Extension of Stay to allow import of personal belongings

[Chomper Higgot]

Following my question regarding Non Immigrant O Visa (Marriage), I wonder if anyone can help with the my next question:

 

After arriving on a Non Immigrant O (Marriage  to a Thai citizen) visa I shall apply for a 1 year extension of stay and then ship my personal possessions over from the UK.

 

Can anyone advise on the following:

 

Question:

I believe I can only apply for a 1 year extension in the last 30 days of my 90 day visa. Can I ship my possessions before I have the extension or do I have to wait until I have received my extension of stay?

 

 

[ubonjoe]

It makes no difference when you do your shipment. Being on an extension changes nothing for the duty you will have to pay.

If you wife has been living in the UK she can do the import duty free.

See: http://en.customs.go.th/content.php?ini_content=individuals_151007_02&lang=en&left_menu=menu_individuals_151007_02

[overherebc]

Especially if your wife has kept her family name after you got married for sure is the best way to go.

[ubonjoe]

8 hours ago, overherebc said:

Especially if your wife has kept her family name after you got married for sure is the best way to go.

That would make no difference. Many people's wives have done it with their husbands name.

Also if they got married before 2002 or 2003 they had no choice about the name change.

[YetAnother]

13 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

If you wife has been living in the UK she can do the import duty free.

long ago, there was a thai guy living in the usa that had a business whereby he 'piggy-backed' a thais permanent return to thailand with goods from others to avoid the import duties,

then he put the containers under the thais name; he then received them in bangkok and sorted the various lots out as well as shipped them inside thailand to their proper end-points

[sandyf]

I shipped mine over on a non imm O, not a problem. I would suggest you get your wife to organise it with a Thai shipping agent, makes life easier when the goods arrive. I used Asian Tigers and they were very good, but do not pay a great deal of attention to their UK agent, clueless regarding the way Thais operate.

[Chomper Higgot]

7 hours ago, sandyf said:

I shipped mine over on a non imm O, not a problem. I would suggest you get your wife to organise it with a Thai shipping agent, makes life easier when the goods arrive. I used Asian Tigers and they were very good, but do not pay a great deal of attention to their UK agent, clueless regarding the way Thais operate.

Sandy, just to clarify.

 

Did you commence your shipment while you were still within the 90 day non immigrant O, or did you get your extension of stay before shipping. 

 

[Chomper Higgot]

I don't think shipping in my wife's name is an option. 

 

While she has spent a number of years overseas with me, she has been back in Thailand for the past 18 months. Not much chance I think of claiming she's shipping her goods home.

[sandyf]

16 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Sandy, just to clarify.

 

Did you commence your shipment while you were still within the 90 day non immigrant O, or did you get your extension of stay before shipping. 

 

I got married in 2008 shipped the goods in 2009 when I sold my house, didn't get an extension of stay until 2014, spent the first 6 years here on a multi non imm O.

My wife hadn't been to the UK so all in my name. My wife made all the arrangements this end and I just had to deal with the dxxxhead in the UK. The service itself was excellent, packers were excellent, nothing broken. Container turned up exactly when they said.

[007 RED]

2 hours ago, sandyf said:

I got married in 2008 shipped the goods in 2009 when I sold my house, didn't get an extension of stay until 2014, spent the first 6 years here on a multi non imm O.

My wife hadn't been to the UK so all in my name. My wife made all the arrangements this end and I just had to deal with the dxxxhead in the UK. The service itself was excellent, packers were excellent, nothing broken. Container turned up exactly when they said.

Sanyf… Things have changed substantially since 2008.  Now you will find (with a few exceptions) any good being shipped into the Kingdom are subject to import duty and VAT, regardless of them being new or second hand.

 

The only exception are if a Thai person has been living outside the Kingdom for 12 months or more, they are allowed to bring back a reasonable quantity of household items.  The other exception is if a non-Thai person is coming to work in the Kingdom they also can bring a reason quantity of personal household items with them.  They need to show a work permit and valid non-B visa or extension .

 

[007 RED]

OP… you really need to do your homework on shipping personal items to Thailand, and don’t take what your local shipping agent tells you as being gospel. 

 

Thai customs officers are paid a bonus (x% of the amount of duty they collect), so it’s in the personal interest to ‘sting’ you for as much as they can.

 

A few years ago a good friend of mine was coming to live in Thailand with his wife on a retirement extension and they shipped most of their treasured possessions over.  The shipping agent assured them that if they listed the goods as second hand and gave a low cost figure for the items they would only be liable to a small amount of duty or a contribution to the 'tea fund'.  When the container arrived in Thailand the local representative contacted them and arranged to meet them at the port so as to complete the formalities.

 

When they arrived they were presented with a horrendous import and VAT bill from customs.  In fact that bill amounted to substantially more than they had estimated the second hand value of the goods.  It appeared that customs don’t work on second hand values, they work on 'as new' book prices.

 

To add insult to injury the calculations are done as follows:

 

The total cost of the items (as per customs reckoning) plus the cost of shipping plus the cost of insurance.  That figure is then used to calculate the import duty at x% which is then added to the first  total.  VAT at 7% is then charge against the grand total.

 

The local representative tried to negotiate a lower figure by arranging a donation to the 'tea fund', but the officer was having none of it.

 

My friend eventually decided to call it a day and abandoned the shipment as the costs were so prohibitive.  They also learned later that their items would be actioned off but they were unable to find out when/where that took place.  No doubt the customs officers are the only ones privileged to that information in order to buy the stuff cheaply and resell later.

 

To say my friends were 'shafted' is an understatement.

[sandyf]

10 hours ago, 007 RED said:

Sanyf… Things have changed substantially since 2008.  Now you will find (with a few exceptions) any good being shipped into the Kingdom are subject to import duty and VAT, regardless of them being new or second hand.

 

The only exception are if a Thai person has been living outside the Kingdom for 12 months or more, they are allowed to bring back a reasonable quantity of household items.  The other exception is if a non-Thai person is coming to work in the Kingdom they also can bring a reason quantity of personal household items with them.  They need to show a work permit and valid non-B visa or extension .

 

Nothing you have said, in either post, is any different to when I did it, it is all about taking the right approach but you are perfectly entitled to your opinions.