move to Countries like Thailand and do hope people not start the case. He really must have made very good friends that they were willing to take all the effort to even follow him in the Thai system and start a case under the Thai law.

 

The overall the conclusion in the Netherlands is that he made a stupid move to move to Thailand 

And of course we all understand it is better to stay in a luxury prison in the Netherlands then to stay in the Thai prisons. As well that the time to serve probably will be a fraction. 

 

 

[scorecard]

5 hours ago, kalbo123 said:

This guy did nothing wrong in Thailand accept spending his legally earned cannabis money in the Netherlands in Thailand.

Does this mean all foreign (legal) cannabis sellers are outlaws in Thailand?

What does this mean for other people who have a profession abroad, but forbidden in Thailand?

Dutch government should take action in getting this guy out of jail asap!

 

 

 

Seems quite illogical. Wonder if there's more to this story...