Okay, so I did do a search for this but have come up short. I am currently teaching in Germany and have been hired by a school in Chiang Mai. We want to ship our belongings in a container (20 sq. metres) and have contacted a few private companies here but the question is regarding the timeline, as we obviously do not want to be taxed heavily by customs. We plan on leaving Germany at the end of June for Chiang Mai.

 

Do I have to wait until after my work permit is issued and then tell my shipping company to ship my belongings, or can I tell them at the end of June, as long as my belongings arrive after I am issued my work permit? If it is the former, then we won't get our shipment for quite some time (12 weeks or so), which will impact what we bring in suitcases.

 

Thanks for any help!

You can ship them but you will need to be on a one year extension of stay and/or have a work permit to get the duty free clearance.

 

Quote

Nonresidents granted to work in Thailand are regarded as resuming residents in Thailand provided they have a one-year non-immigrant visa issued by the Immigration Department. In case where the non-immigrant visa has not yet been granted, either of the following documents may be accepted:

• The letter from the Immigration Department certifying that the nonresidents shall be granted an annual temporary stay in Thailand; or
• The work permit from the Department of Labor to work in Thailand for at least one year.

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

I can not see if you are eventuella married to a thai lady??? And that she has been living in Germany for all together one year?? In that case there is another way to get free taxation from the customs...

 

glegolo

7 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

You can ship them but you will need to be on a one year extension of stay and/or have a work permit to get the duty free clearance.

 

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

They wouldn't accept my plea that the law states Im entitled to bring my personal affects in duty free while working in Thailand.  There was only a few items.  I just paid and understood that in Thailand it depends who you deal with on the day. But yes,  should be duty free. Maybe you can visit your province head mail centre and get some confirmation. 

OP, you'll need your degree, transcripts translated into Thai and verified.

 

   Good is to have a letter in English from your university addressed to the Teacher's Council of Thailand. Please do some reading. Good luck!! 

14 hours ago, durianfan said:

We plan on leaving Germany at the end of June for Chiang Mai.

Just curious, what personal items do you want to bring to Thailand? I have lived in more than a dozen countries and moved all over using a backpack only. Do you intent to bring multiple TVS, washing machines, stove, car etc.?

Thank you for the replies. To clarify, yes, my wife is Thai but I don't think that matters very much in this case as everything will be in my name (otherwise the school won't pay). I have been informed that I should wait until I have an approximate date of when the work permit will be issued and then to inform my shipping company to ship the container, which will take 6-8 weeks to get to Chiang Mai. The shipment primarily contains household items, along with a very nice bed and a massive sofa bed. We do have a few electronic items such as an iMac, a big LCD television, a dryer and a few appliances. I hope to pay zero duty on these things due to my work permit. 

31 minutes ago, durianfan said:

Thank you for the replies. To clarify, yes, my wife is Thai but I don't think that matters very much in this case as everything will be in my name (otherwise the school won't pay). I have been informed that I should wait until I have an approximate date of when the work permit will be issued and then to inform my shipping company to ship the container, which will take 6-8 weeks to get to Chiang Mai. The shipment primarily contains household items, along with a very nice bed and a massive sofa bed. We do have a few electronic items such as an iMac, a big LCD television, a dryer and a few appliances. I hope to pay zero duty on these things due to my work permit. 

Good luck. Please let us know how it pans out.

My container arrived in the port before I had my work permit. The Personnel department advised that it could stay there until I had my WP, by which time it would be empty; or they could "fix it".

The container was cleared the following day....

There is always a way.