KEY POINTS:
A New Zealand racing driver has been arrested for allegedly trying to sell drugs in a Thailand nightclub.
Peter Scharmach, 44, could face 20 years in a Thailand jail if convicted.
Police say they found a small amount of methamphetamine, ecstasy, cannabis, five small plastic bags and paraphernalia for drug use when they pulled him over early on Saturday at a police checkpoint, The Dominion Post reported today.
The German-born New Zealand resident had just left a popular nightclub at Patong Beach, on Phuket Island.
Scharmach was charged with possession of drugs with the intent to sell and has been released on bail.
His lawyer, Siwa Bol, said Scharmach had pleaded not guilty to the charges , because he was a businessman who did not make a living from drug dealing.
"I told him, 100 per cent, you will not go to jail," Mr Bol said.
A New Zealand Embassy spokesman in Bangkok said Scharmach had not approached the embassy for consular support.
- NZPA
