Teenager tells of terrifying nights in Thai prison after drugs arrest

A New Zealand-born teenager spent two harrowing nights in a Thai jail after being caught with drugs he didn't know were illegal.

More than six weeks later he is still stranded in the country, waiting to be called to court. His parents have spent about $10,000 on flights and accommodation to support him.

For the first 24 hours behind bars Taylor Laird, 17, sat cramped and alone in a windowless "shoebox" cell.

For the second he was moved to a juvenile jail where he forced himself to stay awake - too scared to sleep as the only foreigner.

"They were trying to get me to go to sleep which was pretty much exactly what I wanted to do," Taylor told the Herald from rural Shalong, where he is staying.

"They could have ripped me apart and probably would have if I'd stayed there any longer."

On December 7 Taylor was going home after a night out in Phuket, when his motorbike taxi was pulled over.

He and 10 mates were on a "schoolies" trip away to celebrate graduating from Sydney's Davidson High School.

His family moved to Australia from Wellington when he was a child, but he is a New Zealand citizen.

Taylor said he suspected the taxi was stopped in the Kathu area because it was partly on the footpath. A police officer found a packet of diazepam pills on Taylor, which the teenager was shocked to learn was illegal.

"I was told by people you could get valium if you wanted to go to sleep and it was legal to buy it," he said. "Then they took me to the cop lock-up which was like living hell."

He said he bought the pills to help him sleep after consuming a number of energy drinks.

Under Thailand's Psychotropic Substances Act 1974, possession of a "schedule IV" drug such as diazepam is illegal without a prescription.

The maximum penalty is one year's imprisonment, with a fine of 20,000 baht ($800). But drugs such as diazepam and alprazolam [trade name Xanax] are available at some pharmacies in tourist spots.

A Phuket Public Health Office source said the department allowed small amounts of the drugs to be sold.

"It is illegal to possess these drugs without a prescription, but in Phuket we're not very strict as this is a tourist destination," he said.

"We grant permission to pharmacies to sell the drugs."

Meanwhile Taylor is desperate to go home. "I have been told I will be home by the 30th, but basically they can do whatever they want," he said.

While stuck in Thailand Taylor missed the cut-off to enter a private photography course and said he would spend the year paying his parents back money they spent.

- Additional reporting Phuket Gazette