PHUKET: A Belgian man, wanted over his 25-million euro marijuana empire, is still puzzled as to why officials in Thailand suddenly arrested him on the holiday island of Phuket.

Patrick Lagrou, 55, is now languishing in detention in Bangkok and will probably be extradited soon to face trial on December 22. But he claims he was going to return anyway and wonders who got him arrested in Thailand.

Phuketwan this week guided a Belgian reporter to Lagrou's home in remote country outside Thai Muang, north of Phuket, where 10 large dogs bounded out, barking loudly, to greet the visitors.

Lagrou had been leading a reclusive life in the hills, with the dogs, a maid, her family and a handful of Burmese workers for company, overseeing a palm oil plantation, not a marijuana empire.

Later, from a cell in detention in Bangkok, Lagrou said: ''I didn't flee to Thailand to escape punishment. Suddenly I am stuck here, and nobody tells me why.''

Officials in Thailand have been slow to explain the trigger for the arrest of Lagrou. It's highly likely that authorities in Belgium, aware that he could possibly be reluctant to return for the December 22 trial, asked them to pounce.

Lagrou was arrested last week at Phuket's Thachatchai checkpoint. Police had been told he was on the holiday island and merely waited for him to head home to his million-dollar estate in Phang Nga, the province north of Phuket.

His arrest has generated a storm of controversy in Belgium, where his lawyers and supporters say his case has been adversely affected and he has been unfairly treated.

Lagrou's problems began in 2009 when his 17,000 marijuana plant crop, the largest ever revealed in Belgium, was discovered in Flanders.

He managed to find an opportunity to leave Belgium due to a technicality, and he figured Thailand might be a nice place to start over. So it appeared - until last week's encounter with the checkpoint police.

This week, high in the hills behind Thai Muang, Phuketwan braved the tight security and the pack of dogs to enter Lagrou's secret hideaway property.

An outer gate might at first dissuade some visitors. Then 500 metres on up the steep path we negotiated a second gate, and were met by 10 bounding, barking dogs.

Lagrou loves the animals, and was travelling in a minivan, modified to hold many dogs, when the police arrested him.

His chain-smoking housekeeper-manager, a woman named Sarah, told us a little about her boss and his habits.

''He is a good guy,'' she repeated many times in our conversation, ''it's hard to imagine him ever doing anything bad.''

Lagrou, she said, enjoyed living on the property and seldom ventured beyond the gates, except perhaps to take dogs for some exercise on a local beach.

''I was working as a masseuse in Patong when we met,'' she said. ''We got on very well from the start. I think he must have had a broken heart after a bad experience with a Thai girlfriend.

''He asked me to come to work for him, and we have been good friends ever since.''

There was nothing intimate about their relationship, Sarah said. Lagrou allowed her to live on the property with her daughter, her daughter's boyfriend and a female friend of her daughter's.

Lagrou lived a reclusive life and would rise about 7am from habit, Sarah said, heading out to the palm oil factory where he would sometimes join the small team of Burmese workers in processing the oil palm fruit.

She did not have a salary but her boss always gave her money whenever she needed it, Sarah said.

''He told us that he raised chickens and ducks on a farm in Europe,'' she said. ''There was no need to ask questions. He is a good guy.''

There was a large Chevrolet in the driveway, valued at about 1.7 million baht, that Sarah said she was paying off. An all-transit vehicle and a small truck for carting the palm fruit were also parked there.

Lagrou was on a retirement visa at the time of his arrest and he may have infringed some points relating to his permission to stay in Thailand.

If there was no international request for him to be arrested, then the Thai authorities could simply deport him to Belgium. He appears likely to be arrested on arrival. If there is genuine paperwork requesting his apprehension, an officer might have to be sent from Belgium to escort him home to Europe.

Meanwhile, Sarah says, she will continue to manage the plantation and Lagrou's large homestead.

''If we need money I will have the Burmese chop down some palm fruit and sell them at the local market,'' Sarah told Phuketwan. ''We will get by until Mr Lagrou returns.''

It's likely that, given the experience of cultivating different kinds of crops on both sides of the world, Lagrou now advise that growing palm oil is less lucrative than cannabis, but a whole lot less nerve-wracking.