Shipping 20 ft container from US to Thailand questions.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

47 minutes ago, Langsuan Man said:

On the other hand there have been many who have reported here at Thai Visa that they had to pay nothing, so it is basically a crap shoot on what will happen once your container get's here 

 

I think some of that outcome has to do with what shipping service you use, what relationship they or their customs agent have here in Thailand, and how your shipped goods are processed, since some types of shipments are exempt from import duty.

 

When I had my goods shipped in two installments years back, I used a Thai owned and operated company and paid a paltry amount in duty.

 

 

[55Jay]

19 hours ago, sirineou said:

perhaps I could bring my treadmill also

Funny you mention that.  Caused me to remember "sports equipment" is, or was at the time, a category of higher interest by Thai Customs.

 

I had the pack out foreman (Filipino guy) list my treadmill as a "walker".  Multiple flat screen TVs listed as "screen" and "viewer".... something like that.  Obviously I gaffed the multiple computer monitors, and they were only issue Thai Customs raised out of 14 or so pages of inventory. 

[madisongy]

On 5/26/2018 at 6:47 PM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Ahh, and good quality Egyptian cotton bed sheets, which are very expensive here. If you have and take care of quality things, they're gonna last a long time and whatever you spend on moving them from the U.S. to Thailand, within reason, may prove to be a good investment.

ABSOLUTELY on the linens.   And I could not find decent shower curtains here.   I bought all the furniture, appliances, mattress etc here, but I always bring the smaller creature comforts from the US on every trip.   Brought down pillows recently.  Love them.   As you said, bring the quality stuff.     

[mogandave]

Fitted sheets from the US won’t fit Thai beds.

Decent beds are pretty expensive here...

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, mogandave said:

Fitted sheets from the US won’t fit Thai beds.

 

I have regular King and Cal King sized sheets from the U.S., and while they don't fit exactly with the Thai king size bed, they certainly fit enough to cover all the corners and stay in place.

[JAFO]

My wife and I did a 40ft container and loaded it( And I mean loaded it up). I refused to sell my belongings for pennies on the dollar only to come here and buy cheap stuff to replace it and spend more.  While the list of what we brought was huge, the top items  we use all the time are;

 

Our beds and Tons of linens. 

 

Yard tools from True Temper, shovels. rakes, Hoe's. Also consider a Good quality wheelbarrow.  

 

SST  gas BBQ

 

Craftsman roll around tool box loaded with tools

 

Cordless Weedwhacker and Blower (Trust me you will love having a blower here vs using Thai rice brooms that leave more dirt then they clean)

 

I kept all my cordless Drills and kitchen appliances and

brought over 3 transformers  http://www.220-electronics.com/3500-watt-diamond-series-voltage-converter.html

 

A push lawn mower is Gold here.  You cannot find a quality unit here. Same with a rototiller if you plan on gardening.

 

We paid no duty on our Cargo container. My wife was out of Thailand for 4 years with me in the US. We did pay 4800 bht for 2 days storage until truck picked it up. 

 

In the end it all depends on what you plan on doing here. Bring what suits your life and expectations just don't short change yourself on others opinions. 

 

 

[sirineou]

I have read every reply, and I am adding to my list. I certainly did not consider linen, and will add to my gardening tool list. A cordless weed wacker was a good idea. Also a post hole digger.

Thank you all .

[JAFO]

2 hours ago, sirineou said:

I have read every reply, and I am adding to my list. I certainly did not consider linen, and will add to my gardening tool list. A cordless weed wacker was a good idea. Also a post hole digger.

Thank you all .

Great idea on the list. My wife and I generated one and she looked and found what we could or could not get in Thailand which prompted us to go from using a 20ft container to 40ft. It was only about $2k more and and believe me when I say that we saved thousands of dollars and untold hours not having to buy lower quality items here and the time to try and find them. 

 

Linens are a big one so good idea. Get good mattress pads, sheets and bed spreads. We brought over something like 8 complete sets (Maybe even more).  Obviously no need for heavy comforter covers but get some good light weight ones. When packing linens and clothes to load up I highly recommend you use those vacuum space saver bags to keep moisture and smells out.  Keep in mind that the container will be on the water for 20 to 28 days. 

 

Things you really do not need to bring are flatware, utensils and basic glasses. However I encourage you to bring over some good pots and pans and a good knife set. My wife also brought over numerous baking trays for cakes and pies.

 

Please feel free to PM me if you want to chat off line. 

 

 

 

 

[mogandave]

Are you sure it was $2k more for a 40’? We usually only pay about $500 more. Pick-up, delivery and documentation is all the same, the only difference should be the sea freight itself.

Op, it’s worth while to buy a desiccant like silica gel in pouches to distribute through the container, it will keep it nice and dry.

[55Jay]

Indeed, your bed and the pillows you prefer - for me, it's the goose/duck feathered ones.   I also toss 2 of them in the car for road trips as the common, spongy ones here, mid-range Thai resorts/hotels, etc., put my neck in knots. 

 

Roger that on the bed linens.  Every time we fly back to US for a visit, wife brings back another set of high thread count sheets & pillow cases whether we need it or not. 

 

Good pillows and lines probably available here somewhere, dunno, never had to look.  If you're going to do a shipment anyway, yeah, chuck it all in there.  We went on a 2-day shopping spree before the big pack out day.

[JAFO]

4 hours ago, mogandave said:

Are you sure it was $2k more for a 40’? We usually only pay about $500 more.

Our 20ft was quoted at $2850 door to door. Upgrading to a 40ft was $4400 door to door. Now keep in mind you can pick from 2 or 3 container options. 1 was deemed as a partially sealed unit meaning it could leak, 2 was guaranteed fully sealed and 3 had divider options. We went with the sealed one which was a few hundred more. Well worth the money as we brought over a lot of hard wood furniture and I did not want it to get mold or whatever.

 

Someone mentioned desiccant however that will likely be ineffective as they become saturated in a few days. Plus those are expensive.  As I mentioned we put all Bed items, Linens, pillows towels etc in vacuum spacer saver bags and tossed in a bounce sheet before vacuuming them sealed and when it arrived here it was all perfect and clean and ready to be put away. Plus with the spacer bags you save a lot of space and protect them.

 

On your mattresses what worked well for us was we bought the mattress bags (Heavy duty) online (Ebay) and after that we put heavy cardboard on all 4 corners and then shrink wrapped the mattresses. This will keep them clean and protected. Keep in mind that you will have everything in your container and you would hate to get it all here and your linens and beds smell like your lawnmower or yard tools or worse yet some musty mildew smell. LOL! 

 

Few other thoughts if they help

 

I bought 10 packs of tie down straps at Harbor freight. They are cheap. They work great on the tie downs in the container and secure things in place. DO not leave anything loose. it will fly around (Trust me) We used the shrink wrap to hold boxes together, we bought some old moving blankets off Craigslist to put over the furniture then shrink wrapped it as well. I used 3 rolls of Shrink wrap. Its cheap and a life saver

 

As a reminder, everything you are bringing is supposed to be "House hold used goods". Anything you have new you might want to take the price tags off and if exposed remove from original packaging. Just in case they open the container and inspect. If they see a bunch of "New" items they might assess you duty charges.  Its all a judgment call and they will "Judge" in their favor if they see it new and an opportunity to get some money.

 

 Probably obvious but let your wife do all the negotiating and documentation. The manifest needs to be in her name and let your wife write it all in Thai. I stayed completely out of it and it all went off without a hitch. 

 

In the end after our house was done here and we sat waiting for the cargo container when it arrived and we started unpacking and putting items in the house and it felt and looked like home. it was like a huge Christmas for us as a lot we had never even opened or used. LOL!  For me, I did not move here to live or go without. My wife and I agreed we wanted some creature comfort things and we have them. 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, 55Jay said:

We went on a 2-day shopping spree before the big pack out day.

We went on our shopping spree for about 60 days before final pack up. Gave us ample time to pack and repack to make it look used. Prior to that we had been packing up items each day or so 3 months in advance. Its a big project.  

 

Loading the container is another project all by itself.....

 

In any event, Good Luck OP. 

 

 

[JAFO]

Here are a few pics of our container as arrived and loaded to the back door. 

[55Jay]

Just now, JAFO said:

<snip>  We went on our shopping spree for about 60 days before final pack up. Gave us ample time to pack and repack to make it look used. Prior to that we had been packing up items each day or so 3 months in advance. Its a big project.  

 

Loading the container is another project all by itself.....

 

In any event, Good Luck OP. 

 

 

Yup - and right, it was more than 2 days, may have been thinking of  the 2 'big' trips in particular; one we drove home with 4 large area rugs front to back in the Landcruiser.  Wife said they would be more expensive here.  They rolled up and fit nicely along the wall in the container.

 

[55Jay]

The day of our move, the 20' container was completely full, and there were 37 boxes left on the sidewalk.  We wound up in a 40' for 37 boxes.  Thought my company would balk and I would have to pay the diff but they didn't.  Man, that sucker was spectacle on the quiet, 2 lane country road in NE Thailand.

[JAFO]

3 minutes ago, 55Jay said:

Wife said they would be more expensive here.  They rolled up and fit nicely along the wall in the container.

She was right and we brought over 3 plus a large assortment of small rugs for doors, bathrooms walk areas etc plus padded floor mats for around kitchen area. It makes a huge difference. 

[JAFO]

1 minute ago, 55Jay said:

The day of our move, the 20' container was completely full, and there were 37 boxes left on the sidewalk.  We wound up in a 40' for 37 boxes.  Thought my company would balk and I would have to pay the diff but they didn't.  Man, that sucker was spectacle on the quiet, 2 lane country road in NE Thailand.

HAHAHAHA, We started like you with a 20ft and by the time I calculated the volume of what we had already packed there was no way a 20ft would do. 

 

And same here in Thailand. Our street is long and narrow like most here and no way the truck could get the container down it. So our friend brought over his dump truck and we moved all in it and then to our house. What worked out perfect was the bed of the dump truck was the same height as the container so we just wheeled stuff right over and then taking it out of the dump truck was a cake walk.  We parked the container at the school nearby and people just sat and watched. Took 6 hours to get it all out and then came the months of unpacking and where to put it all. HAHA

[sirineou]

22 minutes ago, JAFO said:

Here are a few pics of our container as arrived and loaded to the back door. 

 Are you sure you couldn't have have packed any more in there?

I am sure if you tried you could have fitted a couple of sheets of typing paper . LOL

 

Question: once the the container arrives at our Thailand home, how much time does one have to unpack it before the shipping company takes it away?   (I will ofcourse ask the shipping company just wanted to know what your experience was) 

PS: I just got a call from a respected family member in FL (I am in NYC now) who has the perfect tenant for my FL home, who might want to rent the home next month, so this might happen sooner than I thought. The problem is we just came back to the US (me last december, wife last month) , if we ship the contents of or FL home , she might have to go back to Thailand again, if she does it will be the third time in the past 12 months.

I also have a very expensive patio set that has an oval table with a glass top, how does one pack the glass so it does not brake? I was thinking  sandwiched between two sheets of 1/2" plywood.  

 

I am  glad I started this Thread, I have learned so much! Thank you all

[JAFO]

2 minutes ago, sirineou said:

 Are you sure you couldn't have have packed any more in there?

I am sure if you tried you could have fitted a couple of sheets of typing paper . LOL

 

Question: once the the container arrives at our Thailand home, how much time does one have to unpack it before the shipping company takes it away?   (I will ofcourse ask the shipping company just wanted to know what your experience was) 

PS: I just got a call from a respected family member in FL (I am in NYC now) who has the perfect tenant for my FL home, who might want to rent the home next month, so this might happen sooner than I thought. The problem is we just came back to the US (me last december, wife last month) , if we ship the contents of or FL home , she might have to go back to Thailand again, if she does it will be the third time in the past 12 months.

I also have a very expensive patio set that has an oval table with a glass top, how does one pack the glass so it does not brake? I was thinking  sandwiched between two sheets of 1/2" plywood.  

 

I am  glad I started this Thread, I have learned so much! Thank you all

LOL....Trust me my wife was looking at every space and wanted to bring more. In fact she told me that I did not pack it tight enough up front. We could have brought even more. Believe me when I say that I brought over a lot more than just "Household" goods. But that's for a different time.

 

As for unpacking. We had 1 full 24 hr period. Same in the US. They dropped off at 7am and they picked it up at 7:20am the next day and off to the Oakland port it went. So preparation is paramount. When it arrived in Thailand my wife did most of the coordination on the phone. We thought she was going to have to go to the port but they emailed all docs, she signed and we scanned and sent back.

 

Your wife traveling back and forth has no bearing on it as long as she basically spent 2/3rds of her time in the US and has been there for 2 or more years (it doesn't matter in what capacity, working, relaxing, living, whatever). My wife would travel back to check on house build progress, see her Dad and hang out for 1 month periods. Usually did that 3 times a year. We stayed in the US until she got her US citizenship so we had to be careful on her time in and out.

 

 

[JAFO]

Few more pic ideas to help you. BTW, the pallet idea was scrapped. Long story. I over engineered it....

 

As for the glass table top, I'd wrap in a moving blanket with some bubble wrap and sandwich it between plywood or maybe between your mattress's. Having the plywood here might come in handy later.

 

Also to note after our unpacking was done we donated almost all the moving blankets to the temple for people for winter. They were in near new shape and clean. They went fast to many older folks.

 

Start searching now for moving boxes. You will need a lot. Most can be had free at places like Walmart or if by an industrial area just drive by and ask. I started collecting them. My FIL loved it when all unpacked here. He made like 1200 baht at the recycle center for the cardboard 

[Naam]

On 5/31/2018 at 10:42 PM, JAFO said:

My wife and I did a 40ft container and loaded it( And I mean loaded it up). I refused to sell my belongings for pennies on the dollar only to come here and buy cheap stuff to replace it and spend more.  While the list of what we brought was huge, the top items...

only poor people who don't possess valuable items organanize a garage sale and buy cheap sh*t or very expensive quality items.

 

we brought in a 40foot high cube container, volume 70m³. if i had known how easy the import was handled i had doubled it.

[JAFO]

8 hours ago, Naam said:

 if i had known how easy the import was handled i had doubled it.

Me too. Now that I have settled in I realize I should have brought a few more items that, at the time, felt they were risky to bring. They called and said they were going to open our container and checked a small section and I put all the old stuff at the door. They did not want to crawl all the way to the front as it was packed so tight. My wife said you can pull out anything you want but you need to repack it how it was and anything damaged will be a cost to them. We got docs to sign in 30 minutes. ?

[PhonThong]

The best advice I can give is, don't bring anything. You will wish you didn't. You can get everything here that you would need. 

I know you will probably do it anyway. But one day you will look back and say, "why didn't I listen"?

[Esanlover]

Ship in your Thai wife name and you are also allowed to ship 1 used electric or appliance of each.

USD 3300,- from Florida to Khon Kaen so cheap that there must be something wrong. My friend just shipped 20ft. to Dallas from Pattaya and he paid USD 8750,- door to door incl. packing and unpacking.

[mogandave]

I think it makes sense to bring over nice stuff that you like, but dragging over a bunch of crap does not make any sense.

[mogandave]

Ship in your Thai wife name and you are also allowed to ship 1 used electric or appliance of each.

USD 3300,- from Florida to Khon Kaen so cheap that there must be something wrong. My friend just shipped 20ft. to Dallas from Pattaya and he paid USD 8750,- door to door incl. packing and unpacking.

Perhaps the 3,300 did not include pack & unpack.

[sirineou]

43 minutes ago, Esanlover said:

Ship in your Thai wife name and you are also allowed to ship 1 used electric or appliance of each.

USD 3300,- from Florida to Khon Kaen so cheap that there must be something wrong. My friend just shipped 20ft. to Dallas from Pattaya and he paid USD 8750,- door to door incl. packing and unpacking.

 A couple of things as far as price is concerned.

First this is being handled by my wife's cousin with which we are  very close and who is an import export professional currently working out of Singapore . Second containers going from the US to Thailand is different than a container going from Thailand to the US, and Third Florida is not a manufacturing state , FL is a consumer state. A lot of full containers coming in and empty ones going out.

Thus the difference in price.

Some say it would be a mistake, and it might very well be, but I already have the stuff, if I was to sell it it would be for pennies on the dollar, and the shipping cost to me is so reasonable,that in the end even if it cost me a couple of thousand dollars more, it would not be a disaster.

PS: shipping major electrical appliances from the US is problematic because of the difference in Voltage and phase.

Edited June 2, 2018 by sirineou

[sirineou]

11 minutes ago, mogandave said:

 

Perhaps the 3,300 did not include pack & unpack.

 

No it does not include pack and unpack. A container would be  delivered to my address, we will pack it, and next day it would be picked up and delivered to  Jacksonville port, from there it will be shipped to Bangkok where it will clear customs,  and driven to KK. where we will unpack it . next day the empty container will be taken away.

[JAFO]

1 hour ago, PhonThong said:

The best advice I can give is, don't bring anything. You will wish you didn't. You can get everything here that you would need. 

I know you will probably do it anyway. But one day you will look back and say, "why didn't I listen"?

While I do not want to derail the thread it's important to understand expectations, wants and personal needs. I realize many guys bailed out of their current country and wanted to completely downsize and live in a one bedroom condo.  More power to them. I respect it. But many planned a relaxing retirement in a modest home and anyone who has lived in Thailand knows that most home furnishings are are junk unless you want to come over and spend countless thousands to buy nice furniture. Coupled with that the other things that you will spend countless hours just looking for. 

 

I look back now and had I done what you are recommending to the OP I would likely be kicking myself in the ass. Just the few things I didn't bring that I have had to go buy here were not only double in cost but it took some time to find it and I had to drive to go get it or pay 1500 baht delivery.  I refuse to buy cheap crap that breaks in 2 weeks.

[JAFO]

56 minutes ago, sirineou said:

shipping major electrical appliances from the US is problematic because of the difference in Voltage and phase.

I agree Sirineou. We did not bring washer. dryer. fridge etc. They take up a lot of space and are problematic as you noted.  A good Washer and Western dryer were  almost double U.S. costs but money well spent. Refrigerator was pricey too but I absolutely wanted a built in ice maker so I can make up my evening cocktail of choice.  

 

I did bring all my cordless and electric tools because I brought over the converters mentioned in a previous post and that has worked out perfectly.  

[PhonThong]

2 hours ago, JAFO said:

While I do not want to derail the thread it's important to understand expectations, wants and personal needs. I realize many guys bailed out of their current country and wanted to completely downsize and live in a one bedroom condo.  More power to them. I respect it. But many planned a relaxing retirement in a modest home and anyone who has lived in Thailand knows that most home furnishings are are junk unless you want to come over and spend countless thousands to buy nice furniture. Coupled with that the other things that you will spend countless hours just looking for. 

 

I look back now and had I done what you are recommending to the OP I would likely be kicking myself in the ass. Just the few things I didn't bring that I have had to go buy here were not only double in cost but it took some time to find it and I had to drive to go get it or pay 1500 baht delivery.  I refuse to buy cheap crap that breaks in 2 weeks.

Your right. To each his own. I did just the opposite and brought everything. Worst thing I ever did. Our leather sofa and recliners were unbearable to sit on. There is no use for a dining room set for eight. Never will use the expensive  china. Won't even go into the appliances I was going to use with converters. I could go on, but what's the point. Always going to be someone on here to challenge it.