Woman charged nearly 70,000 baht tax for her own handbag at Bangkok airport

[Liverpool Lou]

22 hours ago, MrJ2U said:

What a scam.

Yes, and she didn't get away with her attempted scam on Customs.

[Liverpool Lou]

21 hours ago, Freddy42OZ said:

Then she could just say she bought it in Thailand.  Do you carry around receipts for everything you are wearing or carrying into and out of the country.   

If you're bringing in a hugely expensive, obviously new item when returning from a country where those items are known to be bought because of their lower prices you should carry a receipt if it was really bought in Thailand.  

[ThailandRyan]

Hells bells, had external insurance on a Thai bought Samsung Galaxy S-10+ phone, it was stolen, and the insurance replaced it. Got hung up in customs at Suvarnabhumi as they wanted their fair share of the fee's and wanted to see the NBTC certificate that said it was ok to import the phone.  UPS who was delivering it called me up, and told me the issues.  I called the Insurance company and the next day the phone was delivered no issues asked. Oh and by the way it was a refurbished and not new phone, but they sure wanted their cut of what they perceived was a 60k baht telephone......

 

Had a friends wife fly in from the US, she is Thai, had a Prada handbag, was asked to report to customs to pay the VAT and fees on it, she pulled out her receipt from the Prada Store here and shoved it in the mans face and walked away.......

Edited November 24, 2021 by ThailandRyan

[david555]

On 11/23/2021 at 2:33 PM, tonray said:

I'd better be careful or I might have to  cough up 150 baht next time! 

My wrong posted....removed

Edited November 24, 2021 by david555

[david555]

On 11/23/2021 at 2:24 PM, johng said:

30% on shoes too

I think this not air luggage ,more ordering online, example order online from E.U. to U.K. as that can not be shown as luggage ????

[MrJ2U]

2 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Yes, and she didn't get away with her attempted scam on Customs.

Guess so.

 

Kind of crazy customs tactic though.  

[Elkski]

Guess I was lucky on my  trips with a big suitcase full of new Coach purses. It was before the x-ray line was installed for all bags. 

[Liverpool Lou]

2 hours ago, MrJ2U said:

Kind of crazy customs tactic though.  

What is "crazy", charging import duty on imported goods?  That would be normal.

[Elkski]

So they want wealthy tourists? Hmmm.  Was this a Thai person or foreigner?

[Henk Langeweg]

14 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Thailand's import duty has nothing to do with VAT paid in the country of purchase!

Ok but money wise it depends how much the VAT is, so I would better have written twice taxed instead of double.

[SidJames]

Is there a published list in English on the duty rates of different items & clothing?

Children's clothing, toys or learning aids for example?

[DrPhibes]

12 hours ago, Elkski said:

So they want wealthy tourists? Hmmm.  Was this a Thai person or foreigner?

Ya beat me to it.  No matter if Thai or Falang, story just adds to the pile of reasons the wealthy really aren't beating down the doors to get here.

[Edwin Cameron]

Another reason not to live in Thailand, the bureaucrats are greedy little nogs

[MrJ2U]

On 11/24/2021 at 8:38 PM, Liverpool Lou said:

What is "crazy", charging import duty on imported goods?  That would be normal.

No country pulls you aside and taxes the watch,purse,or phone your wearing or have on your body.

 

If you think thats normal procedure then your as crazy as Thai customs police.

 

Unless you're unawares, Thai police, immigration, and customs aren't the most upstanding of people.

Edited November 25, 2021 by MrJ2U

[Liverpool Lou]

16 hours ago, MrJ2U said:

On 11/24/2021 at 8:38 PM, Liverpool Lou said:

What is "crazy", charging import duty on imported goods?  That would be normal.

No country pulls you aside and taxes the watch,purse,or phone your wearing or have on your body.

Yes, they do, they all do if they suspect that the new, very expensive item they can clearly see, may have been purchased abroad and that the owner, returning from a country where those items are know to be less expensive, may be trying to avoid import duty!

Edited November 26, 2021 by Liverpool Lou

[The Cipher]

14 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Yes, they do, they all do if they suspect that the new, very expensive item they can clearly see, may have been purchased abroad and that the owner, returning from a country where those items are know to be less expensive, may be trying to avoid import duty!

So I actually had this (almost) happen to me in Thailand last year but have never had it happen in any other country.

 

When I flew into Bangkok in December of last year I had an Omega in my backpack that was purchased in 2015. Wasn't even on my wrist. On the final security scan before leaving the airport, customs officer pulled me aside and went through backpack to find watch. Then asked a ton of questions.

 

Finally let me go because I showed him some wear on the back of the watch, but I'm pretty sure also because convo was heading into more complex English and dude just didn't want to deal with it. When I fly back into Bangkok in a couple of weeks, I'm leaving that sort of stuff at home.

 

This sort of import tax in general is dumb, but if someone has a suitcase full of new lux goods like ok fine. But like, trying to impose tax on a small numbers of items for personal use is stupid.

[MrJ2U]

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Yes, they do, they all do if they suspect that the new, very expensive item they can clearly see, may have been purchased abroad and that the owner, returning from a country where those items are know to be less expensive, may be trying to avoid import duty!

Not true.

 

And Thailand is the only country to give there customs employees 40% of whatever they sieze or tax.

 

Quite the incentive to keep Thailand and its customs employees to keep up this ridiculous farce.

 

You'd change your mind if it happens to you I'm sure.

 

 

[Liverpool Lou]

5 minutes ago, MrJ2U said:

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Yes, they do, they all do if they suspect that the new, very expensive item they can clearly see, may have been purchased abroad and that the owner, returning from a country where those items are know to be less expensive, may be trying to avoid import duty!

Not true.

What I posted is accurate.  Import duty and VAT is due on any item that is assessable as in the case of this particular woman who was given a receipt for the duty.   

 

Why do you think that import duty is applied to items bought online for personal use?

[MrJ2U]

9 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

What I posted is accurate.  Import duty and VAT is due on any item that is assessable as in the case of this particular woman who was given a receipt for the duty.   

 

Why do you think that import duty is applied to items bought online for personal use?

Oh please.

 

They can pull over for wearing an expensive watch you may have bought 10 years ago.

Unless you're carrying a reciept you could be liable for duty tax.

 

"There is a high risk of corruption in Thailand’s customs administration. Burdensome import procedures and corruption at the border are obstacles to doing business in Thailand (GETR 2016). Irregular payments are commonly exchanged, both in import and export (GETR 2016)."

https://www.ganintegrity.com/portal/country-profiles/thailand/

 

we disagree.

You may think Thai customs is the cats "meow".

 

I think they need an overhaul from the ground up.

 

Enjoy your weekend Lou.

 

 

Edited November 26, 2021 by MrJ2U

[Liverpool Lou]

12 minutes ago, MrJ2U said:

19 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

What I posted is accurate.  Import duty and VAT is due on any item that is assessable as in the case of this particular woman who was given a receipt for the duty.   

 

Why do you think that import duty is applied to items bought online for personal use?

Expand  

Oh please.

 

They can pull over for wearing an expensive watch you may have bought 10 years ago.

Unless you're carrying a reciept you could be liable for duty tax.

"Oh, please", my a_rse.  What I posted was correct.   

 

Of course they could check a watch that you're wearing if they thought that it may have just been bought and you were importing it without paying duty but, unless you have a specific confirmed case to quote, there's little chance that a 10-year old watch would be declared as new and duty demanded.

[Liverpool Lou]

36 minutes ago, MrJ2U said:

You'd change your mind if it happens to you I'm sure.

No, if I was caught deliberately attempting to import something that I knew was legitimately assessable for B70,000 duty/VAT I'd accept it and be more careful next time.   

 

You seem to be under the impression that Thailand is the only country to impose import duty on imports!

[MrJ2U]

2 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

No, if I was caught deliberately attempting to import something that I knew was legitimately assessable for B70,000 duty/VAT I'd accept it and be more careful next time.   

 

You seem to be under the impression that Thailand is the only country to impose import duty on imports!

No, the only country that gives the custom officer 40% of the taxes collected.

 

Quite a moneymaker for these bandits.

[Liverpool Lou]

3 hours ago, MrJ2U said:

5 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

No, if I was caught deliberately attempting to import something that I knew was legitimately assessable for B70,000 duty/VAT I'd accept it and be more careful next time.   

 

You seem to be under the impression that Thailand is the only country to impose import duty on imports!

Expand  

No, the only country that gives the custom officer 40% of the taxes collected.

 

Quite a moneymaker for these bandits.

So what if the government rewards Customs officers for recovering duty as you claim?   How does that affect anyone?  It doesn't make them "bandits" unless they're doing something illegal and assessing import duty is not only legal, it's their job!

Edited November 26, 2021 by Liverpool Lou

[khunpa]

That bag must have looked VERY new for her to get stopped. And she must have told them “the truth” about just buying it in another country. Otherwise I doubt they would have done anything.

 

I have gone through airports all over the world for the past 25 years wearing expensive brand watches. Never been stopped.
 

And should I get stopped here in Thailand, I think they will have a hard time going after something with scratches on it.

 

If so they could confiscated all

luxury items entering without receipt, which I am sure most travelers can not show on the spot.
 

And that would not be so good for TATs plan to have the super-rich Indians come over. ???? 

 

 

 

 

[grain]

Not a problem I will ever experience in my lifetime with my $25 suitcase from K-Mart.