Thai Dvd's And Chili Pepper Into New Zealand For Holiday?

[jeepholt]

My old Thai wife and I have hired a campervan to tour the south island of New Zealand for the month of March. Other than freezing our butts off (I haven't been in temps below 62 farenheit for almost 50 years and my Thai wife about the same), I am wondering if any of you has had experience in taking in some dodgy Thai DVD's through NZ customs. I am only talking of about 20 DVD's and bringing them back home to Thailand when holiday is over. The campervan has a DVD player, and I am sure that we will be bored with one another locked up in a campervan for a month! We rented the largest one they have 6 1/2 meters but I think that will turn awfully small after a few weeks? Our 4 story shophouse even gets cramped after 20 years living in it~ Would be nice to have something to watch at night, and according to web forums I have read, the TV is not too good especially when you are in the mountains and mobile. I have been researching all the DVD rental places in New Zealand and so far, all that I found want you to pay a monthly rate for rental of the DVD's and then they deliver them to your home address. That of course, would not apply to us being mobile.

On another note. The heavy restrictions on taking in food of any sort, had my wife totally distressed when it looked like she couldn't take in any Thai chili powder with her. That is the way it looked on the agricultural department website, so I emailed them with the question about taking in Thai chili powder on holiday. I worded the request comically, mentioning that if they didn't let her take it in, they would have an old dead Thai lady on their hands! I promptly received a comical reply that assured me it would be OK for her to take in Thai Chili powder and said that if she were to die, it would be my own fault due to us being confined in a campervan for such a long period of time! Ha... Quite a quick and snappy rhetorical response to my comedic enquiry I thought. I will declare taking the chili in with us though, since it appears there are VERY heavy penalties on not declaring basically ANY and ALL food stuff taken into NZ.

I would appreciate any tips you guys may have concerning my questions and any other tips you may have for us in visiting the south island.

Thanks in advance for your help and patience. I apologize if I have posted this in the wrong forum?

[kiakaha]

Pirated material is illegal in NZL and hence if NZL customs find it they WILL consfiscate and destroy it.I am unsure exactly what fines/penalties you would be culpable for.

Auckland has a particularly good DVD store on Queen Street called "Real Groovy". They have a superb collection of new and high quality used DVD's.Non-pirated of course.

Regarding chilli powder, there are loads of asian supermarkets where you can buy authentic thai chilli powder in Auckland.

[chuchok]

Pirated material is illegal in NZL and hence if NZL customs find it they WILL consfiscate and destroy it.I am unsure exactly what fines/penalties you would be culpable for.

Auckland has a particularly good DVD store on Queen Street called "Real Groovy". They have a superb collection of new and high quality used DVD's.Non-pirated of course.

Regarding chilli powder, there are loads of asian supermarkets where you can buy authentic thai chilli powder in Auckland.

not so kia.Even copy DVD's for private use is allowed.If you brought in 100 of them they would not be happy though.Chilli powder is probably ok, as long as it is commercial packaged etc.Just declare it.make sure that you don't bring in any other type of food though.As kia has said,there are now many,many places that where yopu can buy chilli powder.

[jeepholt]

Thanks guys for your responses. I'm still confused though. One of you says OK, the other not OK. I don't want to go to the nick for taking in DVD's illegally. This is basically the first time out of Thailand in 38 years and I'm thinking the campervan should be a bit better accomodations than the Customs jail! I won't be able to use the DVD sales outlet in Aukland since we will be flying directly to Christchurch after we clear customs and change aircraft in Aukland. Any help in a DVD rental place in Christchurch who rent to people on holiday? All the websites I've found are geared for NZ residents.

Flying in on Thai air. I am sitting in Business class due to a gunshot wound in my right knee, complements of the North Vietnamese 40 years ago. That mandates me having to be able to have my leg straight out and not bent for more than about 10-15 minutes. My wife is riding in the back in "cattle class". That ought to start a few heated discussions for when we get bored in the campervan at night..

A security question: If I buy whisky in Aukland airport duty free on arrival, then transfer to the domestic airport for the flight to Christchurch, will they allow the whisky as a carry on? And do you know if duty free whisky is cheaper than buying in Thailand?

Here is the actual response from NZ quarantine about bringing in Thai Chili powder for my old Esarn wife after telling them they would have an old dead Thai lady on their hands in she can't have her Thai Chili :

Thank you for your enquiry, please tell your poor wife that she is

allowed to bring herThai chilli powder, MAF would not want to be

responsible for your poor wife's demise!!!

Kind Regards Gwen Mazonis

MAF Quarantine Service

New Zealand <[email protected]>

Thanks again for your informed help guys. If you are in Pattaya, contact me and I'll shout you a pint or three.

[mountainman]

Have you played dodgy Thai DVDs before?

I bought 5 series of the Sopranos and one

of the discs was corrupt so couldn't watch

a couple of episodes.

Occasionally, the soundtrack gets out of sinc too.

Though that could be the Thai DVD player!

If you want a good laugh, though, have a look

at the English subtitles.

The subtitles for the DaVinci code are

hilarious!

I wouldn't spend too much on Thai DVDs

from the markets.

But if you're desparate, go ahead.

:-)

Edited January 30, 2007 by mountainman

[Roadman]

If it is only about 20 you will be OK. If they are a bit dodgy leave the cases in Thailand and put them in a travelling CD/DVD case and do not declare them.

I have been coming back and forward between Thailand and New Zealand a couple of times a year since Adam was an alter boy with a CD case fill of CD's...they are mostly copied music CD's and some VCD's and DVD's but no one has ever asked me about them. In your case if they did ask, then just explain as you did on here why you are bringing them with you. The worst they will do is confiscate them but I doubt it.

As for food items you will be quite suprised as what you can bring in. The secret is to declare it, and have it all in one bag where it is easy to show so you are not clogging up the system. If you declare a heap of food stuff then they are not going to bother about the a case of DVD's, and they will be rapped that you observed the food rules.

While there are thai food shops here it is the cheapness of quality food items and the personal favorite brands from Thailand that are not available here. Hence my wife will have one of my packs loaded with Thai food stuffs from dried shrimp and squid through to chilli powders, soup stocks and sauces. We have never had to leave anything behind. Just be open about food and declare it, then worst case is you will only lose that item. It you read the individual items you will see that it is not so much the dried fish and processed items but things like fruits, flowers, honey, canes etc. that are the problem ie - things that could have insects and bugs in them.

The question about duty free booze? No problems there. You can actually buy about 4 bottles of booze (spirits or wine) in the NZ duty free shops as long as you are not buying over NZ$700 in other duty items. The only thing you need to be aware of is that your baggage weight drops from Thai international to Air NZ domestic by about 5 kgs. The plane from Auckland to Christchurch is a Boeing so take the surplus on as cabin luggage. Not supposed to but they tend to be not as anal as Nok Air for example about cabin luggage.

March weather in the South Island is going to be cooler than home. But while it is cool at night you will still get the beautiful days. February and March are NZ's most settled weather periods and are the best time to visit the South Island. You will enjoy the South Island at that time of year. Be aware though that you will only find base Thai food items in Christchurch so you will need to stock up there as you will not find thai food supplies around the rest of the South Island.

Edited January 31, 2007 by Roadman

[shadowy]

If it is only about 20 you will be OK. If they are a bit dodgy leave the cases in Thailand and put them in a travelling CD/DVD case and do not declare them.

I have been coming back and forward between Thailand and New Zealand a couple of times a year since Adam was an alter boy with a CD case fill of CD's...they are mostly copied music CD's and some VCD's and DVD's but no one has ever asked me about them. In your case if they did ask, then just explain as you did on here why you are bringing them with you. The worst they will do is confiscate them but I doubt it.

As for food items you will be quite suprised as what you can bring in. The secret is to declare it, and have it all in one bag where it is easy to show so you are not clogging up the system. If you declare a heap of food stuff then they are not going to bother about the a case of DVD's, and they will be rapped that you observed the food rules.

While there are thai food shops here it is the cheapness of quality food items and the personal favorite brands from Thailand that are not available here. Hence my wife will have one of my packs loaded with Thai food stuffs from dried shrimp and squid through to chilli powders, soup stocks and sauces. We have never had to leave anything behind. Just be open about food and declare it, then worst case is you will only lose that item. It you read the individual items you will see that it is not so much the dried fish and processed items but things like fruits, flowers, honey, canes etc. that are the problem ie - things that could have insects and bugs in them.

The question about duty free booze? No problems there. You can actually buy about 4 bottles of booze (spirits or wine) in the NZ duty free shops as long as you are not buying over NZ$700 in other duty items. The only thing you need to be aware of is that your baggage weight drops from Thai international to Air NZ domestic by about 5 kgs. The plane from Auckland to Christchurch is a Boeing so take the surplus on as cabin luggage. Not supposed to but they tend to be not as anal as Nok Air for example about cabin luggage.

March weather in the South Island is going to be cooler than home. But while it is cool at night you will still get the beautiful days. February and March are NZ's most settled weather periods and are the best time to visit the South Island. You will enjoy the South Island at that time of year. Be aware though that you will only find base Thai food items in Christchurch so you will need to stock up there as you will not find thai food supplies around the rest of the South Island.

chillis usualy NO, but declare it if its not worth much it doesnt matter. the dvds no prob we got stopped and they checked that they werent kiddy porn . no mention of pirating.