A Dutchman who ran several cannabis cafes, or coffee shops, in the Netherlands and was jailed for 100 years in Thailand, is suing the Dutch state for damages in a civil case.

Johan van Laarhoven was jailed in Thailand for money laundering, even though the alleged offences took place in the Netherlands. His wife, who is Thai, was also jailed.

Thai justice officials reportedly started investigating Van Laarhoven in 2014 following a letter from a Dutch public prosecution department official, informing the authorities he had earned his money selling marijuana and requesting help in a criminal investigation.

After he was jailed in Thailand, MPs called on the government to do its best to bring Van Laarhoven and his wife back to the Netherlands, after criticism by the national ombudsman.

Dutch justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus even met Thai prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and the justice minister Somsak Thepsutin to discuss the case.

The Netherlands has a prisoner exchange treaty with Thailand, which can only be implemented once a case has been ruled definitive. Van Laarhoven’s sentence was upheld in 2019, clearing the way for a diplomatic solution. He was eventually released and returned to the Netherlands in 2020.

After 13 years, the Dutch case against Van Laarhoven was closed as well when this month the court in Breda declared the case inadmissable at its own request.

Van Laarhoven, who has since left the Netherlands again, said he had always operated within the margins of the law and that no money laundering had taken place. “It was money that I had earned legally with my coffeeshops in the Netherlands,”  he told the NRC in an interview.

Van Laarhoven said he was bitter about his years of hardship in a Thai jail. His wife was released in 2020 following mental problems but their marriage collapsed and their daughter wants nothing to so with her parents.

Anger issues

Van Laarhoven says he now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and has anger issues. His claim against the Dutch state runs into the millions but, he told the paper, the money will only partly heal the wounds. “This will cut my life short. How can that be compensated,” he said.

The public prosecution office in Brabant did not want to comment on the case.

Van Laarhoven now hopes to settle abroad with his new family.