Second open letter to Patrick Franssen, founder and (illegal) CEO of The Green Lion.
Dear Patrick,
5 weeks have passed since my first letter, and unfortunately I have not heard back from you. So I have taken the time to talk to a lot of people about what is happening right now.
A good friend asked me: “Is it worth it? All the effort, the risk of being sued, the potential costs for lawyers? And all that just to stop a single bad person. One of so many in the world.”
The answer clearly is: Yes! If everybody stopped fighting for what’s right and let people get away with hurting or abusing others, the world would be a much darker place. I am therefore left with no other choice than to proceed forward.
A former colleague asked me: “If you stand up against The Green Lion, this could hurt the people on the ground more than Patrick Franssen. The ones working hard to support their local communities. Are you ok with that?”
That one – to be honest – is much harder to answer. Of course, I’m not ok with it. But I have concluded for myself that if the only way to protect them was to let you get away with all the wrongdoing, it would mean that to help some people I’d have to accept the suffering of others. Classic trolley problem, with one difference: If everybody immediately stood up united against the wrongdoing, we could soon collectively get back to supporting the ones in need.
When talking to representatives of the travel industry, I frequently get asked the same questions:
- “Is this a vendetta?”
- “Are you trying to harm The Green Lion”
- “Will you take the website down if The Green Lion pays you money?”
The answer to all of these is “No“. No, I am not interested in revenge or causing harm. I don’t want to be destructive. That exactly is what I am fighting against. And I can not be bought with money, therefore I will need to keep publishing my diary as well as the proof I collected on all the wrongdoing at The Green Lion, so that real change can happen.
Because what I want is a better world. A world in which companies pay their fair taxes, employees are treated with respect and young people are not touched in their private parts without consent. A world in which people feel safe and can explore, learn and grow.
In my previous communications, I have made grave accusations against you. So grave, that the public has a hard time believing them. Understandably so, after all it took me years of working with you and the revelations made during a 2.5 years legal case to be certain of them myself. I promised proof which I will publish gradually, after carefully reviewing and redacting it to protect the innocent. Today I am going to make the first step towards fulfilling my promise. The strongest 2 accusations I have made were:
- You promised a young staff member a raise, gave her alcohol, then kissed and touched her. This caused substantial emotional damage to her. In the following months, I had many and lengthy conversations with her, some of which I am publishing today. In chapter 4 of my diary I’m detailing how I confronted you about the incident and after initial denial you confessed. In addition, I’m publishing my conversation protocol of one of the conversations I had with you illustrating how you showed no signs of remorse whatsoever when reflecting the incident, even when I made you aware of the harm you caused to the young girl.
- Several customers were harassed sexually by a staff member. One case peaks out, because when the customer spoke up and asked The Green Lion to take action, you personally instructed a colleague on how to respond in a way that came across threatening enough so that the customer immediately left the country. Thankfully, Chris Harbur agreed to do an interview with me in which he tells the story. Admirably brave and not common among victims of sexual misconduct, as the other cases show.
I used the past few weeks to have some insightful talks with representatives of the travel industry. I hear, that since my first letter, you have been having lengthy phone calls with your partners in which you assured them everything I am saying is a lie, and you will sue me for slander and take down my website.
Now that I have proven two of my strongest accusations, I suppose people will start seeing through the charade. The trust in your words will crumble. You promised to sue me, and the public will expect you go through to wash your name clean.
Which puts you into an awkward dilemma. One of my accusations was that you worked illegally. If you claim in court that you worked legally, they can just look up staff files of The Green Lion on which you aren’t listed, and you’ll lose the case.
Your best bet will be to claim that you didn’t actually work. In which case I’ll surely publish your lawsuit the day it reaches me. Showcasing to the entire travel industry that – according to your own words – any contact they had with you in the past years was against the law and any agreement they made with you invalid.
Which means if Leo lets you go to court, he is knowingly watching how you disassemble The Green Lion’s reputation. It’s a choice he has to make. And I hope you respect his decision.
And the dilemma goes on. Working in Thailand illegally is punishable with up to 5 years in prison. Although commonly, foreigners only get deported. If you open up a legal case, nothing stops me from handing 5 years of carefully preserved work conversation on WhatsApp and Line, as well as additional material, to authorities. My legal team is ready to act. Do you really want to get deported or even spend your retirement in prison?
Do the right thing. Leave The Green Lion, leave Hua Hin, apologize to your victims. Do it, and allow Leo and The Green Lion to have a future. Insist on your made up truth, and neither of them will. But the blood will not be on my hands. It will be on yours.
Wishing you a good day
The Green Lion Diaries 