Bring Kurt Home: US Citizen Detained in Thai Jail

My father, Kurt Metzger, a U.S. citizen and 30-year permanent resident of Singapore, has been arbitrarily arrested and wrongfully detained (per the Levinson Act) at Bangkok Remand Prison since Nov 26, 2024. He was arrested upon arrival while traveling for business, unbeknownst to a warrant and is being held on unsubstantiated, nonviolent, business-related charges related to events from over 15 years ago.

It has now been 134 days as of Apr 9, 2025 - he has been shackled, forced to sleep on the floor daily in an overcrowded prison cell with over 45 other inmates, lost over 50 lbs in body weight, and subject to extremely poor prison conditions.

He has been wrongfully accused of serving as a director of a Thai company that did not have the correct import licenses for their product imports from over 15 years ago. He has notarized paperwork proving his innocence and clearly indicating that he was not affiliated with the company during the timeframe of the charges. His limited work as a financial consultant for the company was officially completed well before the timeframe of these charges and purely limited to handling debt consolidation and restructuring for the company. He was in no way affiliated with the day-to-day operations nor did he have purview over import licenses.

Despite this evidence, Thai authorities have denied his bail 8 times to date and scheduled his next court hearing for 16-31 Oct 2025 with an expected decision by the judge in late Nov 2025 - a full year since his initial detention.

Kurt’s mental and physical health is now in rapid decline with this drawn out pre-trial detention, and there is an urgent need, and moral obligation, to see him released from prison immediately. We need to Bring Kurt Home.

I am requesting help on behalf of my father and stepmother Gill. Funds are greatly needed not only for lawyers, but also my stepmother as she is tirelessly working nonstop for my father's release.

Any help is greatly appreciated, especially if you can contact your state representative with the following step-by-step instructions below. Your voice absolutely matters - the more inquiries there are, the more attention his case gets, and the sooner his case will be resolved:

Step-by-Step Instructions (This may vary depending on your Representative's website - but in order for a member of Congress to act, they need a completed 'Privacy Release' form before they can help - these steps are an example from Rep Mike Levin's digital form)

1) Find your Congressional Representative at this link (by zip code) for your state of residence address: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

2) Click on Representative’s official website

3) Navigate to Services (most likely a drop down menu) and click on “Help With a Federal Agency”

4) Click on “Submit Your Casework Request Here” / “Complete Privacy Form and Open a Case” / “Submit Case”, etc.

5) Fill out ‘Digital Privacy Release Form’ by inputting your address and click on “Go To Next Step”

6) Fill out remainder of “Digital Privacy Release Form” with the following pre-templated information, change highlighted sections as needed

Agency Involved: Department of State

All fields with red asterisk (no need to include SSN)

Agency Case Number: Leave blank

Contacting Regarding Passport Issue?: No

Have you contacted any other officials?: No

If Yes, Official’s Name: Leave blank

Explanation of Problem and Resolution/Outcome: Copy/paste/edit bracketed areas of the following template:

Dear [Representative ________],

I write to you as a concerned American citizen and [friend/family member/etc] of Kurt Metzger, an American citizen and 30 year Permanent Resident of Singapore, that has been arbitrarily arrested and wrongfully detained for over 133 days (since Nov 26, 2024) at Bangkok Remand Prison, Thailand. He’s being held on unsubstantiated, nonviolent, business-related charges related to events from over 15 years ago and is facing up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Kurt Metzger has been wrongfully detained at Bangkok Remand Prison (arrested upon arrival while traveling for business) since Nov 26, 2024 - 133 days as of Apr 8, 2024 - and has been shackled, forced to sleep on the floor daily in an overcrowded prison cell with over 45 other inmates, lost over 50 lbs in body weight, and subject to extremely poor prison conditions. He has been wrongfully accused of serving as an operating director of a Thai company that did not have the correct import licenses for their product imports from over 15 years ago. He has notarized paperwork proving his innocence and clearly indicating that he was not affiliated with the company, nor its day-to-day operating activities, during the timeframe of the charges. Despite this evidence, Thai authorities have denied his bail 8 times to date and scheduled his next court hearing for 16-31 Oct 2025 with an expected decision by the judge in late Nov 2025 - a full year since his initial detention.

Kurt’s detention is both arbitrary and wrongful in accordance with the United States' S.712 Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, specifically sections:

(1) There is “...credible information indicating innocence of the detained individual”

(8) He “...is detained in a country in where the Department of State has determined in its annual human rights reports that the judicial system is not independent or impartial, is susceptible to corruption, or is incapable of rendering just verdicts”

(9) He “... is being detained in inhumane conditions”

(10) “due process of law has been sufficiently impaired so as to render the detention arbitrary”

Source: 2023 Thailand Annual Human Rights Reports

I, [submitting individual’s name], along with Kurt’s family, respectfully request any assistance in the form of Congressional advocacy, escalation, and designation of Kurt’s case as an arbitrary arrest and wrongful detention with the United States Department of State and Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs (SPEHA) and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in order to resolve his case and secure his immediate release. We need to Bring Kurt Home. Thank you, [Representative __________], for all that you do.

Very Respectfully,

[Submitting Individual’s Name]

Recent Article by Ashley Bell in Debtwire:

https://ionanalytics.com/insights/debtwire/turnaround-experts-metzger-and-nacson-arrested-and-refused-bail-in-thailand-more-than-a-decade-after-continental-chemical-restructuring-legal-analysis/

Additional Detailed Background Information For Awareness:

This is a case brought by Thai customs in 2024 against a company called Continental Petrochemical Thailand Company (CPCT). Thai Customs is accusing CPCT of importing products without the correct import license, for about 239 wrongful shipments of which only 14 remain to be prosecuted dating from 17 Dec 2009. While Thailand is in their rights to prosecute the directors, my father, Kurt Metzger, was wrongfully registered as a Director of the CPCT from December 2009 to Aug 2010 by CPCT.

To be clear, the Thai authorities are within their rights to prosecute customs offences. Per Thai law there are numerous circumstances in which a director may be named not only as a witness or company representative in criminal litigation, but also as an accused. We mean no offense to the King or the Kingdom of Thailand.

Kurt Metzger however resigned from all positions with the parent company Continental Chemical Company Pte Ltd (CCCPL) on 5 Oct 2009 and has notarized documentation as proof. If Kurt had not been wrongfully registered as director, he would not be in jail.

Kurt Metzger worked as Chief Restructuring Officer appointed by receiver Tim Reid (previously Ferrier Hodgson - now Baker Tilly) for Credit Suisse Trustee, who were the creditors to CPCT’s parent company Continental Chemical Corporation Pte Ltd (CCCPL). Kurt’s contract was for less than 6 months; he was appointed in May 2009 and resigned in October 2009. During this time, Kurt spent about 20 days in Thailand attending steering committee meetings for the restructure and worked across a number of subsidiaries for CCCPL, including CPCT. Kurt’s resignation was not correctly processed and the Thai Government Register incorrectly shows him in this role from Dec 2009 to August 2010. His contract and resignation documents are available showing clearly the accurate dates of his employment.

CCCPL is relatively dormant now, but Singapore-based company ChemOne has emerged with the same address and company secretaries in parallel. They are funding the lawyers for defendants CCCPL and two defendants.

On September 30, 2024, Kurt was arrested on arrival in Bangkok as he was one of several named directors of the company CPCT, which under Thai Customs law is deemed to be liable. Kurt was completely shocked and it was arranged for him to be released on bail with an agreement to return to a follow-up meeting with the Attorney General.

Kurt & Gill went to Bangkok on Nov 4, 2024, to meet with the Thai Attorney General (AG). The hearing was adjourned, although the indication at the time was that the Attorney General did not intend to pursue the case. The Attorney General also indicated that he would not prosecute Kurt.

Kurt & Gill returned to Bangkok for the adjourned session on November 26, 2024, and the Attorney General’s assistant was present and the authorities decided to prosecute. There are 5 defendants: “the company,” Dr. Chai (Korea, 89 yrs old), Sureet Singh (India, long-term Thai resident), Michael Macson (UK, 74 yrs old), and Kurt Metzger (US, 65 yrs old). The four men were taken away and have been in jail since November 26, 2024.

Bail was denied on Nov 26, Nov 27, Dec 11, Dec 23, Jan 2, and Jan 3 (appeal court). These were submitted as a group of defendants. Essentially, as named directors, they are being held hostage as the court awaits the appropriate response from defendant #1 “the company” to the charges from Thai Customs. On February 24, 2025, the pre-trial hearing was held, to which all defendants pled not guilty.

As of April 9th, Kurt has now been held at Bangkok Remand Prison for 134 days. The next hearing date for the case is set for October 16-31, 2025, with a decision by the judge due late November.

Kurt’s lawyer in Bangkok has made 8 applications for bail, all of which have been immediately denied, some within 2-3 hours of submission, suggesting that there is no detailed review of Kurt’s unique position, most notably his having been engaged in the role with CPCT for less than 6 months, over 15 years ago.