Customs Duty Payable at Jomtien Post Office or not??

[WaveHunter]

The last time I received a package for which duty was payable I had to drive about an hour to some special post office because my local post office in Jomtien doesn't handle duty payable packages.  What a pain in the BUTT!

 

If that still the same policy today?  Does anyone know which post office it is, nearest to Jomtien, that handles that?...I can't remember now. 

[CharlieH]

MOVED to Pattaya forum for local input

[Kerryd]

There doesn't seem to be any "science" to it.
Generally, I think if the amount owed is under 500 baht, it goes to the Post Office and if it's more it goes to the Customs Office but that's not a guarantee.

I've picked up packages at the Bang Lamung and Chaiyapruek Post Offices where I've had to pay additional Customs Duties and I've had to make numerous trips to the Customs Office in Laem Chabang to do the same as well, even though the parcels were no more expensive than the ones that went to the Post Office.

I think it boils down to one or two people somewhere in Bangkok that sort what goes where and that's how some packages end up at the Post Office and some at the Customs Office.

I used to always have to go to the Chaiyapruek Post Office but a couple years ago, for some reason, suddenly it was always the Bang Lamung office - when I haven't had to go all the way to Laem Chabang which is a pain in the nether regions.
 

[tomazbodner]

In Bangkok I could not pay at a local post office 50m from my home but they sent me to one at the other side of town with a slip to pay import duty before I could get the box. Eventually started sending win motorcycles with filled out form and copy of passport, before switching to couriers completely. The hassle with the post office just wasn't worth it for the savings in shipping costs. So it's possible it's the same in Jomtien. Only a few large post offices there will be able to settle import duty payments, local ones likely not..

[jackdd]

I don't know the specific situation in Jomtien, but in generally it's like this, yes.

The smaller post offices might not collect duties, so if you need to pay duties they might send it to a bigger post office and you need to pick it up there.

It can also happen that customs decides they want a detailed inspection, then the parcel is forwarded to the next customs office, you have to go there to open it and they would like a bill or something (Happened to me when I stayed in Udon Thani, next customs office was Nong Khai, so a 100+ kilometers round trip to get my parcel).

[MrJ2U]

2 hours ago, Kerryd said:

There doesn't seem to be any "science" to it.
Generally, I think if the amount owed is under 500 baht, it goes to the Post Office and if it's more it goes to the Customs Office but that's not a guarantee.

I've picked up packages at the Bang Lamung and Chaiyapruek Post Offices where I've had to pay additional Customs Duties and I've had to make numerous trips to the Customs Office in Laem Chabang to do the same as well, even though the parcels were no more expensive than the ones that went to the Post Office.

I think it boils down to one or two people somewhere in Bangkok that sort what goes where and that's how some packages end up at the Post Office and some at the Customs Office.

I used to always have to go to the Chaiyapruek Post Office but a couple years ago, for some reason, suddenly it was always the Bang Lamung office - when I haven't had to go all the way to Laem Chabang which is a pain in the nether regions.
 

Same here.  Once had to drive 200 kilometers to a customs place to pay 3000 baht duty.

 

Recently I  just go to the local post office.

 

The postman will drop off a letter with the amount due.  You then bring that letter and payment to the local Post Office and get your package.

 

Sometimes I have paid the postman and he hamded me my package.

 

Not much help, but thats Thailand.

[Gsxrnz]

I've paid duty at Chaiapruek PO on Sukhumvit road several times.  Make sure the sender has your phone number and email as part of the address - on one occasion I got an email to advise me of duty, another time I got a phone call.  I've heard of others getting a snailmail notification and they spend 3 days tracking down where the parcel is.

 

Once I refused duty. It was $10 of ointments and they wanted me to register as an importer of pharmaceutical goods, get an import license, and pay a ridiculous amount of duty.  To my surprise, it was returned to sender and arrived back home 3 months later. The track/trace data looked like the itinerary for a very expensive trip around the world.

[Jaxxper]

The post office at Naklua have customs/ duty service. Only a 15/20 minute drive from Jomtien.

[Kerryd]

Generally, you have to pay at the Post Office where the parcel is located.
It's annoying if you live 7 kms from the Chaiyapruek office but have to travel 11 kms to get your package from the Bang Lamung office instead.

The little "Postal Outlets" you seen in shop houses around the city are mail collection shops, many of which also double as courier drop off locations.
For example, the one I went to yesterday morning on Soi Khao Talo. They can sell postcards and stamps and can send a letter via EMS (registered mail) and that's it. They don't hold mail/parcels for customers to pick up. (Though if they were smart they might be able to  run a "post office box" side business where people could rent a box and have their mail delivered.)

The shop I was in also had half a dozen DHL parcels waiting to be picked up (by DHL). (I think she can process outgoing DHL orders as well.)

In every single case where I've had to pay Customs Duties, I had a small notification placed in my mailbox telling me which location to go to (i.e. Chaiyapruek Post Office or Bang Lamung or Laem Chabang Customs Office). Never had an email or SMS.

The location is in Thai of course. I've had to ask the delivery guy which office I needed to go to as he had no idea himself until he read the notification.

Make sure you have your passport or Thai Drivers License with you.

[chilly07]

Watch out for Couriers coluding with Customs to extract multiple extra charges. I ordered compression socks for 1600bht and they added 3200bht of extras plus import export licences and doctors certificates. Told them to return to sender and stopped the payment through MasterCard and purchased them locally for 1200bht

[WaveHunter]

On 8/12/2021 at 7:33 PM, Kerryd said:

There doesn't seem to be any "science" to it.
Generally, I think if the amount owed is under 500 baht, it goes to the Post Office and if it's more it goes to the Customs Office but that's not a guarantee.

I've picked up packages at the Bang Lamung and Chaiyapruek Post Offices where I've had to pay additional Customs Duties and I've had to make numerous trips to the Customs Office in Laem Chabang to do the same as well, even though the parcels were no more expensive than the ones that went to the Post Office.

I think it boils down to one or two people somewhere in Bangkok that sort what goes where and that's how some packages end up at the Post Office and some at the Customs Office.

I used to always have to go to the Chaiyapruek Post Office but a couple years ago, for some reason, suddenly it was always the Bang Lamung office - when I haven't had to go all the way to Laem Chabang which is a pain in the nether regions.
 

Actually for duty to be waived, it is 1500 THB, not 500.  I think the Bang Lamung PO is where I had to go the last time, which is a real pain.  Why they don't just let your local post office handle it is beyond me...but this is Thailand where nothing makes sense ????

 

[Kerryd]

8 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

Actually for duty to be waived, it is 1500 THB, not 500.  I think the Bang Lamung PO is where I had to go the last time, which is a real pain.  Why they don't just let your local post office handle it is beyond me...but this is Thailand where nothing makes sense ????

 

Bang Lamung is the local post office for most of Pattaya.  That and the one at Chaiyapruek.
Those other places you see are "outlets" where you can drop off mail and pay for postage. They don't hold/sort/deliver mail.



And I've never said anything about duty being waived. I was talking about the amount that had to be paid.
I've paid varying amounts of duty at both the Chaiyapruek and Bang Lamung Post offices as well as at the Laem Chabang Customs Office.

I used to order a lot from Amazon and AliExpress and - in my experience - when the amount of Customs Duties owed was under 500 baht I'd have to go to the post office to get the parcel.
But if the amount owed was more than that, I usually had to go to Laem Chabang to get the parcel.

I even had to go to the Laem Chabang Food and Drug Administration office to get a parcel that had nothing but powdered drink mixes (Crystal Light). It wasn't even a large order (less than 2,500 baht) but the clerk decided I was probably selling the stuff and should have a business license. Tried to explain to him that because of shipping charges it was cheaper to make 2 orders a year instead of 4-5 and his response was that I should order enough to last one month at a time ! (Never mind that I showed him what the shipping charges would be on that small of an order compared to what I'd been charged to ship enough to last 6 months.)

I think the actual Customs Duties were barely 400 baht but I had to get a friend to take care of things and that cost another 1,000.

That's only happened once in the last 10 years though.

There is a mail sorting station way out on highway 3240, on the left side right after you go over the highway 7 overpass.
Went there once as the delivery guy told me I had a parcel there. Naturally they knew nothing about it and I wasn't actually expecting anything either.


It didn't appear that they did anything other than sort mail to be delivered to the various areas around Mabprachan.