Incoming baggage to be x-rayed at Suvarnabhumi by next year: Customs

[Longcut]

Yeah, need to catch more Thai Airways employees.

[CNX GUY]

they have these x-ray machines above the baggage carousel where people congregate to pick up their luggage?

 

This, instead of x-raying them on the conveyors when they are brought to or out of the plane?

 

Maybe x-raying the luggage is not the first priority here?

[USNret]

Here's a clue... If a govt agency has to be told to "use Internet technology" then they aren't ready to use internet technology.  Besides, what the Finance Minister is really talking about is database integration, which ain't easy.  I worked in this realm for 25 years in U.S. Department of Defense, and saw little progress towards in a quarter century despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent in this effort.  The problems are bureaucratic; nobody wants to share their data and furthermore, nobody wants to modify their data structures just so another agency can read it. The problems are quite challenging. 

[Mister Fixit]

On 9/7/2019 at 6:23 PM, Bangkok Barry said:

 

That Tesco tea isn't bad. I had it for a while. I used to get people to bring me Fray Bentos meat puddings, which seem to be universally unpopular with others. Villa sold them for a while, at double price.

Ys, I've pretty well got used to it now.  I have 3 pint mugs of the Rington's in the morning to kick me awake, then use the Tesco tea for the rest of mugs I have during the day.  It's grown on me.  

 

It's one way of conserving the Rington's because once that's gone, it's gone.  I won't be paying £50-something for half a dozen packs to be sent, sorry Mr Rington.

[Mister Fixit]

On 9/7/2019 at 6:01 PM, Bangkok Barry said:

 

Well, you could get it by mail order, although I see they want to charge over 50 pounds for postage which is obviously an error. Might be worth contacting them when you get low on supplies.

A friend of my wife who lives in the UK recently came to the village to visit her dying mother, and brought me a box of mixed teas from Fortnum & Mason. Can't get much better than that.

Nope, not an error.  I emailed them some years ago when my mother was ill and couldn't get the tea.  I asked the postage cost in the email and they quoted me £53 (I think it was) and last month they quoted me the same when I actually went into their office.  

 

I will ask my nephew and his pal to bring half a dozen packs each when they come out in January.

[Bangkok Barry]

1 minute ago, Mister Fixit said:

Nope, not an error.  I emailed them some years ago when my mother was ill and couldn't get the tea.  I asked the postage cost in the email and they quoted me £53 (I think it was) and last month they quoted me the same when I actually went into their office.  

 

I will ask my nephew and his pal to bring half a dozen packs each when they come out in January.

 

Doesn't make sense, does it. I pay 3 Euros postage to get tea from Ireland. I believe though that Twinings also charge fantasy postage too. In fact I just checked, and it's 20.90. Bizarre.

[Mister Fixit]

16 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

Doesn't make sense, does it. I pay 3 Euros postage to get tea from Ireland. I believe though that Twinings also charge fantasy postage too. In fact I just checked, and it's 20.90. Bizarre.

Here we are.  I pretended to order 6 packs to see the postage price.  It was a bit less than I thought at £50.95, but still stupid.  

[emptypockets]

No obvious signs of scanning machine at Swamy yesterday. Big signs about any pork products totally banned though.

[pellets]

On 9/6/2019 at 2:35 PM, overherebc said:

Palm oil in your suitcase?

And FUEL oil...!!!

[gk10002000]

I get the xray process before boarding planes for security reasons, but going out of the way to x ray all incoming bags is not a security reason, well, not including bio hazards, unwanted plants, seeds, etc which all countries are on the look out for on incoming things.  But sure seems like money could be spent in better ways.  

[Mac98]

On 9/6/2019 at 7:50 PM, Just Weird said:

"The problem here is that the definition of 'illegal smuggling' is far to broad..."

It's not broad, it's black or white, you've either got items with unpaid duty that you're bringing in or you haven't.

 

"It seems to me that this is just another money maker for customs who will abuse the law as they see fit".

That's just your speculative opinion for which you have no empirical evidence.

 

"Thai authorities are allowed to charge 10 times the duty required for either product (and they are doing this hundreds of times a day). This is outright extortion..."

If that is the law, it is not extortion.  There is a way around it, though, declare the items or don't risk hiding them.

 

If you declare the items you will still have to pay whatever they decide to charge you, and they might keep it anyway. I would gladly declare extra pipe tobacco if I only had to pay the predetermined duty and was allowed to keep my select tobacco. But how much extra would I be allowed to bring in this way? An ounce? A pound? The way things are handled now, I just don't see any benefit to declaring any excess product. Any clarification is welcome.

[nrasmussen]

4 hours ago, Mac98 said:

If you declare the items you will still have to pay whatever they decide to charge you, and they might keep it anyway. I would gladly declare extra pipe tobacco if I only had to pay the predetermined duty and was allowed to keep my select tobacco. But how much extra would I be allowed to bring in this way? An ounce? A pound? The way things are handled now, I just don't see any benefit to declaring any excess product. Any clarification is welcome.

I looked into this recently. The conclusion I arrived at was that to bring in more than the duty free amount of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products it is necessary to have some kind of import license. Now, how to get that, I have no idea.

[CG1 Blue]

5 hours ago, Mac98 said:

If you declare the items you will still have to pay whatever they decide to charge you, and they might keep it anyway. I would gladly declare extra pipe tobacco if I only had to pay the predetermined duty and was allowed to keep my select tobacco. But how much extra would I be allowed to bring in this way? An ounce? A pound? The way things are handled now, I just don't see any benefit to declaring any excess product. Any clarification is welcome.

I'd like to know about this too. I'd like to bring 300 cigarettes from the UK into LOS, purchased in the UK, duty paid, for my own personal use. The dilemma I have is, do I try to sneak them in - in which case if they find them I'll no doubt lose them all and who knows how they'll punish me. Or do I declare the 100 excess cigarettes and pay whatever they ask for?

I'm happy to pay some sort of excess charge, but if I go down the red lane do I risk them taking the whole 300 away from me ????

 

Edit: Last year as I was leaving the swampy terminal building I was taken back in by a security person, taken to a little room, had my case searched, got a lecture on cigarette limits, and was allowed to leave with my cigs. Up until then it had never occurred to me that I couldn't take my own cigarettes on a trip to LOS. Never had an issue in 18 years. 

[treetops]

5 hours ago, gk10002000 said:

I get the xray process before boarding planes for security reasons, but going out of the way to x ray all incoming bags is not a security reason, well, not including bio hazards, unwanted plants, seeds, etc which all countries are on the look out for on incoming things.  But sure seems like money could be spent in better ways.  

Bio-security is one issue, but the main reason for these is to prevent/reduce smuggling and to reap the associated financial rewards.

[sunnyboy2018]

On 9/6/2019 at 9:15 AM, PatOngo said:

Correct, never had a need for them!

Maybe so. But your wife does!

[sunnyboy2018]

As long as it doesnt cause delays who cares?

[Just Weird]

22 hours ago, Mac98 said:

On 9/7/2019 at 8:50 AM, Just Weird said:

"The problem here is that the definition of 'illegal smuggling' is far to broad..."

It's not broad, it's black or white, you've either got items with unpaid duty that you're bringing in or you haven't.

 

"It seems to me that this is just another money maker for customs who will abuse the law as they see fit".

That's just your speculative opinion for which you have no empirical evidence.

 

"Thai authorities are allowed to charge 10 times the duty required for either product (and they are doing this hundreds of times a day). This is outright extortion..."

If that is the law, it is not extortion.  There is a way around it, though, declare the items or don't risk hiding them.

 

If you declare the items you will still have to pay whatever they decide to charge you, and they might keep it anyway. I would gladly declare extra pipe tobacco if I only had to pay the predetermined duty and was allowed to keep my select tobacco. But how much extra would I be allowed to bring in this way? An ounce? A pound? The way things are handled now, I just don't see any benefit to declaring any excess product.

 

If you have to pay duty, it is levied using Customs Dept rates,  only Thaivisa posters claim otherwise!

 

"Any clarification is welcome".

Call the Customs Dept's English-speaking call centre! 

[fruitman]

Well the real smugglers will take a land border...no ploblem.

[ChipButty]

On 9/9/2019 at 1:33 PM, Moo 2 said:

They sure are trying very hard to discourage travelers to visit the Land of Smile, what's next?

Strip search?! 

Yes Please 

[Number 6]

I think this story is bogus. They might place monitors above carousel as future deterrent but I'd suspect the stuff is actually x-rayed in back and tagged. So look for tell tale marks and stickers.

 

This will absolutely slow down baggage processing.

 

I'm sure 100s of people will be pulled aside finding not much of anything and under the duty limit.

 

Just another reason to hate on Thailand.

 

Money grubbing.

 

Should try BIOMETRICS 555.

[josephbloggs]

2 hours ago, Number 6 said:

 

 

Just another reason to hate on Thailand.

 

Money grubbing.

 

 

No, just another reason for you to hate Thailand, most of the rest of us are not bothered at all.  It is standard operating procedure in many many airports around the world.

Really a non story and you won't even know it's happening, just as you don't know it's happening in any of the dozens of airports that it already happens in.

[fruitman]

38 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

No, just another reason for you to hate Thailand, most of the rest of us are not bothered at all.  It is standard operating procedure in many many airports around the world.

Really a non story and you won't even know it's happening, just as you don't know it's happening in any of the dozens of airports that it already happens in.

Yup i really love it when i have to wait long at the bagage belt, also at the immigration....and when they ask me to open the suitcase i have to call my mum to tell her to great news.

 

You won't know it's happening when they ask you for the receipt of your laptop or phone, or you 'll have to pay import tax....it's all fantastic what the Thai can do to tourists. Right Joseph, old mate!

[Number 6]

41 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

No, just another reason for you to hate Thailand, most of the rest of us are not bothered at all.  It is standard operating procedure in many many airports around the world.

Really a non story and you won't even know it's happening, just as you don't know it's happening in any of the dozens of airports that it already happens in.

I doubt this.

 

Thailand is looking for revenue. Most rational countries are looking for contraband. But we shall see.

 

No other country scrutinizes my bags as Thailand. OH in NZ they scanned everything thought that was a bit third world. But no, other countries I'm not given a second glace. In US both my wife and myself clear customs and immigration in ten minutes.

[josephbloggs]

3 minutes ago, fruitman said:

Yup i really love it when i have to wait long at the bagage belt, also at the immigration....and when they ask me to open the suitcase i have to call my mum to tell her to great news.

 

You won't know it's happening when they ask you for the receipt of your laptop or phone, or you 'll have to pay import tax....it's all fantastic what the Thai can do to tourists. Right Joseph, old mate!

You really think they are going to be taxing tourists on their laptops or phones?   You honestly believe that's what this is for?

 

[impulse]

On 9/6/2019 at 2:51 AM, 4675636b596f75 said:

Welcome to friendly Thailand.  How will they bring sex toys now?

 

Bringing sex toys into Thailand is like bringing a popsicle into a Dairy Queen.

 

[josephbloggs]

1 minute ago, Number 6 said:

I doubt this.

 

Thailand is looking for revenue. Most rational countries are looking for contraband. But we shall see.

 

No other country scrutinizes my bags as Thailand. OH in NZ they scanned everything thought that was a bit third world. But no, other countries I'm not given a second glace. In US both my wife and myself clear customs and immigration in ten minutes.

In 25 years of living here I have never had my bag scanned on arrival, not once.  How many times have you been scrutinised?  Must be a lot if no other country does it as much.

 

And you are wrong.  Many many airports scan every single bag on arrival - it just happens before it gets to the conveyor, which is exactly the same procedure Thailand is now implementing.

And you get through immigration and customs in ten minutes?  Lucky you.

[Number 6]

2 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

tourists on their laptops

No they'll just be flagging you over to have a look through your computer. Any work on the computer you'll be deemed to be working in Thailand and put on next plane.

 

I don't know why you're defending the country. What has Thailand done in the past 15 years aside from complete the blue line and buy new bogeys for BTS. What have they done that's been a total net positive for the Thai people and or farang?

 

[Number 6]

2 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

How many times have you been scrutinised?  Must be a lot if no other country does it as much.

I used to bring boxes in with my wife from US. Misc stuff. Scanned and opened every time. Each time nothing. Myself and my innocent looking Thai wife off a long flight.

 

Other than that scan for all in NZ I've never had my bags in secondary search. Hong Kong, Japan, Indo, Europe...

[samsensam]

1 minute ago, josephbloggs said:

In 25 years of living here I have never had my bag scanned on arrival, not once.  How many times have you been scrutinised?  Must be a lot if no other country does it as much.

 

And you are wrong.  Many many airports scan every single bag on arrival - it just happens before it gets to the conveyor, which is exactly the same procedure Thailand is now implementing.

And you get through immigration and customs in ten minutes?  Lucky you.

 

you can have all the security machinery in the world but it's only as effective as the people operating it. airport security here is incredibly lax compared to back home; i've never put liquid bottles/containers in a plastic bag here, iv'e seen xray operators not paying attention to the scree -, chatting or even no operator present, i forgot to take my tablet out one time and no one noticed, you can see from the behavior and body language of security staff that they are just not 'switched on' as they are back home.

 

to be honest i'm stunned that to date all arriving/departing baggage hasn't been scanned - i'm sure it is in most major international airports.

[josephbloggs]

34 minutes ago, Number 6 said:

No they'll just be flagging you over to have a look through your computer. Any work on the computer you'll be deemed to be working in Thailand and put on next plane.

 

No they won't, don't be so ridiculous.

 

Quote

I don't know why you're defending the country. What has Thailand done in the past 15 years aside from complete the blue line and buy new bogeys for BTS. What have they done that's been a total net positive for the Thai people and or farang?

Defending the country??  All I'm doing is pointing out that Thailand is implementing baggage scans prior to them arriving at the carousel, just like in many other countries.  They are not going to be taxing your phone or laptop, they are not going to be looking for "work" on your devices and sending you home.  You guys just make up ridiculous scare-mongering stuff to justify your own paranoia - all I'm doing is countering that by pointing out facts.

Not even sure where you're going with your last sentence or what the BTS has got to do with the topic.