u/rensvandeplas_

Hi guys, I'm Rens van de Plas, an investigative journalist from The Netherlands and currently pretty stuck in a case I've been investigating for three years. I'm reaching out to you in the hope anybody could take my research a few steps further.

The case I've been investigating is the dissappearance of Sjoerd Swane. Swane was a local politician and alderman in the Dutch municipality of Maarssen (currently the municipality of Stichtse Vecht). Throughout his political career, Swane accepted bribes of construction companies, which of course is a total no go when you're a local politician. He also committed forgery and tax fraud and certainly wasn't the most trustworthy person in the region. Swane was a known businessman who had multiple (small) companies, mainly in construction, real estate and magazine work.

For these offences Swane was sentenced to two years in jail. This happened in 2011. The only problem is that Swane was long gone when he got this sentence: people already hadn't seen him in two years. His last known presence was on December 18th 2009, when he visited a friend in the German village of Bramsche. 'He stayed in a hotel nearby, but different than other occasions he didn't show up for breakfast the following morning.'

Swane had a thing for France. He used to have several houses in the village of Urval in the Dordogne. I went to visit these houses, but there weren't any signs of Swane, nor did anybody I talked to recognize his picture. The houses were sold to a Dutch entrepreneur who I talked to briefly, but says he doesn't know where Swane could be now. Swanes brother and sister are still alive, but they also do not seem to know where Swane went or what happened to him.

There are currently rumours Swane would be residing in Thailand. That's why I'm reaching out to you here, to see if you could support me in my research. How easy would it be to blend in as a Dutch man in Thailand? What registers should I check online to see if his name appears there? How would his name be written in Thai characters? Are there any cities or regions known to have multiple European or specifically Dutch inhabitants? Is there anybody wanting to check with their Dutch colleagues whether they've heard or spoken to Swane before?

Of course, I respect all extradition regulations (or the lack of them) between the Netherlands and Thailand. It's not my job as a journalist to make Swane go to prison. I'm in fact just wanting to know why he decided to do the things the way he did. I'm looking for clearance and this case has fascinated me for the last five years or so. Some help from Thai (citizen) researchers might help me out.

Swane was born on March 11th 1953 in the Dutch city 's-Hertogenbosch (also named Den Bosch) and should currently be 71 years old. He has one Indonesian ancestor, no children. If anyone has more information or suggestions for further research, please let it know in the comments or send me a private message.

Article about his dissappearance (2015, in Dutch): https://www.ad.nl/utrecht/waar-is-de-gevallen-politicus-sjoerd-swane-toch-gebleven~aee4fb19/

Podcast about his dissappearance (2022, in Dutch): https://open.spotify.com/show/3Yqbl38j7hfmmxK5o2XWX0

Wikipedia post on Sjoerd Swane: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sjoerd_Swane

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