NBTC import licence for personal cellphone help

[tstcman]

Thai customs and UPS are holding my package in Bangkok , saying i need a licence for my phone to get it released. I live in Chiang Mai and dont know how with the covid 19 if i can even get to Bangkok. what to do?

[johng]

6 minutes ago, tstcman said:

i need a licence for my phone

Strange..but anyway I doubt very much you can obtain the required "licence"   if you bought it via credit card maybe (try to) send it back and claim a refund on your card ?

[blackcab]

Do you have to pay daily storage fees? If you do then I would refuse the delivery and have the phone returned to sender. Our company has recently applied for NBTC licenses for hand held radios that were purchased from a well known national company in Thailand.

 

Our case was very straightforward, and it has taken about 2 months for the licenses to be issued. If you have to pay storage fees then it could well get expensive as your case is not straightforward at all.

 

Remember that to obtain an import license from NBTC all communications devices have to transmit and receive only on frequencies approved by the NBTC. If your phone has the ability to transmit or receive on a wider range of frequencies than is allowed, you will not be issued a license.

 

The NBTC has their own letter of authority which you can complete and attach a signed copy of your passport. If you do this then a third party can apply for the license for you. There will be a cost to employ the agent and a cost payable to the NBTC for the license.

[Langsuan Man]

Had the same thing happen to me when I ordered a Pixel 2 from Google and had it shipped to Thailand by a re-mailer.  I filled out the customs form and declared the full value, yet when it got to Thailand it was seized by Royal Thai Customs and I was informed by my local Post Office that I had to go to Lam Chabang Customs Department to get it

 

When I arrived there and provided the mandatory signed copy of my passport I was suddenly told that I would have to go into Bangkok and obtain a "radio controlled device" registration and license from the NBTC.  If I did not, the item would be returned to sender (me) in the US

 

I eventually filed a claim with the US Postal Service for the lost phone and received full price of the phone minus shipping.  The phone showed up a the re-mailer in the US 3 months later.  I told them to keep it, since I had already been paid

 

Good luck,  but I guess that Customs has to seize a certain amount of imports to show that they are doing their job.  But a license for a cell phone in Thailand of all places it a bit over the top but that is why we say TIT 

[johng]

30 minutes ago, Langsuan Man said:

but that is why we say TIT 

I would have said  something a bit different...rhymes with duck ! ????

 

 I also run into this strange requirement  when trying to order a USB digital TV dongle from China,

every time the order was cancelled as a "prohibited" item..eventually found one for sale from a vendor already in Thailand.

[blackcab]

I have just looked at our NBTC licenses. The license to use a transceiver lists the manufacturer, the model number and the serial number of the individual unit.

 

There is an NBTC ID number printed on the license, which is linked to the specific make and model of the transceiver. This means this particular model has been submitted for type testing to the NBTC and has received its own model reference number.

 

The transceiver itself has a sticker on it that has the same NBTC ID number.

 

What this means is that to obtain a license to import you would either have to either:

 

a. find out if the exact same type of phone has been submitted for testing prior to your application. If it has, you can use that ID number to obtain an import license and then submit the unit for verification and for the sticker to be placed on the outside of the box. (If you buy a correctly registered phone in Thailand you will see that it has a sticker on the box which has the NBTC ID number printed on it). Or,

 

b. you would have to submit the phone for type testing before you obtained an import permit.

 

To be honest, for a single phone, it's not going to be worth it. If you need certain data from the phone then perhaps the courier might let you retrieve that data if you help them out a little bit in the right way. As for the phone itself, it's probably going to be a case of return to sender unless you can work something out with the courier.

 

That being said, mobile telephones are very competitively priced in Thailand. If you are buying a new unit it will not be worth shipping it into the country to then pay import taxes, duties and VAT on it.

[Iamloki]

On 6/6/2020 at 3:06 PM, tstcman said:

Thai customs and UPS are holding my package in Bangkok , saying i need a licence for my phone to get it released. I live in Chiang Mai and dont know how with the covid 19 if i can even get to Bangkok. what to do?

Hi I'm in the same boat! I ordered a Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra from the US (Amazon) because I wanted the Snapdragon processor. It shipped via UPS.

 

tstcman, may I ask what phone you had ordered & how the story ended? 

 

Thank you for any insights you can share!

Edited July 20, 2021 by Iamloki
Forgot a piece of information.

[mtls2005]

Could be worse.  See also Aung San Suu Kyi

 

Myanmar Coup: Suu Kyi Is Accused Of Illegally Importing Walkie-Talkies

 

 

Seems like this a new development to be aware of.

 

I've purchased phones from GearBest (China), all (4) delivered, no problem. No VAT, no additional charges.

[Iamloki]

16 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

Could be worse.  See also Aung San Suu Kyi

 

Myanmar Coup: Suu Kyi Is Accused Of Illegally Importing Walkie-Talkies

 

 

Seems like this a new development to be aware of.

 

I've purchased phones from GearBest (China), all (4) delivered, no problem. No VAT, no additional charges.

Thank you. I checked out GearBest - at this time they are not offering the specs I am looking for.

 

I am really hoping for updated information specifically on the problem of Thai Customs and NBTC registration/import licenses. Thanks to all!!

[mtls2005]

On 7/21/2021 at 10:30 AM, Iamloki said:

Thank you. I checked out GearBest - at this time they are not offering the specs I am looking for.

 

Just to be crystal clear...

 

I have not purchased from GearBest in ~ 18 months.

 

Given the current situation, I would not order ANYTHING from outside of Thailand. 

 

Everything can be banned/confiscated here, even playing cards require an import license.

 

If you have a "customs agent' on payroll then go for it.

 

Imagine this confiscated stuff finds its way into markets, and FB, for grey-market resale.

 

 

 

 

[Iamloki]

2 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

 

Just to be crystal clear...

 

I have not purchased from GearBest in ~ 18 months.

 

Given the current situation, I would not order ANYTHING from outside of Thailand. 

 

Everything can be banned/confiscated here, even playing cards require an import license.

 

If you have a "customs agent' on payroll then go for it.

 

Imagine this confiscated stuff finds its way into markets, and FB, for grey-market resale.

 

 

 

 

Thank you.

[themechanic]

I had this happen to me recently and got it all sorted out on the same day. Everything is possible here in the land of smiles with the right connections ????

If your parcel is worth at least $1000 USD and it's worth ~50% of the invoice value to you to get it released, send me a private message on here (16,000THB minimum all inclusive service charge). No BS or tire kickers please. No money no honey as they say.

[worgeordie]

Catch 22 , same thing happened to me , they wanted an import license for

500 grams of fish food , next day phoned again they wanted import licence

for 2 bars of Toffee !!! , I am also in Chiang Mai , the contents were not that

expensive , so I just abandoned the parcel ,they would have charged storage

for the time to get import licence , couple of weeks later my daughter sent

me the same goods by Royal mail , got them no problem.

regards Worgeordie

 

[mtls2005]

Based on reports here and on FB, Customs/Excise started randomly enforcing the requirements for licensing on any devices with a radio, ~ 24 months back.

 

Haven't seen any reports recently so assume complaints resulted in this practice being stopped. Perhaps as result of the eServices VAT agreement reached in October of last year?

 

The country is gaining billions now in VAT so jeopardizing that by shaking down consumers would be an epic fail.

 

 

 

[Reincarnated]

Here's the deal.  Pay attention.   ANYTHING you try to import through either FedEx or DHL is MORE THAN LIKELY going to be a problem.  They have an inhouse customs department (contract with Thai Customs), and they scrutinize everything.  With enough scrutiny in this country, you can always find a problem.  I do not know how they work it, probably on a commission basis, but I have never seen anything shopped into Thailand through DHL or FedEx that did not:  (1) have a big tax attached, (2) a fine attached, (3) need a license or (4) simply need to be confiscated on some other grounds.

 

The ONLY exception is items shipped by Amazon -- they have an "arrangement."

 

I just lost a phone I bought on eBay that the seller shipped from Japan by FedEx.  Same scam, import license.  I was shocked and surprised that the Seller used FedEx, as most eBay sellers in Japan use Japan Post and there are never any problems with that.   The Seller told me that Japan Post no longer ships to Thailand and that the only international shippers now available are FedEx and DHL.  Nothing more from Japan for me.  I will avail myself of the eBay money back guarantee.  

 

I then ordered the phone from Amazon.  It is in process, but I already know there will be no problems.  

[Iamloki]

On 7/20/2021 at 10:38 AM, Iamloki said:

Hi I'm in the same boat! I ordered a Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra from the US (Amazon) because I wanted the Snapdragon processor. It shipped via UPS.

 

tstcman, may I ask what phone you had ordered & how the story ended? 

 

Thank you for any insights you can share!

Okay... way after the fact, but it took 90 days to finally get my phone once it arrived it Thailand. First I had to register as the "importer of record". I did this in person at Mae Sai  (I'm in Chiang Rai). Then the told me I needed the Import License. There was a phone number given to me for the NBTC customer service in BKK. They don't answer the phone. Omitting a lot of the story, after daily calls/emails to UPS, Thai Customs, NBTC and the contacts emailed to me at the very beginning, I had had enough. I told them I no longer wanted the item and to return it to sender. They told me I now needed an Export License. Of course I told them I cannot export something that was never imported... You can guess how far I got going down that rabbit hole....

 

Finally, and quite by accident, I stumbled on this link: https://www.nbtc.go.th/About/สำนักงาน-กสทช-ส่วนภูมิภาค-(1)/สำนกงาน-กสทช-ภาค-3.aspx?lang=en-us

 

I discovered there are regional offices for NBTC and I found one in Chiang Rai. I called the number and low and behold... they actually answered the call. I explained my dilemma, the woman invited me to the office where she filled in and submitted all the forms while I was there. Remember, I was now trying to return the darn thing... A few days later via email, I received the authorization to receive the phone, and it was shipped to my door.

 

I learned 2 things through this ordeal:

1. Ship via registered mail - i.e. Post. The package will go to your local customs - not BKK. There is also a good chance it will just get delivered.

2. Never, ever, ever deal with offices in the BKK region unless you have no choice. Always find the regional office closest to you and deal with people who will actually help you. If you have to deal with BKK, just send them their bribe and tell them to return the package.

 

If you have a situation and need more details on the process I found, you may private message me.