dia1

7 hours ago, ricklev said:

Yes. If it's not GPO it's illegal. 

There's no way tell if the medication people are receiving is GPO or not. The cannabis products coming out of Thai clinics and hospitals all have different labels. I have yet to see anyone (from people posting experiences online) get a bottle of a product with the label pictured above. I looked a lot of they all have various labels and seem more specific to that clinic.

There needs to be some clarification as to what is going on and the procedures needed to get legal THC/CBD oil.

1. Thaicbd.info is not an official government website. It's just some site that someone setup to raise awareness. Why is there no official list of places that can prescribe legal cannabis? And if there is, are these small clinics listed there?

2. Why articles saying that  "Thailand's first clinic" just opened when there have been clinics open for a long time now? Is this poor journalism or all the clinics that have been offering thc oil a black market thing? https://thethaiger.com/thai-life/well-being/first-clinic-to-offer-medical-cannabis-opens-in-central-thailand

https://grizzle.com/thailand-unveils-cannabis-clinic/

There are also articles saying that vendor in Chiang Mai was recently busted. This is very confusing information being put out.

3. Sawasdee Clinic and others appear to be legit because they have FB and people dressed as doctors/nurses. But in the mentioned example, the clinic is located in a residential soi with no other businesses around it. It looks more like a residence from the outside. It's probably legit, but it seems a little sus...

4. By visiting the clinic and getting the product, does that qualify you as legally able to use and own the product or is it grey area? They will give you a "medical certificate" stating that you were examined for an illness, but it does not state the treatment or prescription. There is no indication that you are cannabis patient on this certificate.

I do feel that what is going on is *probably* legal, since it is being done out in the open. I've also visited a clinic and the operation appears to be legitimate. But I have seen no picture of what an actual "cannabis card" or license looks like. I haven't seen a prescription for it either. Only medical certificates that don't specifically mention cannabis. I think everyone needs to know exactly what they need to have on them at any given time if they were to ever be questioned by an official as to why they are in possession of THC/CBD. And we need an official source that states what places are offering legal and tested goods so that no one ends up buying fake product.

USPS tracking is worthless here as it is not tied into the Thai EMS system, even though the tracking numbering system is the same. USPS does not know that "the package is with customs." Once something leaves Los Angeles, that's it. It's in the wind.

This is not correct the Universal Postal Union has a shared tracking site amongst the vast majority of its member countries including both the USPS and Thailand Post. They will have tracking information that you will not find on a website. USPS will know the flight/s that the package should have travelled to Thailand on and they will also know the numbers of all the other registered packages that travelled on that flight. They will also know whether or not Thailand Post have signed for that packet or for others on the same flight. If the package does not arrive the sender can make a compensation claim from USPS, if Thailand Post cannot demonstrate that they have signed for the packet then they will be required (by UPU rules) to compensate USPS.

They sure didn't have this information when I lost my packages. In fact, they stated to me both times "sometimes the scanner doesn't work or a scan is missed" and since it's not a guaranteed service, they have no idea where the package is. They didn't know if my package was in Thailand or in the US.

The two pics on the left look a bit close to pepperoni... I might just try to see if they come close. Really I just want to make pizza with American style pepperoni. There's several other threads on this forum looking for US style pepperoni to no avail.

I hate to be a wet blanket ,but i had this problem a few years ago , they just tried to get money out of me ,more than the stuff was worth , in the end i told them to put it where the monkey puts his nuts , never send anything with any of the carriers ,only normal post

Yes, that is correct.

The worst one is DHL.

Never send any goods to Thailand by DHL, Fedex, TNT, UPS, EMS, etc.

USPS priority post is not recommended as the packages are handled by EMS customs in Bangkok.

They like to extort money from foreigners.

Only send by ordinary Air Mail Registered.

I've read this from other people, but I have the exact opposite experience... I have had multiple packages lost when sending USPS priority and regular mail to thailand. Because there is no legit tracking system, the tracking simply stops updating and no one on either the US or Thai side will help me. This is sending real packages with purchased items in it and also just plain old envelope containing my regular mail.

I now exclusively use DHL and Fedex and have yet to have a problem with 10 packages sent. Arrives timely and because of the intimate tracking, I've never had a package lost. Perhaps I'm lucky that I haven't gotten any weird outrageous customs fees like other people have reported, but even if that happens it will be a hell of a lot better than the package just dropping off the face of the planet.

At the place it you sent it, you must tell it is lost and you want to claim compensation than the process of investigation starts.

Only asking them about it doesn't help.

Yes, this works sometimes. I actually did have to file a claim for a lost USPS package that I bought through an ecommerce place. Instead they just resent the package DHL in which it arrived fine.

However another time I lost a package via regular mail was when was just fowarding regular mail, which unfortunately included my driver's license renewal, replacements for expired credit cards and a bunch of tax documents. During the tracking process it just stopped. Talking to USPS, Thai mail, and customs brought up nothing. They put a "trace" on the package but after another week I just got an email saying that regular mail was not guaranteed and I would've had to upgrade to express service to have guaranteed delivery, blah blah blah.

On that note, I did just get a USPS package in the mail, so sometimes they do make it through. It took about 4x longer than DHL. I suspect a lot of people here are british or from other countries, so perhaps the regular mail connection from other countries to Thailand is better. For Americans, I fear it is slow and unreliable.

I hate to be a wet blanket ,but i had this problem a few years ago , they just tried to get money out of me ,more than the stuff was worth , in the end i told them to put it where the monkey puts his nuts , never send anything with any of the carriers ,only normal post

Yes, that is correct.

The worst one is DHL.

Never send any goods to Thailand by DHL, Fedex, TNT, UPS, EMS, etc.

USPS priority post is not recommended as the packages are handled by EMS customs in Bangkok.

They like to extort money from foreigners.

Only send by ordinary Air Mail Registered.

I've read this from other people, but I have the exact opposite experience... I have had multiple packages lost when sending USPS priority and regular mail to thailand. Because there is no legit tracking system, the tracking simply stops updating and no one on either the US or Thai side will help me. This is sending real packages with purchased items in it and also just plain old envelope containing my regular mail.

I now exclusively use DHL and Fedex and have yet to have a problem with 10 packages sent. Arrives timely and because of the intimate tracking, I've never had a package lost. Perhaps I'm lucky that I haven't gotten any weird outrageous customs fees like other people have reported, but even if that happens it will be a hell of a lot better than the package just dropping off the face of the planet.

I am getting ready to place an order soon. I'm anxious to see the quality of your local steaks. One request... I see that you have a "Salumi" section on your website. I assume that this is for Salami although I don't see any products listed under it.

If you could get your hands on pepperoni you would have a long-term, ongoing customer from me and probably other expats as well. Since you have access to so many other quality meats, maybe that is possible? And I'm talking about real pepperoni like they have on American pizza... not spicy salami with red food coloring added like they try to trick people into buying here. It's soooo hard to find pepperoni anywhere.

Are any of your sausages like american sausage? I guess some people call it "country style" but it is the kind you would receive by default in 99% of American restaurants. I find most all of the "sausages" here in Thailand are basically hot dogs and are horrible as a breakfast food.

Finally managed to get my Surface Book. Actually 2 of them were sent to me back to back so ended up going through customs for them both.

DHL extremely speedy and very helpful, despite all the complaints on this forum about other people getting overcharged, etc. I was charged the 7% VAT exactly and nothing more. Both computers arrived in perfect condition.

Hardest part was finding someone with a high-end unit that was not on a backorder and then further a seller that would ship to Thailand. Most stores such as BestBuy, etc will not ship to Thailand and just about every electronic store in the US has blacklisted ShipTo for frieght forwarding. Had at least 4 orders cancelled on me when they saw I was trying to ship to a ShIpiTo address. BEWARE if you plan on using ShipiTo for this purpose as they do not forewarn you that just about everywhere has blacklisted their addresses. Cancelled and demanded a refund.

Ended up going with a seller who was on Amazon. Paid a little bit of premium, but it turns out that it was a whole lot cheaper using them than trying to have stuff forwarded.

VERY pleased with the Surface Book so far. Awesome machine and so lightweight. An amazing piece of technology.

Thank you!

I've ordered several packages from overseas but never been charged duties or vat, probably because they are less than $50 each.

However I recently ordered a fairly expensive item $2000+ which according to customs is exempt from duty, but is subject to a 7% VAT.

Last night the package showed in BKK customs and then this morning it shows as "Customs Clearance Complete" and then a few hours later it shows arrived at my local DHL delivery facility.

Since it's already at the delivery facility does that mean I was not charged any customs or is vat/duty collected upon delivery? For some reason, I expected I'd have to make a trip to customs and make payment before it was cleared.

Anyway, I live in a condo, so if VAT is collected by DHL upon delivery it worries me since the front desk usually signs for my packages and the VAT would be kind of expensive... probably more than they'd be willing to pay in case I refused the package or something.

Anyone with experience know how/when duty and vat is collected when shipping DHL?

Holy shit what a headache this has been. I spoke to Thai customs and they told me that laptops are indeed exempt from duties, however I would have to pay 7% tax.

I tried using Shipto in order to have a Surface Book sent to me, but BestBuy refuses to ship to a mail forwarded. From what I gather, Microsoft might also reject my order due to this.

It's almost beginning to seem impossible to get this thing to me...

I'm about to pull the trigger on this and order/have it mailed to me from the US via a forwarding service.

Does anyone have a definitive answer on if there are customs on a new laptop? Thaivisa has a lot of mixed info in older threads. Many say there is no tax or customs on laptops or computer parts and other people say that there is? The model I want is the $2099 version, so if I get hit with a 20% tax or something, that's a huge amount of money and I will probably just pass on it for now.

Anyone had a new laptop sent from overseas recently?

Ipad Pro is coming soon but also very pricey. How about a Sony Tap 11 i5? Great quality machine. Mini HDMI and display ports with great video on your big screen or external monitor

No dedicated GPU, no Skylake, no Windows Hello, and screen not detachable for a real "tablet" experience.

And I would never consider iPad Pro.... It runs iOs... lol that's just a kid's toy

Surface Book has a dedicated GPU which is the main thing that I'm excited about. Also the one negative about my surface pro is that typing is a pain even with the typset cover. Lap typing is basically out of the question. The full-form detachable keyboard will basically solve that and give me everything I want.

So it is indeed pricey, but the dGPU and keyboard will mean I'll keep it for a long long time...

Not to mention it's sexy as if not sexier than a Macbook Pro.

No plans to release the Suface Book in Singapore as of now... Unfortunately, they are only bringing the lesser Surface Pro 4 there

https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/3oucsz/surface_book_to_not_come_into_singapore_stores/

So I'm pretty much foaming at the mouth at the new Surface Book that Microsoft just revealed and is releasing later this month. It's already available for preorder in the states, (and has sold out) and the Thailand Microsoft store doesn't even list the Surface Book yet and doesn't have an English version anymore. The English store doesn't ship to Thailand apparently.

So looks like I will either have to risk buying a severaly overpriced one from a place like MBK where I have a 50/50 shot that it will be fake, or order it from overseas.

So what's the best way to get one of these buggers once there is more stock? Am I going to have to forward it to somneone in the US and then have them send it to me? Will there be customs? I have tried researching the customs but get mixed information some saying there might be a fee and some saying there is no charge for computer products.

Suggestions?

Thanks for the suggestions about Bangkok Bank, but that was actually my first thought also and yesterday I went to two Bangkok Branches. Neither of them would open an account for a foreigner in Thailand without a work permit or a certificate of residence from Immigration, despite me having a copy of my lease in my hand to prove my Thai address. They said this was a "new policy"... I would not have time to go to immigration, pay for the certificate, wait for it to be mailed to me, open a bank account, wait X amount of days for a money transfer to clear in that account and then transfer to Thai Elite. Once you're approved for the program you only have 7 business days to transfer the money.

With that tight deadline, I'm just going to have to eat the exchange fee and transfer directly from my US bank. I'll probably pick up that certificate and open an account to avoid having this kind of problem later, but all the other alternatives I looked into weren't really viable.

Haha... $800 isn't a big deal. Like I said, I will eat the charge if I have to. I still think the Thai Elite Visa is worth it even with a gigantic currency transfer fee.

However, I recognize the value of a dollar and I would rather spend that $800 on something a little more gratifying than some random banker's pocket.

I honestly have no other reason to have a Thai Bank account, but I walked into a couple Bangkok Bank branches today as they have a US branch which accepts domestic ACH transfers and I read that they are still foreigner friendly. Unfortunately, both didn't want anything to do with me unless I had a work permit or a certificate of residence. I even brought my lease from my condo with me, but a no-go. That would've solved my problem.

I don't work in Thailand, and I've only got a week to make the deposit, so I don't have time to apply at immigration and wait for a certificate to be mailed to me. I'm going to try a couple more branches tomorrow, but if that fails it looks like I will just have to accept the huge fee. Getting 500k THB from a bunch of ATMS would be difficult at best. No biggie, I suppose.

My bank charges $29 a transfer no matter the amount...maybe you need a new bank.

He's talking about the exchange rate offered, not the transfer fee.

It's well known all around the world that it you convert to Baht outside of Thailand before doing the transfer the exchange rate sucks. This is due to capital controls.

Yes, that's covered in Expating 101...always do the hard currency conversion into the soft Third World currency in the Third World country. He must have slept during this lecture day.

except, payment for the elite membership doesn't give much option in this regard if you don't have a Thai bank account to transfer from.

Thai Elite gave two options... To transfer 500k THB currency or to transfer in USD. If I transfer in USD to their account I need to transfer $15600 to them.

Current exchange for 500k THB to USD is about $14800, so if I transfer in my own currency I am eating $800 over 500k THB. If I wire transfer in THB my US bank is giving me a very silly exchange rate of 32.58 which is a full point lower than the interchange rate. So it will cost me approximately $15400, which is about $600 over 500THB.

I was expecting to do a "soft transfer" as someone mentioned above, but that is not an option. They gave two options with two seperate amounts... USD or THB. This isn't Thai Elite's fault by any means. They are protecting themselves against underpayment or fluctations in exchange rates. Not an issue for those who have a Thai Bank account and receiving deposits to that account for whatever reason, but a significant amount for those without a Thai account. Funny because it would actually be cheaper for me to just make 17 ATM withdrawls and then deposit cash into their account.

How did you all decide to handle your wire transfers? My bank is cutting a huge commission out of the exchange rate. Wire transferring 500k THB will cost me about $500 more than what the actual exchange rate is today if I go directly thru the bank. Current rate is 33.58, but bank is calculating for around 32.50. Yikes...

I'll eat the huge fee if I need to, but seems like there would be a smarter way.

I contacted them on Thursday and then again today. I will give them another day or so before calling them. I don't want to seem like a total pest.

Anyone had trouble contacting Thai Elite?

I want to sign up for this, but they have yet to send me an application after I've sent them both an email and a form on the "Contact/Join" section of the site? Judging by the quick service that everyone seems to be receiving, I woud've expected a 24 hour turnaround to start the application process, but no reply.