Of er in Thailand niet genoeg problemen zijn tussen Thais onderling. Blijken er ook nog Nederlanders rond te lopen die menen zich er mee te moeten bemoeien. Twee landgenoten zijn opgepakt in Chiang Mai in het noorden van Thailand omdat ze betrokken waren bij de rellen. Op een video is te zien dat ze met stenen gooien. Ze zijn gearresteerd door de Thaise politie maar na korte tijd weer vrijgelaten.
Vrijgelaten? Waarom nou toch? Waarom deze mensen niet even echt vooruit helpen? Een paar maanden in een Thaise gevangenis had ze een onbetaalbaar inzicht gegeven in wat echt belangrijk is in het leven.

Een woordvoerster van Buitenlandse Zaken bevestigde hierover zondag een bericht van de Wereldomroep. De twee mannen werden donderdag opgepakt bij rellen tussen demonstranten en het leger.

Wat is dit voor volk, vraagt u zich natuurlijk met JdeW af. Wel dit soort volk.

Volgens de Wereldomroep deden de twee mannen in Thailand mee aan een rehabilitatieproject voor drugsverslaafden en andere probleemgevallen. De mannen zouden na hun aanhouding door de politie met een waarschuwing zijn weggestuurd. Vanwege meer incidenten is een van beiden niet meer welkom bij de stichting Creating Balance omdat er zich ook andere incidenten hebben voorgedaan tijdens het vrijwilligerswerk dat de ex-drugsverslaafden doen in Thailand.

Two Dutchmen involced in riots in Northern Thailand arrested and released

The two Dutchmen, aged 44 and 17, who were arrested in Thailand for throwing stones during last week’s riots in the northern city of Chiang Mai, have been released with a warning. Salient detail: they were taking part in a rehabilitation project for people addicted to drugs or other substances.
Ron Gerrits from the Creating Balance Thailand addiction clinic is really angry with his two clients. On the one hand because they haven’t done the name of his clinic any good, and on the other for the two men themselves. Ron says the 44-year-old ex-addict was doing very well in Thailand: he has been clean for two years now and for the last year has been in Thailand. read on>>

“Everything was going well,” Ron says. “He had earned a teaching certificate and was ready to start work next week as a teacher.” Ron can’t explain the man’s behaviour other than to say that he let himself get carried away by the emotions of the moment. “But you can see in the video that he only threw one stone.”

Stranded
It’s different for the second Dutchman. In another video on YouTube, says Ron, you can clearly see him throwing several stones. Ron says he’s an individual who, after getting stranded in aid programmes in the Netherlands, decided to go to Thailand. “Although he’s also done a lot of volunteer work here, he has been involved in a couple of incidents. That’s reason enough for me to send him back home.”

Neither man now has a punishment hanging over their heads. After a police interrogation lasting six hours, they were released with just a warning. And without a criminal record either, which is especially important for the 44-year-old. It means he can still start work as a teacher. And the school he was planning to work in has already let Creating Balance know he’s still welcome.

Volunteers
Ron Gerrits’ clinic has been active in Chiang Mai for two years. Not only do all patients get one-on-one help, but they also participate in volunteer projects in the north of the country. In conjunction with the local Red Cross, for example, they take part in a drugs, alcohol and AIDS prevention project in the countryside.

Peter van Loo, the Dutch honorary consul in Chiang Mai, says there have no been no such other notable incidents at the clinic and that Creating Balance’s reputation is good. But, he adds, the incident with the two Dutchmen has caused quite an uproar within Chiang Mai’s Dutch community. “When the police sent out a wanted notice, it spread fast among the Dutch residents. Everyone tried to identify the two men.”

Remarkable
The consul thinks it remarkable that the men were released with just a warning. (He says that if they had been given a prison sentence, then it would have been his job to provide them with assistance.) And he expects that their involvement in last week’s riots will remain a topic of conversation in Chiang Mai for some time. “Most Dutch people enjoy living here and think it’s terrible that their fellow-countrymen could do this sort of thing.”

This entry was posted on maandag, mei 24th, 2010 at 3:47 am and is filed under Thailand, JdeW, English, Misdaad, World on the Dutch, NouBreektMeDeKlomp, Life, Politiek. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.