benever

On 3/4/2019 at 6:44 AM, papersource said:

Just bought some Bayer Testoviron Depot from the pharmacy on Sukumvit just before soi 4 

 

Amps are yellow/brown? Is the liquid inside transparent like it used to be? Does it smell / look the same as the old Testoviron?

On 2/18/2019 at 2:02 AM, mokwit said:

OK done. I also feel that something just does not ring true. My guess was that Bayer HQ was discontinuing Testoviron/Provironum, which are de facto generics with many competitors, in order to focus on building the market for Nebido, where it has a unique/sole FDA approved product which likely has a higher margin. My suspicion was that the answer WRT future availability had an element of "Thainess" to it. Hopefully we will be appraised of the true situation.

Hey Mokwit, any reply from that follow-up email you sent to Bayer regarding Testoviron specifically? Otherwise it might be time to send a follow-up to the follow-up ????

On 2/1/2019 at 11:28 PM, mokwit said:

BTW Rotexmedica is legit Pharma grade T

 

Note this is a reply I got from Bayer when enquiring about Testoviron and Proviron(um)

 

Thank you for your question.  Provironum is currently in supply shortage situation.  We are expecting the stock back to normal by Q2/2019.  Thank you.

 

Thanks for confirming that Rotexmedica is legit. Can other people confirm this too? Anyone who has used it?

Also great that you messaged Bayer to get a reply from the horse's mouth. It's interesting that Bayer confirms the "out of stock" theory which until now I assumed was a bullshit line from the pharmacists to explain increased control by the authorities. It still feels a bit fishy to me....when does a large pharmaceutical company like Bayer plan their production so badly that they run out of stock for months?

You'll also notice that you are getting a reply about Provinorum (tablets) but NOT about Testoviron (injectable). Would you mind messaging your contact there again and ask about Testoviron specifically?

Simon, can you elaborate?

Is there a party of some sort planned in Bangkok? In a bar? At the embassy?

It's not clear negreanu. They sent me an excel file with tariff per item but it says "Item 1: 3%", "Item 2: 5%" etc with the prices in bhats and I don't know what is what...I didn't look into the details as it would require a pretty tedious process of trying to guess with a conversion of bhats to dollars..I don't really care as I'm not planning to use DHL ever again. I've seen different prices quoted for vitamins, CWMcMurray also told me it was 1%.

Talking to the broker it doesn't seem like tariffs really matter that much anyway, none of it will actually go to the government, it's all under the table ("back money" as he calls it) shared between broker, customs officer, and probably DHL agent.

The OP is one of those white collar expats who thinks he is special because he flies business class on the company's dime and makes 120k a year due to being posted abroad. He is kind of a big deal. How interesting.

Myself, I've been all over Europe, China (spoiler: it sucks), Hong Kong, and now Thailand. Best cities so far: Bangkok, Hong Kong, Madrid.

Still looking to see if DHL can clear the shipment by itself for the price negreanu mentioned: 1100-1300THB.

Otherwise, can anyone recommend a broker who can?

Thank you negreanu for the break down, the problem is I didn't think the correct duty was 30% at all (and I was right). Trust me, I'll use shipitto next time, and thanks again for the advice in PM earlier.

And thank you Mr Brownstone and JSixPack for the condescending posts.

I finally got to speak to a higher up at DHL and got it broken down. Only one item was at 10% duty and everything else between 1% and 7%.

Total due: duty 2395.59 + vat 2646.49 = 5042.08 baht.

Which means the broker "recommended" by the entry level DHL staff (probably the agent's cousin) was trying to make 10,000 bhats on top.

They are also looking into why the entry level staff repeatedly refused to give me the customs slip until a higher up finally did it today.

So much for my delirious sense of victimhood.

It's not about the money, it's about not lying down when a giggling semi-literate 22 year old tries to rip you off.

Update:

The DHL folks are incredibly unhelpful. My questions are left unanswered and it's a merry-go-round of "call this number", "oh no talk to this person", "oh wait this is the email you should write to". It's been more than a week and I haven't been able to get a contact at customs; or simply a customs slip/invoice; or even the CIF code that customs is using to calculate the duties. In the end I'm getting nothing except "contact this guy and pay 15,000 bhats to get your stuff."

She flipped his wallet out of his back pocket onto the pavement

Having the wallet in the back pocket really is asking for trouble though

I got my iphone 4 stolen in a club in China in a similar set up. Small corridor between tables, suddenly got very crowded, and I felt it slipping out of my pocket. I never really realized up to then that pickpocketing is a team sport. They were 4 or 5 involved at least. The one who took the phone was a young girl.

Since then I instinctively put my hands on wallet pocket and phone pocket whenever it gets crowded.

Keep your wallet in your front pocket, and do not place it vertically down your pants, but horizontally. This essentially locks it into place and no pickpocket will attempt to lift it.

Valuable insight. Thanks.

Some of those "undesirables" in t-shirt and flip flops who work in "online gambling" (or porn) might make 50 times what you make, without having to worry about "ruining their career" by saying the wrong thing to their boss. Just saying.

Thanks for the suggestion, indeed going to Singapore or HK is an option for the future, a flight and nice weekend there would be a nice way to replenish supplies without all the Thai customs hassle. I've never really looked at prices there compared to the US though, can anyone comment?

The best alternative I've found is to get a big shipment sent to Australia DHL during my annual visit, & bring them back to LOS in my luggage. Much cheaper shipping, plus no Australian customs duties if under $1000 in value.

Good point, I'll be in Europe soon, I'll check out the duties there, I think they have a similar "less than 1000 is fine" rule in Belgium.

Commercial quantities? Ahaha...It's 950 bucks dude. I'm not about to open a shop with it.

The Rep is obviously Thai but is making an attempt to help you by writing in YOUR language - would you rather he wrote to you in his?

Yes, how dare I be unsatisfied with slow email answers, operators that never pick up the phone, numbers given that are plain out of service, and bad english from a Fortune 500 company I paid $185 and which asks me for another $485.

I should just be thankful for the experience I guess. It's certainly worth every penny.

His Company is not "actively (making) sure the customers pay taxes", his Company is complying with Thai law on the matter.

There is complying when a parcel is stopped, which is what USPS does, and that's best for the customers. And there is actively cooperating, which DHL does. Do the research. That's why they get hit with duties a lot more, they work hand-in-hand with customs.

Of course they don't tell you that when you ship, they have a smiling shipping lady picture and a nice marketing text that says "we deliver door-to-door, no problem".

Any other helpful points you would like to make? If you "can't be bothered" editing my "silly replies", you are welcome to stop reading, I don't particularly care for your attitude either.

Good day Sir.

Why are you blaming DHL for poor customer service?

Because their Rep writes in bad english, IN ALL CAPS, repeatedly send phones that don't work and takes 24 hours to answer emails? I'm hoping to talk to a senior rep tomorrow. It took a full week to get there.

Do not put down a company because they cannot help you avoid taxes.

I'll put down a company who actively makes sure the customers pay taxes, when other companies who do the same service (shipping) for a cheaper price do not Sorry. Not cool.

I disagree with this:

-use a thai name if you can or better still send them a .txt file to print out and stick on the box, that has your address in thai script, so it doesn't look like it's for a falang who can be milked

Just another way to slip under the radar. If I ship it to my girlfriend's place, I don't see what the problem is. It's not like I'm making up a Thai name that can't be justified if questioned (now that would be stupid).

And some people will say Thai ladies are only in it for the money...here is proof, sometimes it's all about love

Update:

As it turns out, Bongo will not ship to another reshipper, as per company policy.

Now they have really pissed me off.

Not only that but the thais themselves don't see it as derogatory.

@lomatopo: how does it look reasonable to you? It's 50%+ of the goods' value.

It's a round number because it's a fee from a third party broker that they "recommend" (sounds scammy much?) since they supposedly cannot clear it themselves.

Most likely no invoice would be issued, they would just split the 15k between the broker, and the DHL agent and customs agents under the table, and voila, problem solved!

I'll probably refuse the package and send it back to the US (no cost). And from there I just need to find a way to send it back by USPS for less than 15,000 THB / $486, which shouldn't be very hard. That amount is grotesque.

If it cost $185 to ship it through DHL last time, it shouldn't be more than 100 bucks through USPS.

I wish I could just go to customs and offer them 5 or 6k right there to get it done, but it doesn't look like an option.

(@farang000999: Let's not derail this thread to be about the merits of vitamins, start a thread about that if you want and I'll be glad to explain )

.

Sometimes the taxes can be so high they amount to a scam. In my case I'm charged 50%+ of the goods' value, I doubt it's legal, even if it is, it's ridiculous and I'm not paying. I'd rather refuse and send it back to the US.

There are plenty of expats in Beijing or Shanghai with little kids. By comparison CM has the purest air on earth. Don't worry too much.

I smile a lot more and worry a lot less.