Shipping my motorbike to Thailand from the UK

[mikemi]

Can anyone help me with this? Or point me to a company they may have used?

 

It is a 125, so it will be subject to 187% duty, correct me if I am wrong. But then as it is about 4 years old it will get a 45% discount, again correct me if I am wrong.

 

My assumption is they base it on the current price, as used vehicle?

 

So, if the used price is say 60,000 baht plus 20,000 to ship it * 1.87. then divide by 0.45 gives 67,320 baht

 

If its based on new price, is that new price in Thailand, or in the UK?

 

Does this maths seem correct? or am I missing something?

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

I know about the import tax, it is expensive and so on. And please, please, please, don't say "sell it buy another", I am well aware of the options that are open to me. And I may end up doing that, but I do need to figure out the costs before deciding, as its a nice bike that I want to keep.

 

I have tried emailing some companies but they do not reply.

 

 

[Crossy]

Really, the standard response is "don't bother" and for a 125, double don't bother.

 

If it's "nice" enough to make it attractive to a customs officer ...

 

Anyway, IIRC the import of used vehicles was banned completely a few years ago (could be corrected here).

[VocalNeal]

9 minutes ago, mikemi said:

My assumption

The value is as decided by the customs officer. The tax you pay is on the landed price including freight. Then add 7% VAT. 

 

Using your figures 60+20 = 80. Minimum 30% tax = 24000 total 104,000 x 7%VAT= 111,280. Then you have to get it licensed and it has to pass emissions and have the speedo in kilometers etc, etc, etc. 

 

Sell it there and buy one when you get here. Unless it is a CB92 Benly then bring it here and sell it to me.

[mikemi]

yeah maybe best to remove the nice bits and send them over

 

i would want to keep

 

• swingarm
• exhaust
• rearsets
• handlebar
• levers
• seat
• few other small bits

the rest of the bike can be scrapped

 

is this a more viable option?

 

 

 

 

[CaptainCarrot]

16 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

 

Sell it there and buy one when you get here. Unless it is a CB92 Benly then bring it here and sell it to me.

If anyone has one of these in their shed I might be interested!

[VocalNeal]

2 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

Unless it is a CB92 Benly then bring it here and sell it to me.

Or a seven speed Mito ????

[papa al]

OP:

No, no, no, no.!

Thailand has the cheapest small bikes in the world.

Many repos now w/ Covid thing.

Buyers market bigtime.

[Kwasaki]

4 hours ago, mikemi said:

Does this math seem correct? or am I missing something?

Forget it loads of 125 little engine bikes here the R15 in Thailand is cheap and a nice bit of kit.

[fxe1200]

14 hours ago, mikemi said:

yeah maybe best to remove the nice bits and send them over

 

i would want to keep

 

• swingarm
• exhaust
• rearsets
• handlebar
• levers
• seat
• few other small bits

the rest of the bike can be scrapped

 

is this a more viable option?

 

 

 

 

AFAIK there is a 37% import duty on spare parts. But better check with the customs directly.

[Kerryd]

Didn't they ban the import of used motorcycles back in 2012 ? Just saw a thread about that (https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/548685-thai-cabinet-approves-ban-on-imports-of-used-vehicles/)
I think they also banned used parts (to prevent people from re-assembling vehicles from parts to get around paying the normal Customs duties) ? (Same article above.)

And it seems they passed another ban just last December (see links below) on importing "used vehicles" ("...to ban the import of used vehicles for personal use...").

I've been trying to find which kinds of vehicles and it's basically everything, except for specific things like fire trucks, ambulances and diplomatic vehicles (and a couple other classes such as "prototypes"). (Note: coconuts.co claims the ban doesn't apply to used motorcycles. Maybe because they were already banned in 2012 ? However it seems that some shipping companies believe the ban also applies to motorcycles.)
It seems that "collectible" vehicles may still be allowed but it will be a pain in the keister to do it.

Another thread from 2016 has posts from a guy that did import a used bike (from Germany) but it was a long process and still cost quite a bit.
https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/944651-import-motorcycle/#comments

From the site of a company that that does "relocations" (shipping to/from Thailand):
"UPDATE 2020: The Thai government has forbidden cars and motorbikes for long term importation." (No details about the ban.)
https://siam-relocation.com/import-car-thailand/
(I saw another shipping company that said basically the same thing with no link or reference to what was actually banned.)

News articles:
“After December 10, all used vehicles imported for personal use will be confiscated and destroyed immediately.”
https://thethaiger.com/news/business/ban-on-used-cars-imports-comes-into-force-in-december

"Imported used cars will be banned next month (Dec 2019), here’s what you need to know"
https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30378880

And when it comes to calculating Import Tariffs/Duties, remember to include the cost of insuring the shipment to the est. value of the item and the shipping (freight) costs. Yes, you get charged duties on the cost of the insurance. If you don't include the cost, they will happily estimate it for you.
Even if you show them where it says "Free Shipping" and that you didn't insure the shipment, they will estimate the value of both and add it to the cost of the item before calculating the duties.
(I've watched them do it, to me, a couple of times, in different places.)

"Actual excise tax rate = [CIF+ID] x [(ETR)/(1-(1.1 x ETR))]
Where, CIF = landed CIF price (Cost of item, Insurance, Freight)
ID = Amount of import duty
ETR = Excise tax rate (in schedule)"

http://infofile.pcd.go.th/air/DIESEL2_Sayeg Papers.pdf?CFID=315098&CFTOKEN=16421639

Note: the links to the Customs page where it listed the Duties (based on age and type of vehicle) are gone. I believe it may be due to the ban on importing used vehicles that started last December apparently. Can't find an updated page (in English at least).

None of the above is going to change anytime soon (barring a massive overhaul of everyone in the government and most of the bureaucrats running the various departments). 

I see they also decided to slap a 100,000 baht surcharge onto "big bikes" because of their (alleged) CO² emissions. 
Funny how they don't charge the manufacturers making the "CO² emitting" bikes though.
You see, by charging the customer, they also gain because they get an additional 7% VAT on top of the 100k surcharge (and don't have to face the wrath of anyone "connected" to someone who is "connected" to whoever is making the bikes).

[Homburg]

Guess there's something special about your bike, or at least special to you, but apart from the cost & the hassle of shipping & importing, a nice or rare bike could turn out to be a millstone.  It would be a target for thieves for sure.  Spares and insurance may be hard, or even impossible to obtain. 125's are plentiful and much cheaper in LOS than the UK.  BTW I brought in a pair of rear shocks at Swampy (in my luggage), declared at Customs and was not charged anything.  Customs did say that there would have been a charge on car parts, but not on bike parts.  These things change though, and that was a couple of years back, so maybe the 37% quoted above is new? 

 

 

[digger70]

16 hours ago, mikemi said:

yeah maybe best to remove the nice bits and send them over

 

i would want to keep

 

• swingarm
• exhaust
• rearsets
• handlebar
• levers
• seat
• few other small bits

the rest of the bike can be scrapped

 

is this a more viable option?

 

 

 

 

No ,waste of time and money . As someone said before .Forget it sell it buy a New one in Thailand . It will be cheaper and a lot less running around and a lot less Hassles.

[nahkit]

When you've done all the calculations, add on another 10-15k for when the customs people tell you that you need to hire an agent to do the paperwork because otherwise there's no telling how long it may take.

[Nanaplaza666]

You said you wanted to keep it , so keep it but at your homecountry . I geuss the money you pay to ship it here + tax you can buy a nice 125cc here .

[cmrichsw]

I don't think you will get a Green book for the bike. Without a Green book the bike is worthless in Thailand. Don't waste your money lots of nice legal small bikes are available here. 

[mikemi]

ok fine, i will strip the nice parts off it and post them, and buy another in thailand and refit.

 

I will not ship the bike.

 

37% of the parts value I can swallow that no problem. With any luck I wont get charged anything, I am sure I have sent stuff before that customs didnt care about

[bert bloggs]

If you ever do import it ,can you ask them what happened to the Jag that i imported about 21 years ago , ????

[Andy from Kent]

1 minute ago, bert bloggs said:

If you ever do import it ,can you ask them what happened to the Jag that i imported about 21 years ago , ????

 

Love to hear a few details if you have the time, Bert?

Sounds like the start of a good story.

[bert bloggs]

5 minutes ago, Andy from Kent said:

 

Love to hear a few details if you have the time, Bert?

Sounds like the start of a good story.

It is a long story .but i bet it ended up at one of their auctions (only invited people can go to them)unlike car auctions  outside ie not stuff nabbed by customs .

[KhaoYai]

On 5/24/2020 at 11:52 AM, mikemi said:

yeah maybe best to remove the nice bits and send them over

 

i would want to keep

 

• swingarm
• exhaust
• rearsets
• handlebar
• levers
• seat
• few other small bits

the rest of the bike can be scrapped

 

is this a more viable option?

All of those parts will fit in your suitcase - that is when you're allowed to fly again.

 

Yes, there's supposed to be import duty and I'm not recommending you break the law but......... this is just a small list of some of the things I've taken - either in my suitcase or on the flight in a cardboard box over the last few years.

 

28 Double plug sockets and back boxes.

Black and Decker workmate.

5 ring gas hob.

30m roll of 10mm copper wire.

1/4 suitcase full of brass plumbing fittings, pipe clips etc.

Front and rear seats for my bike.

Headlight for my bike.

 

Not saying I won't be checked if I continue importing stuff but I haven't been stopped yet. The gas hob was a worrying time though. ????

 

As has already been said, forget importing the complete bike - the taxes made it a waste of time and apparently the cost of registering an imported vehicle went through the roof a while back but as far as I know - secondhand vehicles can no longer be imported (except for a very tight list of categories).

[mikemi]

yeah i did think about stuffing a suitcase, but normally i travel really light - couple of t shirts, and a toothbrush sorta thing

 

but i thought it might be too big ... but maybe you are right i could try and fit it all in a big one.

 

first step is going to be strip everything down and bubble wrap, then see where we go from there

 

my wife takes all kinds of weird <deleted> back with her, the complete opposite, bags full of junk ...

 

 

[BTB1977]

Get that thought out of your head. For 100,000 baht you can get a brand new PCX 150. Or for 25,000 more a slightly  used 1 or 2 year old Forza 300. New 125s are between 50,000 and 70,000

[Daveyh]

I honestly would not bother shipping your bike to Thailand. The effort in doing so does not seem worthwhile as the "hassles" you'll encounter this end importing it will be frustrating. My advice is to sell your bike in the UK for a good price & buy a similar machine here. Thailand has been building bikes for years, it's a "must have" mode of transport for every family here & they are good at it. The choice you will have will amaze you & you will not be disappointed at their cost. If you want to purchase a bike a little more up market than a 125cc there are many 300cc bikes on the market here & ideal for buzzing around town ....... Yamaha, Honda & Kawasaki are the main brands here, but there are local brands that are even cheaper. Remember that Thailand builds bikes ........ hence nearly every one you buy from new should give you years of loyal service. Good luck & I hope you find Thailand to your liking ........ I'm into my 20th year & still loving every minute. Secondhand is a risk as most Thai's will not service their machines & only do repairs if something goes wrong. Unless you know the history forget buying secondhand. Bikes keep their value well & easily sold if you decide to sell. Thailand is what it is & what you make of it. Just be sensible, watch your wallet & live the good life ........ don't be put off by people who tell you otherwise........ everything is possible here, just be careful. Cheers.

[mikemi]

yeah my bike was made in thailand I think, its a little honda

 

its not that I love the bike, its more that I love the parts I bought to upgrade it, so it looks like I will remove all the parts I want, scrap it

 

rebuy one in thailand, they are plentiful, and try to stuff the bits in a suitcase ????

 

 

[DaRoadrunner]

15 hours ago, Kerryd said:

It seems that "collectible" vehicles may still be allowed

Where did you see this? Anyone got more info?

[HashBrownHarry]

On 5/24/2020 at 8:27 PM, papa al said:

OP:

No, no, no, no.!

Thailand has the cheapest small bikes in the world.

Many repos now w/ Covid thing.

Buyers market bigtime.

Papa looking for bargain?

[Kerryd]

22 hours ago, Kerryd said:

It seems that "collectible" vehicles may still be allowed but it will be a pain in the keister to do it.

 

7 hours ago, DaRoadrunner said:

Where did you see this? Anyone got more info?

It was just a line in one of the articles.
"Meanwhile, the import of used vehicles for uses other than personal, such as diplomatic vehicles, prototype vehicles for research and testing, vehicles to be modified for export, vehicles for museum display, and military vehicles will be under supervision of related agencies and not affected by the ban imposed by the Foreign Trade Department."
https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30378880

I guess it would depend on the interpretation of "museum display" (and I suspect if they think you are going to ride it everyday then it wouldn't qualify). 

Also, in the thread from 2016 I linked in my previous post is one post by Richard-BKK where he notes:
 

If you want to try to import a "classic" bike, you might want to check with a certified Customs Broker, especially as you need to have all your ducks in a row before you try to ship the bike here.

Keep in mind, if you ship something here and it gets stuck in customs, you'll be charged a daily storage fee and it won't be cheap. DHL screwed up a shipment to me one time and 1 of the 2 boxes ended up stuck in Customs at the airport. I had to use a Broker to get the paperwork done and paid over 10,000 baht to get a box of "personal effects" (used clothes, linen, work boots and so on) that I'd shipped when my last job ended. (The *iss-off was, if I'd carried the exact same stuff with me when I flew in, Customs would have waved me through without any hassles even if they did look inside the boxes. The only reason I shipped them was because the company was paying the costs and I didn't have to deal with extra baggage fees at the airport which, as it turns out, would have been the cheaper and quicker way to do it.)

I was charged 200 baht/day in storage fees for the 4 days my box was held (DHL actually paid the fee as it was their screw up that resulted in the box being held). I don't know if the fee is based on size/quantity or is a "one fee fits all" type (where it could be a suitcase or a car and still gets charged the same amount for storage fees).

 

[DaRoadrunner]

14 hours ago, Kerryd said:

 

It was just a line in one of the articles.
"Meanwhile, the import of used vehicles for uses other than personal, such as diplomatic vehicles, prototype vehicles for research and testing, vehicles to be modified for export, vehicles for museum display, and military vehicles will be under supervision of related agencies and not affected by the ban imposed by the Foreign Trade Department."
https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30378880

I guess it would depend on the interpretation of "museum display" (and I suspect if they think you are going to ride it everyday then it wouldn't qualify). 

Also, in the thread from 2016 I linked in my previous post is one post by Richard-BKK where he notes:
 

If you want to try to import a "classic" bike, you might want to check with a certified Customs Broker, especially as you need to have all your ducks in a row before you try to ship the bike here.

Keep in mind, if you ship something here and it gets stuck in customs, you'll be charged a daily storage fee and it won't be cheap. DHL screwed up a shipment to me one time and 1 of the 2 boxes ended up stuck in Customs at the airport. I had to use a Broker to get the paperwork done and paid over 10,000 baht to get a box of "personal effects" (used clothes, linen, work boots and so on) that I'd shipped when my last job ended. (The *iss-off was, if I'd carried the exact same stuff with me when I flew in, Customs would have waved me through without any hassles even if they did look inside the boxes. The only reason I shipped them was because the company was paying the costs and I didn't have to deal with extra baggage fees at the airport which, as it turns out, would have been the cheaper and quicker way to do it.)

I was charged 200 baht/day in storage fees for the 4 days my box was held (DHL actually paid the fee as it was their screw up that resulted in the box being held). I don't know if the fee is based on size/quantity or is a "one fee fits all" type (where it could be a suitcase or a car and still gets charged the same amount for storage fees).

 

In my experience couriers are the worst way to get anything in. Post Office often gets through without problem, though this appears to vary depending on your local office (TiT).

 

If you want to get anything through customs at the port, then you are best to find a Thai broker who knows them (which usually means Somchai has a friend or relative in the customs dept). Brown envelopes are much loved by these people.

 

As for the OP and his motorcycle. Not worth the hassle.

[Justgrazing]

There was a dude called TG who was a regular contributor on here who did import at least one bike ( might have been 2 can't remember now ) from Britain .. I seem to recall him saying it wasn't an easy process and quite expensive .. and that was for a big bike not a 125 .. As others have already said just buy a small bike in Thailand .. It'll be a lot easier and cheaper .. 

[johng]

There is a report of success here.

I remember reading and commenting about  someone else   saying they  imported a car  but there where specific special circumstances  something like  US military vehicle of maybe diplomatic..can't find the post now.

(not for lack of searching)