Shipping stuff to Thailand

[stament]

Wondering whether it's worth shipping some furniture and household items to Thailand.

 

I've heard that the import duties can be quite high and wondered where I could get some info on this, or any recent experiences members have had.

 

Not sure if it makes a difference but I'm on a non Immigrant O.

 

Sadly my Thai wife won't qualify for the zero import tax as she's been living in TH for a few years.

 

Any guidance appreciated to help me make the decision of whether to go ahead.

 

 

[cheeryble]

Regardless of duties......unless they’re special items.....I would sell for what I can and buy new.


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[Pilotman]

We brought a 40 foot container from the UK with all of our personal goods, no way were we going to leave that stuff behind in the UK.  As my Thai wife was a returning citizen, we got it here virtually duty free, bar a small charge for importing a controlled wood in the form of a dining table. I suggest that, like my wife, you get an import agent to help.  Your wife may get classed as a returning citizen, even if it was a few years ago, provided the goods were bought by her (sic) while away from the country. An agent will help with that and get advice from customs before committing yourself.  You can of course buy here, but generally quality is a big issue in Thailand, it's pretty poor, unless its expensive, and its not personal.  You have to weigh that against the cost of a container, £4,500 door to door in our case, but we were importing goods worth much more than that and some irreplaceable. One thing that I would say is that settling down here was much less of an issue than it could have been for me, as I had all my personal stuff around me, it was a good move, at least for us. 

[stament]

I'm getting the shipping for free so it's just the import tax I just pay.

 

Not sure whether to sell the stuff or ship it.

[gamb00ler]

You may qualify for an exemption of duty on household goods based on your visa.

 

See Thai customs web site in English <HERE>

[stament]

9 hours ago, gamb00ler said:

You may qualify for an exemption of duty on household goods based on your visa.

 

See Thai customs web site in English <HERE>

Interesting many thanks. I wonder if my non Immigrant O 1 year multi visa will suffice. I will check with them as I won't be working so won't have a work visa.

 

 

[bojo]

17 hours ago, Pilotman said:

We brought a 40 foot container from the UK with all of our personal goods, no way were we going to leave that stuff behind in the UK.  As my Thai wife was a returning citizen, we got it here virtually duty free, bar a small charge for importing a controlled wood in the form of a dining table. I suggest that, like my wife, you get an import agent to help.  Your wife may get classed as a returning citizen, even if it was a few years ago, provided the goods were bought by her (sic) while away from the country. An agent will help with that and get advice from customs before committing yourself.  You can of course buy here, but generally quality is a big issue in Thailand, it's pretty poor, unless its expensive, and its not personal.  You have to weigh that against the cost of a container, £4,500 door to door in our case, but we were importing goods worth much more than that and some irreplaceable. One thing that I would say is that settling down here was much less of an issue than it could have been for me, as I had all my personal stuff around me, it was a good move, at least for us. 

Sound advice, with some great teakwood furniture, handmade in and around the Ban Tawai area of Chiang Mai (and I am sure there are many others) being an exception..... to your 'quality in Thailand' comment.....

[Pilotman]

14 minutes ago, bojo said:

Sound advice, with some great teakwood furniture, handmade in and around the Ban Tawai area of Chiang Mai (and I am sure there are many others) being an exception..... to your 'quality in Thailand' comment.....

yes, I do love the teak furniture. 

[Pilotman]

On 6/15/2019 at 8:14 AM, stament said:

Interesting many thanks. I wonder if my non Immigrant O 1 year multi visa will suffice. I will check with them as I won't be working so won't have a work visa.

 

 

Just be cautious, a friend of mine imported his stuff, on just such a visa, and was hammered by customs in import duty.  It sounds like its not as easy as it seems when you read the link.  My advice is to use an import agent here in LOS to smooth the way. 

[gamb00ler]

1 hour ago, Pilotman said:

Just be cautious, a friend of mine imported his stuff, on just such a visa, and was hammered by customs in import duty.  It sounds like its not as easy as it seems when you read the link.  My advice is to use an import agent here in LOS to smooth the way. 

Please enquire of your friend for details.  The exemption is for used household goods only.  Did he ship good outside of those constraints?

[Pilotman]

14 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

Please enquire of your friend for details.  The exemption is for used household goods only.  Did he ship good outside of those constraints?

I would love to, but he died two years ago.  As far as I remember, he only shipped household goods, furniture and personal effects. I remember him telling me that he got caught for tax on some computer equipment, he was software developer but had retired. 

[Dante99]

Find a Thai shipper at the origin.  Ask at a Thai restaurant or consulate.  They know how to get stuff here duty free because they do it regularly for Thais and others sending stuff here.  

 

[stament]

On 6/17/2019 at 8:43 AM, Dante99 said:

Find a Thai shipper at the origin.  Ask at a Thai restaurant or consulate.  They know how to get stuff here duty free because they do it regularly for Thais and others sending stuff here.  

 

Thai restaurant? ????

[Dante99]

9 minutes ago, stament said:

Thai restaurant? ????

Sure.  Thai owners of Thai restaurants overseas know about shipping things to Thailand.  They make money doing it.  

[elektrified]

On 6/19/2019 at 9:47 AM, Dante99 said:

Sure.  Thai owners of Thai restaurants overseas know about shipping things to Thailand.  They make money doing it.  

That is exactly how I found my freight forwarding company in USA. I asked at one of the Thai restaurants. They put me on the phone with the manager and after lunch we went straight over there - 5 minutes from the area where the Thai restaurants were.????

 

Ending up having them ship the container and didn't pay a Satang in import duty.

[joealx]

http://shopandshipus.com/ Thai company in California.