Moving

[mkeil52]

I plan on moving to Pattaya in a few months, any suggestion as to the best way to get my wife's and I belongings there , we currently live in Dubai. I am an American and she is Russian.

[whiteman]

do not use a russian carrier they will de neigh all knowledge of it when it goes missing ;0

[gadfly]

If possible, get your employers 'removals' company to arrange door to door delivery and have all goods adequately "all risks" (and check the small prints) insured.  You will probably find a "delay" at customs requiring your presence, First procedure is to try to get your removal company in-country representative to go to the customs office, hopefully, your presence will not be required.  If you are required to go to the customs office, always have your representative with you. Take your insurance documents with you as non-delivery outwith your control, if adequately insured, is a justification for a claim.

[action]

It would be helpful to know how much 'stuff' you plan to bring with you and what brings you to Thailand.
If you are coming here for work you can import your belongings duty free if it's done within 6 months.  (This probably doesn't hold true for your Ferrari)   Find a logistics provider and have them ship the stuff in a large wooden crate, or a shipping container if you have enough to fill one.  Companies like DHL can do this but tend to be more expensive.  
I have used this company and have no complaints.   http://www.bestgloballogistics.com/
Good Luck

 

[BoganInParasite]

I recently used Allied Pickford for door-to-door Brisbane to Nan in a 20 foot container. Very happy with the service. Woman in the Bangkok office (Esther) is outstanding, knows her stuff. Might want to watch the customs duty bringing stuff into Thailand. I didn't fall into the exempt categories however my wife who had been overseas with me for most of the past five years did. So we put the shipment in her name and it sailed through.

[Suradit69]

When I did it ... actually from Al Ain in Abu Dhabi ... I Googled personal airfreight clearing agents in Bangkok and I Googled Air Freight shipping agents in Dubai. The former may suggest a shipper in Dubai with whom they work regularly.

 

The clearing agent told me what documents would be needed, including fairly detailed lists of contents of shipment, copies of passport and visa (a non-imm O-A in my case).  I believe they needed a letter from me authorizing them to collect and clear the shipment.

 

The air freight shipping agent finalized packing of boxes of my belongings, removed them and shipped them to me using my address in Pattaya and, as I recall, in care of the clearing agent in Bangkok.

 

I did not have to appear at customs in Bangkok, but the clearing agent had to have my passport (not a copy, but the actual passport) to clear the shipment.

 

The agent in Bangkok cleared and collected the shipment for me. Everything was delivered to my condo in Pattaya. Nominal customs duty charged. Clearing agent fees were reasonable. Everything arrived in good condition. Pretty hassle free.

 

I did all this quite awhile ago so I can't give you the name of either agent I used, but both Dubai and Bangkok have quite a few shipping and clearing agents to choose from, so you can find those easily by Googling or asking friends.

 

 

 

[Rimmer]

A troll post and a reply have been removed

[Kerryd]

Be very careful when it comes to importing stuff into the country.

You most likely will be charged duties and tariffs on almost everything.

 

A couple years ago I finished working in Afghanistan. Had a large "gorilla" trunk and a large box full of clothes, books, footwear, linen and all the assorted "personal effects" that one accumulates after being somewhere for awhile.

I decided to ship it all to Thailand as the company was paying for it and that meant I didn't have to drag it with me through the airports.

 

It took me nearly a week to finally get my stuff after it arrived in Thailand because, being DHL, 1 box arrived a couple days before the other and DHL delivered it to my house.

The second box arrived arrived in Thailand and was held up by customs. I'd been honest on the contents and their estimated value (total about $1,000 US) but I started getting a run around - by the Customs Broker that DHL uses to process shipments to Thailand.

They called me and told me they needed my passport (even though I had included signed copies of it with the shipping documents and inside each box, along with an itemized list of the contents and estimated value.

They wanted something like 17,000 baht to do the paperwork to clear my stuff through Customs ! They told me that it was no problem, they would send a driver to my house to get my passport and bring it to Bangkok and then it would be returned after the shipment cleared.

No way I was going to give some stranger my passport in the hopes that I might see it again - eventually.

I had a friend drive me up to Bangkok and went into the "Free Zone" to meet the Customs Broker.

I argued that it was just used clothing and bedding and such and that I had a "Non-O (Retirement) visa so it shouldn't cost me 15,000 baht to bring in the same stuff I could have carried with me on an airplane and not paid a penny to bring in.
They then decided that they needed to see my old passport (that had the original Non-O visa stamp in it) even though my current passport had the stamps showing it had been transferred.
I think they were just trying to be ***** so that I would say to **** with it and pay their fees. Like I was going to drive back to Pattaya to get my old passport and drive back again so they could look at it and decided that it wasn't needed.

 

I was a little steamed and my friend said something to the woman we'd been talking to and she said I could probably get it done cheaper using a private agent. She made a call and a few minutes later a guy shows up. 

He'll take care of everything, for 12,000 baht. Right then I knew the Customs Broker was just a rip off if this guy could do the same job for 5,000 less.

 

Almost 8 HOURS later we finally had my box. Numerous offices and piles of paper to get the box and then take it to a spot where an agent comes out to inspect it.

A Customs Agent came out, I opened the box, she looked inside (didn't touch or move anything) nodded and signed the paperwork and that was it ! (No idea if any bills exchanged hands.)
I'm sure the actual fees were less than 2,000 baht (I don't remember where I stuck the paperwork - still have it here somewhere though). I saw a few 100 baht notes get slipped in with some paperwork, but not more than 3 or 4 in total.

 

One screw up was that DHL had cleared one of the boxes and shipped it to me, but the paperwork said there were 2 pieces to the shipment so they were telling me I had to go back to Pattaya, repack the box that had been delivered and bring it back to Bangkok.

(Luckily, DHL realized that they screwed up and was able to help me out.)

So, long story short, expect to get screwed on the import Duties and Tariffs, even if all you are shipping is used clothing, footwear, toiletries, books and other "clutter".

 

I would suggest maybe talking to someone at the Embassy in Dubai and inquire directly from them about the best way to move your stuff here. I'm sure there are a number of moving/shipping companies (other than DHL/FedEx type courier companies) that have experience with moving "households" between countries.
 

The Embassy may even be able to recommend one that has experience with shipping to Thailand.

 

 

 

[cbc]

Try agility logistics Bangkok www.agilitylogistics.com very good company have used them and the lady is very knowlegable and you must either give her your passport or go to customs yourself to get shipment released. I did and no problems at all.

[pieeyed]

Try agility logistics Bangkok www.agilitylogistics.com very good company have used them and the lady is very knowlegable and you must either give her your passport or go to customs yourself to get shipment released. I did and no problems at all.

I used Ceva when I moved back from Muscat. Your wife needs to be out of Thailand for a year, then no problem with customs. Also a good idea not to bring bigger electrical items as they will charge silly duties.

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