Shipping Container/Relocating to Thailand in 2021 - details/customs/taxes: EU or US --> TH

[ClearEyesFullHeartsCantLos]

Dear all, 

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I've scoured the forums for as much up to date info as I could find and I've put together many of the pieces but still quite unsure about some fundamental aspects of my planned move. 

Here are some resources I found helpful. 

http://www.customs.go.th/ --> search for < Household Items Import Clearance >

https://www.freightnet.com/directory/p1/cTH/s30.htm *I have no experience with any in particular*

https://siam-shipping.com/container-thailand/ *again, no experience with them, but helpful terms and explanations I think*

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So while I'm sure many would suggest to sell everything at home and re-buy in TH, I did a cost/benefit sort of analysis and that would be prohibitively expensive and would also leave me with almost no sense of ownership on many pieces of furniture, clothes, valued items that I feel a real attachment to after 10-15-20 years with, so thanks for those situations but I've decided to ship about 1/3 to 1/2 of my 72mSq flat. 

 

And another quick disclaimer is that while I originally thought that any 1-year renewable visa (marriage, retirement, elite, work, student) could be considered duty-free for import, it seems like the only sure-fire one is a relocation for work organized by an employer. I'm sure others may qualify but I, personally, won't have any of those that would allow tax-free imports. 

 

My plan will be to enter on a 60-day tourist visa and immediately apply for the elite visa (maybe needing to extend the 60 by an additional 30) and then plan to receive the half container or full, at some point some weeks after arrival. 

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I have many questions but to get right to the key points, I'd eternally grateful for anyone who has actual, literal and concrete experience with importing a lot of household goods in the past 1-3 years. 

 

1. From the sounds of many persons' experiences, even with the best paperwork, receipts and supporting materials, it seems like there is still a lot of uncertainty regarding the individual custom officer's interpretation of things usually leading to some additional "personal fees". Q: What amounts are usually required for an agent to "look the other way" or even to allow for an unopened container to glide through without issue? 

 

2. Seems like finding a good/great "agent" -- which I understand to be a facilitator for the Thai side of things -- leads to an overwhelmingly easier experience. Q: How does one go about finding a reputable/reliable, or just competent agent? What would be a reasonable cost expectation for such help -- again, assuming maybe for a 40'/12m container?

 

3. Considering the worst case of being on the hook for all appropriate duties and taxes to the letter of the law, I can imagine that half a life's worth of "nice things" including electronics, shoes/clothes, etc., small appliances (robot vacuum, kitchen mixer, etc), reasonably nice furniture, tables, bed, mattresses, bedding, lamps, and the like, according to the duty table I was referred to it might amount to upwards of 15-20k usd in costs. Qa: has anyone here ever been stuck in such a situation where their container or load of boxes were held "for ransom" at thai customs pending a massive bill? Qb: In an absolute worst case scenario (extended version), is it either possible to offer up a large enough sum to make that problem go away or** is it possible just to send it "home" to a place that you are sure there will be no taxes on arrival? 

 

4. Shipping companies seem to run from the low/scam type situations through every level until the best-experience/professional and reliable available. Qa: For those who had something closer to the latter, how did you find such great firms? Did you identify the "thai side" of things first and the work backwards to the outgoing country entities, or* did you find a good shipper/mover in your country of origin and then see about their contacts (if any) in Thailand? Qb: If anyone has any particularly great experiences with specific firms, is it possible to provide their contact details (by PM or by posting here)? **note: I do not know if this is frowned upon or not**. 

 

Finally, I'd really love to hear about any recent experiences. I've read as far back as some users' experiences from the early to late 2000s but I think the most relevant are the most recent. 

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The purpose of the title of this post is to hopefully collect some best-practices and most informative resources for any moves in 2021 and beyond, so to avoid duplicated Qs in the future. 

 

Thanks for your patience if you made it this far, and thanks in advance for any help on any part(s) of the questions above. If there is additional info that you deem relevant that I've not mentioned, then please, really feel free to add it to this thread. 

 

Sincerely, - CantWin

 

**Attached is a .pdf of this post for convenience or reference.**

 

Shipping Post ThaiVisa 10 Dec 2020.pdf

Edited December 10, 2020 by ClearEyesFullHeartsCantLos
Typo (1 of many)

[RJRS1301]

experience

Label EVERY box with full contents

Label each painting/piece of art. Attche document showing cost/date of purchase

Label each separate piece of furniture in similar way. 

Be prepared to go to the docks and have the entire container unpacked, and be prepared to pay duty even on previuosly used older household itmes( cutlery/flatware/cooking utensils) 

It is a nightmare even for returning Thai nationals

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

Many have thought as you. I also considered it at one time, bringing my stuff from home. Don't bother. The hassle and import taxes just aren't worth it.

 

Whatever you must bring, bring it in your suitcases. But prepare a good explanation as to why you need it as a tourist, otherwise you might get slapped with the taxes. I just had my laptop, portable speakers, gaming device, documents and written materials. I left behind a lot of computer and office equipment I could've used, but it wasn't feasible to bring. My memorable items, photo albums, artworks, projects, are over at Mom's. I'll show them to the wife once I bring her back someday.

 

I remember a thread here on TV about some Australians missing their high end audio gear, and were looking into have it shipped. They eventually abandoned those ambitions, bought new gear here, and passed the old gear off to family back home. Apparently that was their easiest and most cost effective option, and likely what you'll have to end up doing with much of your stuff.

[jackdd]

Customs are definitely some of the most corrupt officials in Thailand. Especially if you import second hand stuff where the price is not clear. You say your bed is worth 20k THB, the customs officer says it's wort 200k THB. There is no way to challenge him, and if you somehow try to challenge him: You pay a storage fee for every day your stuff isn't cleared, no matter what the reason is, and be sure that they are not in a hurry to process your dispute. But if you pay him 20k under the table he will make this problem go away.

For many things you pay 30% duties, plus 7% vat, some less, some more, but i think that's a good average when importing random stuff to Thailand.

So expect to pay at least about 40% of what your stuff is worth (+shipping cost + insurance), but depending on how greedy customs are it could be that you are given the choice of paying 100% what your stuff is worth if you want to ever get it.

Get rid of your stuff and come to Thailand with a suitcase, this makes life much easier.

 

Edited December 10, 2020 by jackdd

[HAPPYNUFF]

I  have previously told of my  sad experience when  bringing in  some  personal items,  by air freight..  But to make some aware, this is another incident that my wife and I   were aware of.

 

We were at the Customs area  at Sookie airport, going thru the hassles, when  my wife  started speaking with a Thai lady who  had just returned from Germany, where she lived, with her farang husband.    She had bought some items  back, for their second home here.

The poor woman  didnt  know what was required and was looking distraught.  She explained to my wife some Thai, whom she had assumed was some sort of official, had told her she needed to pay 40,000 baht, being fees,  customs duties  etc.  She had given the man the money some hours previous, and was  still waiting. My wife decided to help her, and together they left to make inquiries as to  where the man was, and who was he.    No one had any idea as to what she was talking about, or who the man was..    At least  I didnt get ripped off that amount.    I must add   a Thai  guy did approach us and offered to help. He wanted 200 baht.   He  did assist me in getting the  fees(?)  (bribe)  demanded by  Customs down considerably, and I gave him 1000, and that was a saving.

[Mops59]

Your shipping agent in your home country will deal with the shipping agent in Bangkok. Once your container is cleared they will message you with the amount of import tax. They need your passport and the tax money. Then they put it on a lorry and deliver at your doorstep. Unload yourself with help from some Thai guys. By the way second hand goods are worth almost nothing. So import tax is low. But you need to make a complete list for the shipping company. My container was never opened. Shipped twice.

[fdsa]

Sorry for hijacking the thread but I don't want to open a new one.

 

I plan a relocation from Thailand and want to bring lots of equipment back home. However some of the stuff is either too special/unique or too expensive that I would not find any buyers for it at all, or will have to sell it for peanuts. So it could be reasonable to pay all the required taxes instead of throwing the stuff away.

I do not need a whole sea container as there is not that much stuff - less than a hundred of kilograms total, so a usual ground shipping by Thailand Post could be a solution. But what about insurance and tracking? Usually ground shipping has very limited or no tracking at all.

As far as I understand, I should separate all stuff and send several different packages based on the type of the stuff.

Does it help, to avoid taxes to declare items as "personal belongings"? Something like: "used electronic equipment, personal belongings" or "used sports equipment, personal belongings"? 

Does it help, to avoid taxes, to use same sender and receiver name (from myself in one country to myself in another country)?

Putting a label on every single item inside the box is a good idea indeed. But do I need to list every single item/model on the customs declaration?

 

Edited October 10, 2021 by fdsa

[GinBoy2]

4 hours ago, fdsa said:

Sorry for hijacking the thread but I don't want to open a new one.

 

I plan a relocation from Thailand and want to bring lots of equipment back home. However some of the stuff is either too special/unique or too expensive that I would not find any buyers for it at all, or will have to sell it for peanuts. So it could be reasonable to pay all the required taxes instead of throwing the stuff away.

I do not need a whole sea container as there is not that much stuff - less than a hundred of kilograms total, so a usual ground shipping by Thailand Post could be a solution. But what about insurance and tracking? Usually ground shipping has very limited or no tracking at all.

As far as I understand, I should separate all stuff and send several different packages based on the type of the stuff.

Does it help, to avoid taxes to declare items as "personal belongings"? Something like: "used electronic equipment, personal belongings" or "used sports equipment, personal belongings"? 

Does it help, to avoid taxes, to use same sender and receiver name (from myself in one country to myself in another country)?

Putting a label on every single item inside the box is a good idea indeed. But do I need to list every single item/model on the customs declaration?

 

Well don't worry about inbound customs to your home country, they unlike their Thai compariots tend to be honest, and if you state they are used personal property you'll be fine.

 

You only state the weight of the outbound stuff.

 

The issue you usually come up with is linear dimensions rather than weight for postal shipments. 

 

I forget now what the maximum package size you can send through ThaiPost, so check that out.

But assuming you're not shipping something like hockey sticks you'll be able to get everything into multiple boxes, and once again forget any issue of Thai style import taxes on the other end you'll be fine.

 

The other option is container shipment. The usual minimum they do is 4 cubic meters, which is a lot. But again I'm don't know what the linear size of the stuff you are trying to ship.

So it's another option to think about.

 

The minimum container thing is what we did when we relocated our main home back to the US and it was flawless.

 

....and not an import tax in sight lol

Edited October 10, 2021 by GinBoy2

[Farangdk]

Many of you haven't got a clue. Yes, they are corrupt, but not all that bad. Some of you like to scare off people. Easy to make Custom clearance and get shipments into Thailand without paying too much. if used items and paper not OK, then it will typical be 20% of the value on the packing list  and not the CIF value, plus VAT. 30% is on luxury items only. 

A little help. Dont make the value on the packing list too high. If more than 2 electric items of each, just mention one. During the years I done this here in Thailand, they never opened any containers or dismantle and crates when small shipment. Outbound no issue what so ever, except if any paintings or Buddhist statues/ images. These need export permit.

Inbound import  permit on Buddhist statues/ images will be required. Not for paintings.

[fdsa]

Yes, 4 cubic meters is well above my requirements. Still I worry about taxes because paying 20% VAT on all the stuff will be a 1-2k USD.

I think putting a handwritten label on every single item in a box is a great idea because it makes stuff do not look as a new/commercial goods.

 

What about insurance and tracking of ground shipping, does anyone have experience?

Edited October 11, 2021 by fdsa

[sirineou]

Where are you coming from? US, or EU?

Are you married to a Thai national? Your OP is unclear and kind of long. So I could had missed it. 

If you are married to a Thai national , then your wife has the right to duty free repatriation import of personal items,  

We Got back to Thailand last May after a couple of years away,  Wife found this Thai company that services the Thai community on the east coast of the US.

   They had many options and one of them was container sharing.   They travel up and down the east coast with the truck, and they have a specific day that they are at your area,

We just brought all that was valuable to us , and since we still maintain a home in Thailand, we stored the rest. 

 It was  $140 for each 18x18x24 inch box and we shipped 10 of them containing clothing, kitchen equipment, electronics, tools and a self propelled lawn mower,

It took three months to get to Thailand, so we shipped a couple of months before we departed. All the boxes were picked up at out Florida home, and delivered to our door in Khon Kaen Thailand. After giving them our boxes we did nothing else. They must have connections with customs, or perhaps we were lucky, but none of our boxes was ever opened for inspection. No need to bring the big bulky furniture items, Plenty of nice and Unique furniture here. We like teak furniture of which we found a lot of nice things here. 

Anyway, if you are in the US, give them a call and see what they had to say. 

  

 

Edited October 11, 2021 by sirineou

[Mrh3466]

I should have updated this thread but the new website design is the worst. Way too many ads and impossible to find relevant threads or news. 
In any case, all turned out to be quite easy. A lot of people are seriously incorrect about the duties and taxes levied on shopping containers. Providing all is used. So like, moving a flat worth of stuff. The duties were only about 7-9% of the total cost of the shipment. Not the value of goods but the shipping + insurance cost. 
The duties were about 25k baht for a shipment worth maybe < 25k usd when new. 
A few items were taxed at a high rate (I have a detailed breakdown) while most were tax free. And I was on a tourist visa. So I didn’t qualify for any exemption as a work permit holder might receive. 
Overall the process was super easy (I assume since I went with a full service shipping agent). I wouldn’t do it on my own I’m certain. 
But I can’t figure out where all the people who say “not worth it, sell and re-buy” are getting their info. I think maybe a lot is out of date or maybe just based on importing boxes rather than containers. 
I saved a lot by doing the shipment rather than selling and buying. And saved so much hassle as well. That was worth more than the monetary savings.

But everyone is different.