After spending years in prison in Thailand, Dutch coffeeshop owner Johan van Laarhoven is on a plane back to the Netherlands. The plane has left Thai airspace and is expected to land at Schiphol Airport on Thursday evening, Van Laarhoven's family confirmed to NU.nl.
"We are incredibly happy with Johan's return," his brother Frans van Laarhoven said to the newspaper. "My family and I can't wait to have him back in our midst."
The police arrested a 55-year-old man in his home in Haarlemmermeer on Tuesday on suspicion of child sex tourism, the Public Prosecutor said on Friday.
The man is suspected of sexually abusing multiple minor girls in the Philippines and Thailand and the possession of child pornography, the Prosecutor said. The authorities believe he was about to travel back to the Philippines. "There are no indications that he also abused minors in the Netherlands."
Johan van Laarhoven, a Dutch man who used to own coffeeshops The Grass Company in the Netherlands, was sentenced to 75 years in prison in cassation in Thailand. No further appeal is possible against this ruling, making the sentence final, his lawyer said to RTL Nieuws.
The Public Prosecution Service is not displeased that Minister Grapperhaus of Justice and Security is meeting with the Prime Minister of Thailand to see if he can get Dutch coffeeshop owner Johan van Laarhoven extradited to the Netherlands, the Prosecutor said in a statement. Van Laarhoven is currently serving a prison sentence of 103 years in Thailand.
The Dutch State acted carelessly in the investigation into Johan van Laarhoven and his wife. This negligence led to the arrest of the Dutch couple in Thailand in 2014, as well as they years' long prison sentences they received in the country, the National Ombudsman said in a report on Monday, NU.nl reports.
A massive tropical storm is set to hit Thailand on Friday. The Thai weather service fears that it will be the strongest storm in 30 years and expects waves of up to 7 meters high, gusts of over 100 kilometers per hour, heavy rainfall and tidal waves. Hundreds of tourists, including some 40 Dutch, are trapped on the Thai islands, NOS reports.
A 77-year-old man from Amsterdam was sentenced to four years in prison by the court in Zwolle. He was convicted of sexually abusing four girls in Southeast Asia, for creating, possessing, sharing and importing child pornography, and for possessing and importing animal pornography, NU.nl reports.
Dennis Kramer, a 9-year-old Dutch-Thai boy that lives in Zwolle, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Mark Rutte to ask if the Netherlands can help a young football team and their coach who are stuck in a cave in Thailand.
The 12 boys and their coach went missing in the cave on June 23rd. On July 2nd, they were all found alive, but they are still trapped there by water. The rescue operation is pumping water out of the cave system, but as it is monsoon season in Thailand, this is not having much of an effect.
A KLM flight from Schiphol to Kuala Lumpur had to make an unscheduled landing in Phuket on Tuesday after an overheating cellphone started smoking on board.
According to KLM, the plane was landed on the Thailand island - the closest airport at the time - as a precautionary measure. "At no time were passengers or crew in danger", the airline said in a statement.
A safety check was done, and the plane was released for departure shortly after the unscheduled stop. But due to compulsory crew work and rest times, the flight did not continue to Kuala Lumpur immediately.
A fall from a balcony in Thailand that cost the life of a 20-year-old Dutch student, was not an accident but suicide, the Thai police believe, AD reports.
A 21-year-old Dutch tourist died in a fall from a balcony in Bangkok, Thailand, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed to the Telegraaf on Monday morning.
According to the Thai police, the Dutch man went home with a transsexual person after a night out. He fell from a fifth floor balcony. The man was found on the street with multiple head wounds and broken bones. The police believe he first landed on a car, because the car next to his body had a big dent in the roof, according to the Telegraaf.
The police in Thailand arrested a Dutch man in Surin for involvement in the murders of a woman and her son. The Dutch man was arrested in a hospital, where he was being treated for injuries the authorities believe he sustained in the struggle with the murder victims, RTL Nieuws reports.
The 57-year-old woman and her 30-year-old son were stabbed to death in their home. Eyewitnesses saw the Dutch man drive away from the home on a motorcycle.
The Dutch man told the hospital that he sustained his injuries in a traffic accident, according to the broadcaster.
A Dutch man was arrested in Thailand on suspicion of sexually abusing underage children. 51-year-old Reinold K. from Coevorden was with a 10-year-old boy when he was arrested, AD reports. He was previously suspected of child sex abuse in the Netherlands, but never convicted, according to the newspaper.
A 46-year-old Dutch tourist was rescued from a ravine in Mae Hong Son in Thailand on Monday night. Rescue workers believe the woman slipped while hiking in the mountains and fell into the six meter deep hole. She sustained injuries to her back, but is doing well under the circumstances, AD reports.
The Dutch woman spent about an hour and a half at the bottom of the ravine before the rescuers managed to get her out. She was taken to a hospital in Chiang Mai for X-rays and recovery.
Two people were found murdered in an apartment on Ceintuurbaan in Amsterdam on Monday afternoon. Local media sources identify the victims as 54-year-old Pieter Hoovers from Amsterdam and his 21-year-old wife from Thailand. Hoovers has been living in Thailand for years, according to Het Parool.
The Dutch Public Prosecutor is prosecuting four executives of coffeeshop chain The Grass Company for fraud, money laundering and participation in a criminal organization. One of those to be prosecuted is former owner Johan van Laarhoven, who is currently serving a 73 year prison sentence in Thailand for money laundering through the coffeeshop, ANP reports.
A Thai court on appeal convicted former coffeeshop owner Johan van Laarhoven of laundering money made by the sale of soft drugs in the Netherlands. The court did lower his prison sentence from 103 years to 75 years.
The police arrested a 68-year-old man in Noord-Brabant on suspicion of selling fake hospital bills in Thailand, the Dutch Public Prosecutor announced on Wednesday. The Prosecutor believes that the fraud committed with these fake invoices amounts to nearly 130 thousand euros, ANP reports.
The suspect sold fake hospital bills to Dutch tourists visiting Thailand. The bills shows charges for admittance to a hospital in Bangkok. When returning to the Netherlands, the Dutch tourists then submitted the bills to their health insurers for compensation.
Shell sold 3.8 billion dollars in assets off the British Coast on the North Sea to oil company Chrysaor, the Dutch oil and gas giant announced on Tuesday. This sale forms part of a Shell divestment program, in which the Dutch company wants to get rid of some 40 billion dollars worth of assets, the Telegraaf reports.
Johan van Laarhoven, a Dutch coffeeshop owner currently serving a 103 year prison sentence in Thailand, wrote a letter to King Willem-Alexnder asking him to intervene in his "hopeless situation"
National Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen is studying the case of Tilburg coffeeshop owner Johan van Laarhoven, who is currently serving a 103 year prison sentence in Thailand. The Ombudsman wants to find out how the Dutch judiciary handled his case and make sure that everything was done carefully and properly
The authorities in Thailand launched the investigation into former coffeeshop owner Johan van Laarhoven from Tilburg at the request of the Dutch authorities, Minister Ard van der Steur of Security and Justice acknowledged in a letter sent to parliament, Omroep Brabant reports.
The Minister was responding to questions from concerned parliamentarians, demanding to know exactly how Van Laarhoven came to be prosecuted. They also want to know whether Van der Steur can help bring Van Laarhoven back to the Netherlands.
Thailand was rocked by a series of explosions on Thursday night and Friday morning. At least four people were killed and many more were injured, including at least one Dutch tourist.
Two men were arrested at Schiphol airport on suspicion of involvement in child pornography and child sex tourism. The suspects, a couple aged 57 and 59 years from Krommenie, were about to leave for Thailand when they were arrested, the Public Prosecutor announced on Friday.
