Travelling To The Uk. Will Customs Stop Me?

[mikeinminburi]

hey im travelling back to the uk in a few weeks and im wondering if there will be any problem with what im carrying.

im bringing clothes and some other few bits.

the bulk of the clothes are football jersey's.

they are gifts for a few friends and the rest of the jersey's are for charity for a football club.

the only thing is, there are 200 jerseys and im worried that uk customs will stop me for some reason.

Does anyone have any idea on this matter?

the jersey's are copies but this was the request of the football club as they have a really small budget and its the taught that counts for them.

the other small bits are several pairs of jeans, and a few handbags for my mam and sisters.

thanks for any advice.

[farangsay]

I'm not sure if there's a typo above.

200 shirts.

I'm trying to imagine how much weight/volume that is.

I don't think it's one 20kg suitcase.

You may be conspicuous with a large volume of luggage.

You may also exhibit unconscious signs of nervousness

that customs officers are very good at spotting.

Even if your goodies did not have "faked in Thailand"

labels it would be presumed you were smuggling for

resale.

Your risk will be that you DO get stopped and they

confiscate your goodies , you and the horse you rode in on.

Good luck.

[pumpuiman]

I don't think your "charity" excuse will work on immigration/customs.

I believe you will be searched and you will have problems.

Mail some home now, then have a friend mail more later.

carry a reasonable amount in your bags.

Good luck.

Edited March 11, 2007 by pumpuiman

[lamphun]

Always remember to place a pair of soiled underpants on the top of your packed luggage.

[Mossfinn]

you and the horse you rode in on.

C'mon Farangsay, be serious, the Horse is going to be to conspicuous, he surely isn't going to go thru customs on that is he, give him some credit, but at the very least he should take off his spurs and the ten gallon hat.

Good Luck

Moss

[duratanium]

200 fake shirts for 1 club??

Would this club be running a market stall somewhere?

Customs and Excise are gonna take the shirt off your back when they catch you with that lot

[Acquiesce]

A friend of mine was stopped with a consignment of 88 counterfeit Newcastle United shirts at Newcastle Airport in May 2003. She was prosecuted under the Trademark Act 1994 and fined £10,000 with a 6 month suspended jail sentance.

[farangsay]

you and the horse you rode in on.

C'mon Farangsay, be serious, the Horse is going to be to conspicuous, he surely isn't going to go thru customs on that is he, give him some credit, but at the very least he should take off his spurs and the ten gallon hat.

Good Luck

Moss

I wasn't trying to be humorous. In most countries customs actually have

broader powers then the national police force. The poleeece may need

a search warrant to search your residence but the customs boys often don't.

On the confiscation thing I was just indulging in my usual slight exaggeration

but they can and do "confiscate the horse you rode in on" i.e. your brand new

bird-pulling means of mobility if it contains one bottle over your liquor allowance.

Brushes with customs can shorten your life expectancy.

Once , in a previous life , me and the missus arrived in the home island

for a two week vacation and as I was coming from continental Europe

the boot was crammed with cases of beer and wine.

When the boy in blue asked me to open the boot I did so and stared at

the sky thinking four letter words.

When I heard him say "what's that" my eyelids and my sphincter

clenched simultaneously.

The missus stepped in with "It's a......err It's a....long pause...it's a

coconut. "OK" the boy in blue said. As I was driving away I had to

ask the <deleted> question and apparently herself had tossed a fresh

pineapple in the boot at the last moment , such commodity not

being available in the western reaches at the time.

[Mossfinn]

you and the horse you rode in on.

C'mon Farangsay, be serious, the Horse is going to be to conspicuous, he surely isn't going to go thru customs on that is he, give him some credit, but at the very least he should take off his spurs and the ten gallon hat.

Good Luck

Moss

I wasn't trying to be humorous. In most countries customs actually have

broader powers then the national police force. The poleeece may need

a search warrant to search your residence but the customs boys often don't.

Sorry Farangsay, I thought you were being your normal humerous self, and thought I would contribute.

You are certainly correct though, Immigration officers have more power than the Police as do officers of the Health and Safety Executive, trying to bring that amount of shirts thru will break every manual handling law in the book, so not only will he have immigration on his back but the police and the HSE as well as a healthy fine for smuggling counterfeit goods.

I just thought the whole thing was tongue in cheek.

Good Luck

Moss

[farangsay]

As I recently had to remind our resident redneck Dr. Strangelove , my

tongue is permanently in my cheek (except when....).

All the same I was trying to save the OP the delights of a romantic

experience in Wormwood Scrubs.

Having said that it's late here and I'm not sure if I'm being serious

or humorous. Can you help me out ? Say what you think. Don't

hold back on my account.

Yours

Confused of Bangna

PS On a serious note - Mar 17 - cheering 3 teams on the same day?

Edited March 11, 2007 by farangsay

[DDIM]

Mike,

I'm a Customs officer. Just bring them in. It'll be OK. No problem like.

[Acquiesce]

Mike,

I'm a Customs officer. Just bring them in. It'll be OK. No problem like.

Says the man who posted this in another thread.

In May 2006 I was travelling to BKK Don Muang via Dubai. My wife purchased 2 cartons of 1,000 cigarettes for herself and her father who was also travelling.

We honestly never gave the customs limits a thought when the purchase was made and the purpose was to take them to Thailand for our holiday and the remainder were to be taken home with them at the end of the holiday.

As we walked through BKK airport a "civilian" advised my mother in law, who was pushing the luggage trolley with a Dubai duty free bag in full view, that she should split the cigs up because the customs would confiscate them. I was not present at this time - lagging behind.

The "civilian" was in fact a plain clothes Customs spotter and he watched as the cigarette cartons were split up between the 4 of us.

We foolishly passed through nothing to declare and were waiting in the arrival hall for our taxi driver when 6 Customs officers pounced. They were in civvies with the uniform hidden below the jackets.

They recovered the cigarettes, minus 1 carton of 200 cigs, so that totalled 90 packets of 20.

They wanted to arrest my mother in law (72 years old and a non smoker) for being in possession of the cigarettes despite the fact they were now all split up. My wife volunteered to be arrested and the Customs agreed. They took her to an airport Police office, where she signed about 20 sheets of paper written in Thai and after 50 minutes they emerged and said that she was to be taken to Customs HQ in Bangkok to be fined.

Negotiation ensued and the Customs officer agreed to travel with us in our taxi to the HQ.

I offered to pay the fine to him personally, but he was not interested in any way.

On arrival, my wife was taken into the building by the officer. He allowed me to accompany her without any problems.

She was taken to an office and a man in civilian clothing was informed of the quantity of cigarettes seized. He then told us we were to be fined 31,995 Baht. I made a quick calculation and worked out that this was in the region of £500 pounds.

I immediately thought I was being scammed big time and protested accordingly. I refused to pay it and the man told us that we would need to see his boss.

We were taken downstairs and presented to a uniformed Customs officer, whose name badge identified him as a senior officer.

He confirmed the amount and I again refused to pay. I told him politely that he was trying to obtain money from me illegally and the cost of the fine was outrageous and excessive.

He was very polite and patient and wrote some figures down for me. I have the paper and copy the figures from it.

He said that there were 2 tariff multipliers for fines.

I don't know what the figures mean but he wrote 45 x 0.79 = 35.55 tax per box.

35.55 x 10 times = 355.50 tax per box.

He told us that the calculations given were for the lower tariff.

So, the low rate was 355.50 Baht per packet of 20 and the high rate given was 533.25 per packet of 20.

He accepted that we had been negligent in bringing the cigarettes in as opposed to bringing them in for resale etc and as such we were being fined the lower tariff.

That equated to a fine of 31,995 Baht. (Higher rate was 47,992 Baht)

We tried to negotiate this down using every tactic known to me, without success. I told him that we didn't have the money (we didn't). He told us that they would escort us to an ATM which was close to their office and we could withdraw the funds from there.

My wife refused and asked what would happen if she failed to pay the fine. She was told that she would be kept in custody, presented to a court next day and then fined. The original fine would still stand and it would still need to be paid. He also said that her passport would be stamped.

As we were in the process of buying a house, that was not an option we wanted to consider. He helpfully advised that if we paid the fine, my wifes passport would NOT be stamped.

The Customs officer showed us what looked like an official handwritten ledger and identified nationalities and fines imposed. At this point an Englishman emerged from an adjoining office and confirmed that he was being fined a similar amount for a similar quantity of cigarettes.

That confirmed to us that we had no option but to comply.

We were escorted to the ATM amd met the Englishman in the process of withdrawing his money. We done the same, in 2 transactions and returned to the HQ.

We paid up and were given an official looking pink coloured receipt. It has a winged Thai style lion crest in the top centre and spaces for handwritten details.

It is written in Thai but my wifes details are in English, as is the amount of the fine. My wife was asked to sign the receipt after it had been completed and the receipt was then stamped.

My wife had her passport returned to her and we were allowed to leave the building minus the cigarettes which were all confiscated. A sign in the cashiers office advised that this would be the case.

The above info is purely for the information of this thread and to provide a blow for blow account. This has obviously been going on for some time and is not unique to the new airport.

We were inadvertantly in the wrong and the Customs guys were in the right.

They were polite and respectful at all times, so apart from the amount of the fine, which we thought was excessive, we have nothing to complain about.

How long did you say you have been a customs officer for?

Edited March 11, 2007 by Acquiesce

[farangsay]

Mike,

I'm a Customs officer. Just bring them in. It'll be OK. No problem like.

If that's for real then know that myself , and a few million other frequent

travellers , have willed a supposedly mythical place into existence just

for you. Stay cool. Warm is coming.

[endure]

Sorry Farangsay, I thought you were being your normal humerous self, and thought I would contribute.

You are certainly correct though, Immigration officers have more power than the Police as do officers of the Health and Safety Executive, trying to bring that amount of shirts thru will break every manual handling law in the book, so not only will he have immigration on his back but the police and the HSE as well as a healthy fine for smuggling counterfeit goods.

I just thought the whole thing was tongue in cheek.

Good Luck

Moss

Not to be a pedant (well, ok then) but he'll have HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs) on his back not the IND (Immigration & Nationality Directorate).

[Acquiesce]

Not to be a pedant (well, ok then) but he'll have HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs) on his back not the IND (Immigration & Nationality Directorate).

Or maybe even a counterfeit football shirt.

[endure]

Not to be a pedant (well, ok then) but he'll have HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs) on his back not the IND (Immigration & Nationality Directorate).

Or maybe even a counterfeit football shirt.

[farangsay]

Sorry Farangsay, I thought you were being your normal humerous self, and thought I would contribute.

You are certainly correct though, Immigration officers have more power than the Police as do officers of the Health and Safety Executive, trying to bring that amount of shirts thru will break every manual handling law in the book, so not only will he have immigration on his back but the police and the HSE as well as a healthy fine for smuggling counterfeit goods.

I just thought the whole thing was tongue in cheek.

Good Luck

Moss

Not to be a pedant (well, ok then) but he'll have HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs) on his back not the IND (Immigration & Nationality Directorate).

Actually you are being pedantic. Count yourself lucky , in these enlightened times ,

it is no longer a criminal offence.

[mr_hippo]

First of all, you are not taking in 'copies' of football shirts but fakes. You seem worried. So you have now landed at a UK airport. You will have been watched in the baggage hall - either live or on CCTV. You now have your bulging suitcase and go through the green channel. Do you think that the people who are stopped in the green channel are stopped at random? You will have been watched for any signs of unusual behaviour and 'gut feeling'. You have not been stopped, got through 'green' and into the arrivals area, do you think that now you can breathe that smug smile of relief? Then think again, you are still being watched.

[geronimo]

hey im travelling back to the uk in a few weeks and im wondering if there will be any problem with what im carrying.

im bringing clothes and some other few bits.

the bulk of the clothes are football jersey's.

they are gifts for a few friends and the rest of the jersey's are for charity for a football club.

the only thing is, there are 200 jerseys and im worried that uk customs will stop me for some reason.

Does anyone have any idea on this matter?

the jersey's are copies but this was the request of the football club as they have a really small budget and its the taught that counts for them.

the other small bits are several pairs of jeans, and a few handbags for my mam and sisters.

thanks for any advice.

I do exactly that everytime I go back to the UK. The trick is to be calm, do not avoid eye contact with the customs people. At the end of the day it is a numbers game, so bear that in mind!!

[mikeinminburi]

ah jesus.

all this over a few shirts! have to give praise where its due,

Not to be a pedant (well, ok then) but he'll have HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs) on his back not the IND (Immigration & Nationality Directorate).

Or maybe even a counterfeit football shirt.

brilliant i say. made me see the funny side to all of this.

well, ive squeezed them in my cases now and they fit nicely into 3 large suitcases.

im carrying 2, and my m8 is carrying 1.

they dont look obvious at all. and we covered them with normal clothes.

small details are where we would get caught.

all i need to do is get them to the airport and im checking them back in on another flight in the uk.

and yeah, the football club want them all. dont ask me, its a family member who knows the owner of the club and he just asked me to get them.

i just get paid for bringing them back thats all.

its no longer a criminal offence to carry them, but i heard customs confisciate them...

any other reccommendations to get by?

thanks for the comments, both serious and humerous.

[Mossfinn]

Sorry Farangsay, I thought you were being your normal humerous self, and thought I would contribute.

You are certainly correct though, Immigration officers have more power than the Police as do officers of the Health and Safety Executive, trying to bring that amount of shirts thru will break every manual handling law in the book, so not only will he have immigration on his back but the police and the HSE as well as a healthy fine for smuggling counterfeit goods.

I just thought the whole thing was tongue in cheek.

Good Luck

Moss

Not to be a pedant (well, ok then) but he'll have HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs) on his back not the IND (Immigration & Nationality Directorate).

Thanks for that Endure, mainly because nobody usually quotes me ( I wonder Why ) but I only dashed off a quick reply because I thought I had agitated F'Say and I don't like upsetting people for no reason!

The Immigration Officers do have more powers than the Police, but why I mentioned them here, Heaven only knows , I just wanted to difuse the situation.

Good Luck

Moss

[farangsay]

Sorry Farangsay, I thought you were being your normal humerous self, and thought I would contribute.

You are certainly correct though, Immigration officers have more power than the Police as do officers of the Health and Safety Executive, trying to bring that amount of shirts thru will break every manual handling law in the book, so not only will he have immigration on his back but the police and the HSE as well as a healthy fine for smuggling counterfeit goods.

I just thought the whole thing was tongue in cheek.

Good Luck

Moss

Not to be a pedant (well, ok then) but he'll have HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs) on his back not the IND (Immigration & Nationality Directorate).

Thanks for that Endure, mainly because nobody usually quotes me ( I wonder Why ) but I only dashed off a quick reply because I thought I had agitated F'Say and I don't like upsetting people for no reason!

The Immigration Officers do have more powers than the Police, but why I mentioned them here, Heaven only knows , I just wanted to difuse the situation.

Good Luck

Moss

:D

Good luck

FS