Importing hifi gear into Thailand

[masterpasser]

I have quite a bit of hi-fi gear sitting in storage in Perth.

I have owned it for 20 odd years -high end kit.

The time has come to bring it to Thailand , but I am concerned about Thai duty and tax etc

There is a point where the economics of importation exceed the value of the goods.

As I am on a retirement visa , does that allow me to bring into Thailand without excessive charges?

 

Thank You

[Tagaa]

No.

 

But if you plan on living here forever (I wouldn't advise that as times they are a changin) I would just bite the bullet & pay the duty. Depending on what you consider high end (even audiophiles can't agree on that) you probably won't be able to find what you consider to be high end components here, unless you are willing to pay 3 or 4 times what they cost in the West (or South, for you). And that assumes you can even find what you are looking for.

 

I'm sure there are some high end audiophile shops somewhere in BKK, but I have never found one. A number of years ago when I lived outside of Pattaya, I asked around and was pointed to a shop on Sukhumvit. When I finally found it, they had mostly Denon components and JBL speakers, IIRC. Decent consumer grade stuff, but hardly high end.

 

Before you ship your stuff, tool around Bangkok and see what you can find. You will most likely answer your own question.

[Don Mega]

is 20 yr old gear still considered high end ?.

 

I'd reckon you will get fisted by customs trying to bring it in.

 

Piyanas has some nice gear if you wanted to buy local.

 

https://www.piyanas.com/

 

 

[Tagaa]

Just out of curiosity, I followed the link. Good consumer grade electronics, but nothing that I would consider high end/audiophile quality.

 

Many amps, pre amps and receivers/integrated amp components from the 1970's and 80's are great quality. Some better than new consumer grade stuff manufactured in China today.

[Don Mega]

1 hour ago, Tagaa said:

Just out of curiosity, I followed the link. Good consumer grade electronics, but nothing that I would consider high end/audiophile quality.

 

Many amps, pre amps and receivers/integrated amp components from the 1970's and 80's are great quality. Some better than new consumer grade stuff manufactured in China today.

"some" is the operative word and without knowing what the OP has/calls "high end" we are all just talking dribble.

 

I remember when my parents purchased a "high end" quadraphonic stereo system, cost them a fortune and was  best you could buy.... its garbage these days.

Edited May 6, 2020 by Don Mega

[masterpasser]

For those that are interested:

 

Infinity Kappa 9's

Metaxas Solitaire Power Amplifiers (2)  Bi Amp configuration

Metaxas Marquis Pre amp + External Power Supply

Linn Sondek Valhalla Deck

SMSL M500 Dac -MQA decoder ( TIDAL streaming High Res Audio)

 

[Airalee]

35 minutes ago, masterpasser said:

For those that are interested:

 

Infinity Kappa 9's

Metaxas Solitaire Power Amplifiers (2)  Bi Amp configuration

Metaxas Marquis Pre amp + External Power Supply

Linn Sondek Valhalla Deck

SMSL M500 Dac -MQA decoder ( TIDAL streaming High Res Audio)

 

That’s big and heavy and will cost a fortune to ship.  You’ll get hit with customs duty on the shipping in addition to whatever else they arbitrarily decide.  I’d sell it on Audiogon (or your local audiophile forum) and rebuy here.

 

All the high end audio you could ever want can be found here in BKK...both new and second hand.  Just checking the prices on a high-ish end Bryston B60 integrated that I have back home.  Audioadvisor (back in the US) has it at $4595 (plus CA sales/use tax for me).  Piyanas has it at the regular price of ฿159,000 Including tax (join their member list for 10% off and 20% off on your birthday).  So it’s actually cheaper here than back home...and in Australia for AUD $7700.  I have found the same for other items here.  I bought a pair of PMC loudspeakers for 25% less than the US retail.

 

There are shops scattered around BKK with ultra high end amps/speakers/turntables etc.  The highest concentration of shops would be at Fortune Town mall where there a couple good record stores a few second hand stores and half a dozen or so small dealers with varying brands.   There is a Piyanas there too which might have one of their flagship listening rooms with 10-15 million baht systems.   The small dealers are more high end oriented than Piyanas.

 

Where you won’t find the deals (and will pay more than back home) will be in mid-fi brands such as NAD, Bose, Denon, Marantz etc.

 

Hope this helps

[Toosetinmyways]

I have to agree with Airalee sell and buy anew. Do a price check and decide. The great unknown is the custom duty. If someone is importing gear it must be valuable will be customs reasoning.

You will need proper crates to ship.

I considered shipping my 100 watt Marshall combo amp but the packing and shipping cost made it unreasonable even if I managed with paying no duty. I sold and bought another in Thailand for about the same price.

[TTSIssues]

For what it’s worth I flew in with a Yamaha dsp a1 a couple of years ago. Had it for 20 years, was expensive but I wouldn’t exactly call it high end. Like the OP it was just sitting in storage at home so thought I may as well bring it. Customs opened it up and said it was very expensive, I found a website showing it hadn’t been made for over 20 years, proved by the fact it didn’t have things like USB, Blueteeth or HDMI and after a few minutes of debate they allowed me to box it up and take it home. It’s still sitting in the box in the corner of my spare bedroom ! 

[IanLongbon]

I imported a load of HiFi kit, Arcam, B&W PV1D, Sony 4K projector TV, Screen etc two years after retiring here and used an import agent to manage the process. Fees were incurred but otherwise, totally trouble free. 

[misterphil]

No don't do it. Just sell it all in Oz and buy new from here. 
 

1. customs tax will be more than its worth. 
2. if anything fails nobody here will be able to repair it. 
 

Like someone has already mentioned Pyanas have decent gear and may be able to source other that they don't have in stock. 

[ronaldo0]

19 hours ago, Don Mega said:

is 20 yr old gear still considered high end ?.

 

I'd reckon you will get fisted by customs trying to bring it in.

 

Piyanas has some nice gear if you wanted to buy local.

 

https://www.piyanas.com/

 

 

I highly recommend the 8 million bht speakers for home use or if 

that’s above budget they have ok ones for 5 million ????

But yes it’s about best audio hifi shop I have seen here.

[LivinLOS]

customs is 7 % sales tax and potentially 30% luxury goods tax on the CIF so with shipping. 

A good looking invoice with a reasonable but very low price is usually fine. 

I would ship it in with the cheapest reasonable safe freight shipper I could to keep the CIF down. Goods here were multiples more than same items in uk where I would source things. 

 

[pookett]

I brought my HiFi gear over when I first officially moved here, all old stuff, oldest of it 30 years, newest part is 8 years old ( to the poster who questioned the quality of old gear, oh yes it still stands up well now, against the disproportionately expensive high end equipment of today, just needs a service and possibly a dusting of modern components ). I also have a second set of mainly DIY units.

Done above board with the shipper and no tax paid, just a tiny handling fee.

For servicing I'm capable of doing that myself.

Unfortunately if you're here already and now want to bring the stuff over you will be stung, you can make enquiries to see if it's worthwhile or not.

 

I was interested to read that there are actually some decent outlets in BKK! Next time I go I'll have a shoofty, might treat myself!

[Peterphuket]

18 hours ago, Airalee said:

That’s big and heavy and will cost a fortune to ship.  You’ll get hit with customs duty on the shipping in addition to whatever else they arbitrarily decide.  I’d sell it on Audiogon (or your local audiophile forum) and rebuy here.

 

All the high end audio you could ever want can be found here in BKK...both new and second hand.  Just checking the prices on a high-ish end Bryston B60 integrated that I have back home.  Audioadvisor (back in the US) has it at $4595 (plus CA sales/use tax for me).  Piyanas has it at the regular price of ฿159,000 Including tax (join their member list for 10% off and 20% off on your birthday).  So it’s actually cheaper here than back home...and in Australia for AUD $7700.  I have found the same for other items here.  I bought a pair of PMC loudspeakers for 25% less than the US retail.

 

There are shops scattered around BKK with ultra high end amps/speakers/turntables etc.  The highest concentration of shops would be at Fortune Town mall where there a couple good record stores a few second hand stores and half a dozen or so small dealers with varying brands.   There is a Piyanas there too which might have one of their flagship listening rooms with 10-15 million baht systems.   The small dealers are more high end oriented than Piyanas.

 

Where you won’t find the deals (and will pay more than back home) will be in mid-fi brands such as NAD, Bose, Denon, Marantz etc.

 

Hope this helps

It is not always you'll have to pay customs duty, it happens me about 3 years ago, I also like to get my stuff from the Netherlands to Thailand, also expensive equipment like the same Infinity's Kappa 9, Revox A700, Marantz amps from the 70' Measurement equipment etc., but I use an shipment company named Windmills, they bring from door to door without any extra costs.

But I have to warning about mechanical equipment like taperecorders, cassettedecks, because the high humidity you'll quickly get problems with that.

Edited May 7, 2020 by Peterphuket

[AgMech Cowboy]

I suggest you arrange with Hong Kong Transpack or that outfit advertising on TV to ship your equipment here, versus yourself or a moving company from your home. They're very professional and already have 'friends' locally for any customs requirements. I did that 12 years ago. It was seamless and much cheaper than I could have ever imagined.

[grobec]

You got my attention ss I am in similar   Position

back home in crates.

Wilson Audio

Jeff Rowland

Directstream Dac

Power regenerators

StillPoints

Shunyata cables.

 

makes me cry but getting used to Sonos and 6tb HD of music.

there is life after Audioholism

 

[KMartinHandyman]

Fly it in with your biggest suitcases paying for the additional baggage and weights as necessary and then put it on a cart and roll through the nothing to declare exit lane. 

[chilli42]

There are plenty of high end audio shops in Bangkok.  One trip to the Annual Bangkok HiFi show would demonstrate that. As most have said, hi-end audio great really lacks a definition.  Depending on how old your system in Australia is, and the temperature profile of where the gear has been stored, and the age you will likely need to replace/service several of the components. Finally, the duty and shipping costs will add 20-30% to the US based cost.  The standard “regular buyer” discount is 20% off the asking price.

[007 RED]

OP…. I appreciate that we can become very much attached to certain items that have brought us pleasure over the years, and we can be reluctant to give them up.  In your case I would take the advice already given by several TV members namely, sell the items and purchase a similar setup here in Thailand.

 

Why?  The simple answer is that it's going to cost you an arm and a leg to get your beloved audio system into Thailand.

 

The current Thai Customs import duty on audio equipment is 60% of CFI.  If you are not familiar with the term CFI it stands for Cost of item + Freight cost + Insurance cost.

 

As I am almost deaf I have never considered purchasing a high-end audio system as I would never get the benefit of the quality, hence I have no realistic idea how much your system costs.  But, for example purposes only to illustrate how much Customs duty you may need to pay let us say your system new price is 100,000THB, the cost of shipping is 30,000THB and insurance is 10,000THB.

 

Note:  Customs tend to work on the price as new.

 

CFI would be 100,000 + 30,000 + 10,000 = 140,000THB

 

Import duty payable @ 60% of 140,000 = 84,000THB

 

Note:  The 60% import duty figure is taken from the current Thai Customs data fact sheets.

 

Then on top of the import duty, you will also need to pay VAT @ 7% of CFI + import duty.

 

140,000 + 84,000 = 224,000THB

 

VAT @ 7% of 224,000 = 15,680THB

 

Total Duty payable (84,000 + 15,680) = 99,680THB

 

Although my estimated cost of your system may well be way off the mark, you will see from my illustration that the cost of the duty which you will need to pay will almost be equal what the system is worth.

 

You will no doubt read from other threads (and it has been mentioned by one member in this thread) that you can easily reduce your import and VAT duty liability by declaring a lower cost on the shipping documents.  Two things spring to mind when I hear this advice.

 

Firstly, if your system is worth 100,000THB and you declare it as only being worth say 20,000THB, that is the value the shipping agent will put on the insurance declaration.  If the system goes missing, or gets damaged, in transit you are going to be way out of pocket because the insurance company is only going to compensate you to the declared value, not the true value.

 

Secondly, Customs Officers throughout the world have seen it all before and they are wise to all the tricks of the trade.  If the items are declared on the shipping advice as being audio equipment they may well decide to take a closer look at the contents because of the potential high import duty payable.  Customs Officers have access to big databases which they can search for details (make/model/serial numbers/costs etc) of items going back many, many, years.  If they find that you have grossly under declared the value of the goods they (the Customs Officers) can confiscate the goods and fine you three times the true value of the goods.

 

The only way to get the duty payable reduced is by providing the original system purchase invoices to the shipping agents and allow them to negotiate a reduced value based upon age of the items with Customs, e.g. brown envelope passed under the table.

 

You may also read from other threads that TV members have indicated that they have not paid any import or VAT duty on good sent to them from overseas.  I do not doubt their claims but nowadays Customs declarations of items shipped by agents are all done electronically and their (Customs) systems automatically highlights items of high potential value that may need closer inspection e.g. audio equipment.  As well as their system identifying potential items for inspection Officers also do random checks as well.

 

FYI… Customs Officer receive a basic monthly salary (about 25,000THB per month).  However, they can receive a bonus which is based upon the value of duty which they recover.  Hence it is in their interest to screw you for as much as they can.

 

Hope this info is of use and very best of luck.

Edited May 7, 2020 by 007 RED
typo correction

[Susco]

@masterpasser Google is your friend.

 

There are a few posts/threads on this forum about people on retirement visa, who have imported full container of personal belongings, and paid no or minimal import duties .

[007 RED]

14 hours ago, Susco said:

@masterpasser Google is your friend.

 

There are a few posts/threads on this forum about people on retirement visa, who have imported full container of personal belongings, and paid no or minimal import duties .

Sorry, but unfortunately the duty free exemption for second-hand personal possessions imported by Non-O (Retirement) visa holders moving to Thailand was withdrawn from the Customs Regulations some 10 plus years ago and is no longer available.  FYI.... when it was available the possessions had to be imported within 6 months of the person's arrival into the Kingdom.

[Susco]

1 minute ago, 007 RED said:

Sorry, but unfortunately the duty free exemption for second-hand personal possessions imported by Non-O (Retirement) visa holders moving to Thailand was withdrawn from the Customs Regulations some 10 plus years ago and is no longer available.  FYI.... when it was available the possessions had to be imported within 6 months of the person's arrival into the Kingdom.

Sorry, but did you read the threads where TV members posted their personal experience with importing household goods?

 

No you didn't, otherwise you would know that what is written in the law and what happen in reality in Thailand, never is the same thing

[Toosetinmyways]

- Thai custom duty free requirements for personnel and household goods.

 

          Nonresidents

                         (1) Nonresidents changing their residence into Thailand must be granted a non-immigrant quota as shown in their passports or Nonresident Identification Cards; or

                         (2) Nonresidents granted to work in Thailand are regarded as resuming residents in Thailand provided they have a one-year non-immigrant visa issued by the Immigration Department. In case where the non-immigrant visa has not yet been granted, either of the following documents may be accepted:

1. 1. 1. 1. The letter from the Immigration Department certifying that the nonresidents shall be granted an annual temporary stay in Thailand; or
         2. The work permit from the Department of Labor to work in Thailand for no less than one year.

                         (3) Nonresidents entering Thailand as an expert, specialist, or under a contract of government agencies are required to present the letter from relevant agencies certifying that such nonresidents are granted a non-immigrant visa issued by the Immigration Department and shall work in Thailand for no less than one year.

1. 2. Accompanying spouses of the nonresidents in (2) and (3) are regarded as resuming residence in Thailand provided the spouses have non-immigrant visas issued by the Immigration Department to stay in Thailand for the first 90 days.

[007 RED]

9 minutes ago, Susco said:

Sorry, but did you read the threads where TV members posted their personal experience with importing household goods?

 

No you didn't, otherwise you would know that what is written in the law and what happen in reality in Thailand, never is the same thing

No need to bit my head off!!!

FYI... Yes I did read those threads, several years ago.  The one thing that was missing from all of them was any indication as to when they were able to bring their possessions into the Kingdom duty free.  Yes it may have been a few weeks before they posted, but more likely prior to the exemption being cancelled.

 

[masterpasser]

Thank you all for your insight.

I have reluctantly decided to sell in Oz and buy here in Thailand.

The risk of shipping here does not seem to be worth the aggro.

Looks like I'll never here those Kappa 9's sing again.

[masterpasser]

I have bought an active speaker system -ELAC NAVIS ARB-51

Actually better suited to condo living.

Using TIDAL for source streaming only and very impressed with the MQA master files.

Invested in an upgraded USB cable for digital transfer from laptop into DAC-Awaiting its arrival so have no opinion on its capability yet. 

 

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

I've been following this guy on YouTube, "dadmom 4wdfocus". Search for his channel. He's in the BKK area.

 

He covers mostly second hand, vintage stuff and live performance gear, but I've also seen him in some of the high end mall shops. Lots of cool stuff.

 

But it's a bit odd that he goes from this, then gives coverage to the flea market karaoke speakers with flashing lights. ????

[DaLa]

On 5/6/2020 at 3:45 PM, Don Mega said:

"some" is the operative word and without knowing what the OP has/calls "high end" we are all just talking dribble.

 

I remember when my parents purchased a "high end" quadraphonic stereo system, cost them a fortune and was  best you could buy.... its garbage these days.

Agreed, I paid £400 for a VHS in 1979, so possibly equivalent to £2000 today ?  Now give me the choice between watching a DVD on a £20 DVD player and that VHS...no competition.  

As an aside, same with musical gear, amps, effects, keyboards, guitars with certain exceptions are all a lot cheaper today and offer the same quality / reliability.

 

Personally unless you are making a living from it then I don't see the benefit gained from the additional cost .

 

As a final note, in the 70's when it was de rigueur to spend half your salary on hi-fi gear much to the annoyance of your girlfriend ( mainly because the other half was spent on your car), I knew quite a few guys who would have 'top of the range hi-fi' but only own 2 or 3 vinyls.