Kiwi racing driver could face up to 20 years in a Thai prison after being arrested for allegedly attempting to sell drugs in a Phuket nightclub.Peter Scharmach, 44, was arrested after he left a popular nightclub at Patong Beach in his car and was stopped for a routine check at a police checkpoint.Thai police say they discovered a small amount of methamphetamine, ecstasy, and cannabis, as well as five small sealable plastic bags, foil-paper, and plastic tubes used to inhale or smoke the drugs.German-born Scharmach, who has New Zealand residency and who is well-known in New Zealand motorsport circles, was charged with possession of drugs with the intent to sell. He was freed on bail.A New Zealand Embassy spokesman in Bangkok confirmed yesterday that a New Zealand resident had been arrested in Phuket. He said Scharmach had not approached the embassy for consular support.In photos taken just after his arrest, Scharmach was shown seated and flanked by Thai police officials, with money, cellphones and bags of drugs on a table in front of him.His lawyer, Siwa Bol, said Scharmach had asked police to release his passport so he could travel to Germany for business reasons before he returned to Thailand to face court on January 13.Mr Bol said Scharmach had pleaded not guilty to the charges, on the basis that he was a businessman who did not make a living from dealing drugs.
Peter Scharmach racing car driver arrested in Thailand on drugs charges has returned to Christchurch after paying a $26,000 bond, a rare break from the country's notoriously tough stance on drugs.Peter Scharmach, 44, could face up to 20 years in jail after he was arrested in Phuket on December 13 and charged with possession of drugs with the intent to sell.A small amount of methamphetamine, ecstasy and cannabis, sealable plastic bags and other drug paraphernalia were allegedly found in his car when he was stopped at a routine police checkpoint.Scharmach's Thai lawyer, Siwadol Keawpharouk, said German-born Scharmach paid 500,000 baht (about NZ$26,000) for his bail bond and left Thailand on December 30.He vehemently denied the charges, Mr Keawpharouk said.Public prosecutors can let him go to do his business but he must come back to Thailand in time [for a court hearing]." Scharmach, who owns a property in Christchurch and is the sole director of two New Zealand companies, including a mail order business, returned here over New Year, before heading to Germany.
He had been in Thailand for only six days when he was arrested. His case was due before Thai courts last Tuesday, but was delayed because police were waiting for test results on the drugs allegedly found with him.It was expected the case would now begin in the middle of next month, Mr Keawpharouk said.Fellow Kiwi racing driver Eddie Bell, who competed with Scharmach in the 2007 Mini Challenge, said he had spoken to him on his return to New Zealand."He didn't really go into it too much.
"I know that he's a bit upset that it's been broadcast the way it was and it sounded like it was all taken out of context."A photograph of Scharmach in custody after his arrest shows money, cellphones and bags of drugs laid out on a table in front of him.
Associates have described him as a "man of mystery" and a "very wealthy" globetrotter, who also had business links in Australia.Thai politics expert Jodi York, of Wellington, said Scharmach faced a tough situation. Foreigners caught with drugs were often treated more harshly, particularly if there was an attempt to sell them.A high profile case would also be harder to resolve though bribes, an otherwise commonplace practice, she said."Once it gets to a high profile, confrontational situation, it will be followed through [the courts]."Wellington woman Phyllis Tarawhiti spent 11 years in a Thai prison after being sentenced to life imprisonment in 1995 when she was caught with $4 million of heroin strapped to her body.
"You really don't want to have go to jail there. Their jails are awful," Ms York said.
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