What can be moved from home in USA?

[easttech]

Hello,

 

Im trying to figure out how to move, what to move and what cannot be moved from my home in the USA.

 

Looking to understand if there are duty implications on household items moved to my new residence in Thailand

 

1) Duty implications?

2) Prohibited items such as gas powered equipment?

3) How to move suggestions? Do it my self in a container or?

Any help or advice is appreciated.

 

 

[FlyingThai]

Depends how much stuff you have, what these items are and how fast you need them.

 

Is it possible to transport them in passenger baggage in either 1,2,3 tranches/passengers?

 

Here is the link directly from Thai Customs. You mentioned "your new residence", what visa are you using to stay in Thailand? Check if that makes you an official resident in Thailand or just a visitor on extended stay.

 

As far as restrictions go that affect safety measures you should contact a logistics company that handles the container shipment.

 

I'd do the math carefully if it's worth it to move any type of furniture etc to Thailand. You might run into an issue with art and jewelry (diamonds, gold, watches) when it comes to customs.

Edited August 24, 2020 by FlyingThai

[Saraburi121]

A good starting point is this website http://www.customs.go.th/cont_strc_simple.php?ini_content=individual_F01_160426_01&ini_menu=menu_individual_submenu_02&lang=en&left_menu=menu_individual_submenu_02_160421_01

 

I retired from my job in the USA which provided funding and shipping for my movement of household goods from our house to our Thai residence.   I would read the link info then come up with some more detailed questions. Prohibited items are listed in the link. Question 3 no input, my shipment was packed up and dealt with by the shipping company. 

 

I have read a lot of horror stories about importing household items from abroad but mine was actually very painless. A few days before arrival in Thailand the forwarding company contacted me to bring my passport to them in order to provide it to customs and fill out some forms. I did bring a copy of my shipment inventory with me which turned out to be beneficial according to the forwarding company. We did not pack any major appliances or expensive items other than TV's, 2 computers and 2 beds. No bicycles or sporting goods. What surprised me was the amount of duties on kitchen items.  The packing list was pretty generic, mostly labeled by box and location. Bottom line we had 6000lbs gross of goods and paid 32K baht for duties.  For me the duty was worth it, replacement value would have been much more.  

 

 

 

[unheard]

3 minutes ago, Saraburi121 said:

We did not pack any major appliances or expensive items other than TV's, 2 computers and 2 beds. No bicycles or sporting goods. What surprised me was the amount of duties on kitchen items.

What was your legal status at the moment of the move?

How long ago?

How many TVs did you bring?

Moving as a family?

How much did they charge your for the kitchen items? Aren't they household items that should be duty free?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

It's a complicated issue, and a lot depends on the details of your situation.

 

For starters, a lot of housing here in Thailand is already furnished, so depending on how/where you plan to live, that could be a consideration where you might not want to bring a lot of heavy furniture.

 

Also, for any electronic stuff, there's the U.S. 110V vs Thailand 220V issue, which means anything electronic from the U.S. that you plan to use here, that isn't already dual voltage, will need a step down transformer.

 

Depending on what region you live in the U.S., if your home area has a sizable Thai community, you may find a local shipping company there that specializes in moving stuff back and forth between the two countries on behalf of Thai clients. That's often a good place to begin exploring a Thai move.

 

Then, depending on how many airplane trips you intend to take as passengers as part of the moving process, you can look to maximize your airline baggage allocation to help minimize your U.S.-Asia shipping expenses.

 

And then lastly for the moment, there's the question of how much prior time/exposure you have in Thailand and how certain are you that once you relocate here, you're going to be happy and want to stay.  When I moved, even though I'd been here a lot previously, I kept a lot of larger things in a storage facility in the U.S. just in case I changed my mind, and in the end, decided to stay here but also decided I didn't need or want most of what I had in storage.

 

 

Edited August 24, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Saraburi121]

9 minutes ago, unheard said:

What was your legal status at the moment of the move?

How long ago?

How many TVs did you bring?

Moving as a family?

How much did they charge your for the kitchen items? Aren't they household items that should be duty free?

-Legal status was Non-O Visa (married to Thai extended to 1 year before import arrived) which had no bearing on import duties according to customs because we imported later than 6 months after arrival to Thailand due to building our house. Items were in storage before shipping. Brought 2 TV's. All of our items were used, nothing new in the box lol.  Brought my Webber  charcoal grill even after a good scrub.  

-Received goods September 2019. 

-Let me dig in my records and I will post the document what the duty charges were.

 

As TallGuy mentioned in his post it is a complicated issue that depends on your situation. We took all vital documents and laptops in our carry on bags. I can definitely say it was like shooting in the dark to get answers about the duty costs.  Just like anything here it may vary from day to day or inspector to inspector.  I can definitely say the moving company that delivered our goods here in Thailand was pretty good.  Carefully unpacked and reassembled what we requested correctly.  I do remember that anything that had fuel in it was a real pain to ship so we sold. 

[unheard]

29 minutes ago, Saraburi121 said:

I do remember that anything that had fuel in it was a real pain to ship so we sold. 

A generator with a fully drained tank will be a problem?

 

29 minutes ago, Saraburi121 said:

we imported later than 6 months after arrival to Thailand..

And therefore your shipment wasn't eligible for a duty free status?

Edited August 24, 2020 by unheard

[Saraburi121]

16 minutes ago, unheard said:

A generator with a fully drained tank will be a problem?

 

And therefore your shipment wasn't eligible for a duty free status?

The shipping company said the fuel tanks had to be purged and certified as such for any fuel operated equipment before shipment.  My thoughts were expense on both ends. Who knows what the the duty and tax for a generator would be?

 

Correct, according to Thai Customs officials we were not eligible for duty free import due to import arrived 6 months after we arrived.  Didn't have anyplace to put things.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I moved many years ago.. But as best as I recall, there are certain classes of visa entry and whether or not you have a work permit that can influence whether or not you'll qualify for any kind of customs duty exemption. And then yes, if you manage to qualify for an exemption, it has to be used for incoming shipment(s) within a limited period of time after your original arrival.

 

[Saraburi121]

55 minutes ago, Saraburi121 said:

-Legal status was Non-O Visa (married to Thai extended to 1 year before import arrived) which had no bearing on import duties according to customs because we imported later than 6 months after arrival to Thailand due to building our house. Items were in storage before shipping. Brought 2 TV's. All of our items were used, nothing new in the box lol.  Brought my Webber  charcoal grill even after a good scrub.  

-Received goods September 2019. 

-Let me dig in my records and I will post the document what the duty charges were.

 

As TallGuy mentioned in his post it is a complicated issue that depends on your situation. We took all vital documents and laptops in our carry on bags. I can definitely say it was like shooting in the dark to get answers about the duty costs.  Just like anything here it may vary from day to day or inspector to inspector.  I can definitely say the moving company that delivered our goods here in Thailand was pretty good.  Carefully unpacked and reassembled what we requested correctly.  I do remember that anything that had fuel in it was a real pain to ship so we sold. 

Document for my duty and taxes attached.  The left highlighted price is the duty, the right is the tax.  

 

The original seals were still on all the crates when they arrived at my house, nothing was opened an inspected.  I shipped 800lbs of hand tools which I was worried about and no duty/tax. Sockets, wrenches, screwdrivers etc and a big tool box.  As a disclaimer the duty/tax fees I paid did not reflect every item shipped.  Seemed like a hit and miss.  As I reviewed the fee sheets the tax on a small cabinet I shipped from kitchen cost me.  Flying Thai mentioned moving furniture here be careful.  Some things were duty/tax free such as books and clothes in my situation . Sorry for misinfo @Unheard about exempt things.  

 

 

 

 

Thai Duty Tax Oct 2019.pdf

[unheard]

9 minutes ago, Saraburi121 said:

Document for my duty and taxes attached.  The left highlighted price is the duty, the right is the tax. MB · 1 downlo

Thank you!!!

[glegolo]

To even ask here is like asking people who havent got a clue. I suggest that you stay away as far as possible from this otherwise spelendid forum in this particular question, and instead ask us people who actully work wih this kind of work i.e. shipping-agents & clearing-agents..

 

glegolo

[ubonjoe]

Not visa related moved to here.

[wombat]

if you want to save yourself from terminal ulcers my advice is sell it all in the states and start again here

[LALes]

I don't care what type of visa you have, be prepared to shell out on this end if you ever want to see your stuff again.  BTW, its all negotiable, too.  A real racket, this duty game.  And, everybody at the port has their hand out, too.  Better get an agent and pay up front.  Trying to do it yourself, like I did, is an utter nightmare.

[timendres]

18 minutes ago, wombat said:

if you want to save yourself from terminal ulcers my advice is sell it all in the states and start again here

I didn't sell in the US, and I brought nothing with me. There is only one thing I have not been able to replace, and that is my LaPavoni Europicola Espresso machine. I finally settled for a Breville Barista Express. The advantage is that, if I am ever suddenly forced back to the US, it is a "turn key" return.

[mrwebb8825]

My only add as we shipped everything in a container, would be to try and ship to Lam Shabang (<-sp) instead of Bangkok. Less greedy. Long haul trucks are cheap here.

[Laza 45]

Leave ALL material things where they are... bring money..

[kbb]

I did this last year. 

Used a moving company that sent a truck to the house.

About half of a one bedroom apartment. 

They wrapped furniture, packed artwork -- Then trucked the stuff out to the harbour for shipping on a container. 

The company charged by the Cubic Foot -- In lots of 400 cf.

Did not choose insurance, as my documentation was spotty, and the items were older.

I was charged about $800 at Thai customs - We just didn't fit any of the parameters to save much there. 

 

Was very happy with the result. 

We have our very comfortable Leather couch (Can't buy here), Mattress, antique rolltop desk, and other pieces of favorite furniture. Plus artwork and stuff that would have been too hard to travel with piecemeal. 

Just under $6k for 400 cf. Included all packing, door to door pick up & delivery to Issarn.

 

Good luck ...

[donmuang37]

I had been married to my Thai wife for over 4 years when I retired and we moved to Thailand.  We shipped a 20 foot container from Baltimore in her name as a returning Thai citizen.  We shipped furniture, clothing, China, crystal, kitchen items, books, etc.  Paid zero duty, and had no hassles - "Smooth as Silk", to coin a phrase.

 

Somebody mentioned that we have nominal 230vac power, but keep in mind that we also have 50 hertz frequency, so anything with an internal clock won't keep proper time.  I initially used step down transformers for a couple of things, but recommend just replacing anything that plugs in unless it has an international power supply. My experience with step down transformers was that they seemed to shorten the life of the item.

 

If you you have a high end desk top computer that you want to keep, just have the 120vac power supply replaced with a 230vac unit here in Thailand. Good luck!

[khunjeff]

Like @Saraburi121, my employer paid to pack and ship all of my stuff to Thailand when I retired. The moving company at this end created a customs declaration based on the inventory prepared by the packer at the sending end, and I ended up paying around $700 (if I recall correctly) in duties and taxes. Since that amount is less than it would have cost me just to replace my espresso machine here - let alone the other 7000 lbs in the shipment - that was perfectly fine for me. If you have to pay the costs of packing and shipping yourself, your math may be quite different. 

 

BTW, I brought along a bunch of 110v small appliances in addition to the coffee machine, and have had no problems running them with a transformer. I wouldn't want to do that with something that runs all the time, but for intermittent use it's fine. Since realistically the alternative had been abandoning them before the move, and the cost of bringing them here was basically zero, I don't care if they eventually fail before their time.

[Tracyb]

While considering relocation keep this in mind:  if your clothes sizes are anything above “average” in America you may have difficulty finding your size here.  Examples include size 13 shoes or larger, xl size shirts, over 38 inch waist slacks and shorts, anything “tall”.  Bring extras with you if you’re in these categories!  
 

on another note, if this is going to be a “permanent” move, consider keeping a mailing address in the states and also....keep your bank account open there!

Edited August 25, 2020 by Tracyb
Added info.

[Airalee]

3 hours ago, kbb said:

I did this last year. 

Used a moving company that sent a truck to the house.

About half of a one bedroom apartment. 

They wrapped furniture, packed artwork -- Then trucked the stuff out to the harbour for shipping on a container. 

The company charged by the Cubic Foot -- In lots of 400 cf.

Did not choose insurance, as my documentation was spotty, and the items were older.

I was charged about $800 at Thai customs - We just didn't fit any of the parameters to save much there. 

 

Was very happy with the result. 

We have our very comfortable Leather couch (Can't buy here), Mattress, antique rolltop desk, and other pieces of favorite furniture. Plus artwork and stuff that would have been too hard to travel with piecemeal. 

Just under $6k for 400 cf. Included all packing, door to door pick up & delivery to Issarn.

 

Good luck ...

USA?  Which company?  I need to ship some things too.

[unheard]

Can anyone in-the-know here (or with any relevant current experience) recommend a moving company and/or a Thai moving partner on the receiving end?

 

Thank you!

[TimBKK]

Don’t know much about this site and have no connection to it other than being on their mail list, but this article showed up today and might be of help:

 

https://www.expatden.com/thailand/shipping-to-thailand/ 

[Morty T]

3 years ago, I brought my Ryobi drill, circular saw and sander. Ended up paying 3x the cost in duty. I would also suggest not falling into the clothing trap, moving from new england, i brought all of my wardrobe. The only stuff I have worn since is shorts, short sleeve shirt and sandals.

[Captor]

This guy is arranging shipping/containers to Thailand from many countries.

You could send him an email with your questions: [email protected]

 

 

[kensawadee]

I have read most of all replies and can not find anybody who has mentioned this..... Thai people that have lived overseas more than a year (possibly longer requirement) are allowed to 'bring home' personal household items and personal items (even a GUCCI purse upon their return home,,,, AND DUTY FREE...

On household items it is limited to one of each item... such as 1 sofa, one loveseat, 1 recliner, 1 kitchen table with chairs, 1 fridge (ever new with 220 volt system) .....

So, look into that if you are married to a Thai or even have a Thai girlfriend.... it only requires the THAI, NOT YOU..... and marriage isn't important.....

I've known of several of these duty free moves in past years,,,,,,,,

[gamb00ler]

On 8/24/2020 at 11:26 AM, Saraburi121 said:

Document for my duty and taxes attached.  The left highlighted price is the duty, the right is the tax.  

 

The original seals were still on all the crates when they arrived at my house, nothing was opened an inspected.  I shipped 800lbs of hand tools which I was worried about and no duty/tax. Sockets, wrenches, screwdrivers etc and a big tool box.  As a disclaimer the duty/tax fees I paid did not reflect every item shipped.  Seemed like a hit and miss.  As I reviewed the fee sheets the tax on a small cabinet I shipped from kitchen cost me.  Flying Thai mentioned moving furniture here be careful.  Some things were duty/tax free such as books and clothes in my situation . Sorry for misinfo @Unheard about exempt things.  

 

 

 

 

Thai Duty Tax Oct 2019.pdf 1.15 MB · 22 downloads

The wife and I have contracted with International Sea & Air to ship a 20' container from Las Vegas to Chiang Mai.  We do all the packing and wrapping.  Everything must be ready to load on the appointed pickup day.  Including some insurance the price is about $6,500US.

 

According to my understanding we SHOULD qualify for the household goods exemption as a family.  That should allow up to two of any qualifying items.

 

Our shipper is using the same Thai company as was used in Saraburi's shipment for dealing with customs and delivery to Chiang Mai.  I have had direct contact with Boonma regarding clearing customs.  They have told me that the link to the Thai customs page given in post #3 is out of date.  When I pressed them on this their answers made me suspicious about their knowledge of the regulations regarding exemptions for household items for returning Thai citizens and their family.

 

I'm not sure if the problem is a language barrier, but they did not provide much illumination.

 

From one of Boonma's responses to my questions:

Can you explain how you know that the official Thai Customs web page is "outdated"?

- The update was October 2018. 

- Document required : An invoice (No need) 

- There are a few categories which import duty/tax will be charged without any exemption

(such as instrumental, tools, leisure items, sport eq, second electrical app)

 

Can you provide a reference or link to the current Thai Customs regulation regarding the exemption for returning Thai citizens and their family?

- I do not know when they will update but at the moment it's still outdated.

 

Do  you have the contact information for the Thai Customs officials that deal with our type of shipment?.

- You can contact to Thai customs for more information

Telephone number : 0-2134-0401 or 0-2667-7000 Ext 25-3106

==================

I'm not sure if the problem is a language barrier, but they did not provide much illumination.

 

When I asked them how do they know the details of the current customs regulations they said this:

"This information we have is not mentioned on the website. We know it after we deal directly with the customs officer."

================

I do find it unnerving that they don't seem to know the regulations ahead of actually clearing a shipment.

 

The saga continues...

Edited August 25, 2020 by gamb00ler

[techietraveller84]

Moral of the story: before moving to Thailand, save a lot of money on customs duties by getting a Thai lover you trust.