Thai woman with foreign husband furious at having to pay 54,000 baht on designer goods

[Excel]

1 minute ago, bluejets said:

So if I bring my iPhone in, I am over...??

 

I think the customs officers do use their discretion and whilst one article ( your phone ) may be not considered this women was bringing in very many items which was clearly in breach of the regulations.

[aussiexpat]

Looking at the Thai customs site this is such a ridiculous customs law with 20,000 baht in total for all personal items.

 

My suitcase cost me 7,500 baht, my electric razor and toothbrush cost about 5000 baht. So that leaves me 7500 for about 2 pairs of jeans, a couple of shirts and a pair of shoes

 

I guess I can't take my watch....

[Excel]

3 minutes ago, aussiexpat said:

Looking at the Thai customs site this is such a ridiculous customs law with 20,000 baht in total for all personal items.

 

My suitcase cost me 7,500 baht, my electric razor and toothbrush cost about 5000 baht. So that leaves me 7500 for about 2 pairs of jeans, a couple of shirts and a pair of shoes

 

I guess I can't take my watch....

Why do you need a suit case  for 1 electric razor, 2 pairs of jeans , a couple of shirts and a pair of shoes as you state ? A plastic bag would be good enough and then you would have the 7500 extra allocation for your watch ????

[hotchilli]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

The upshot was that they had to pay 54,000 baht tax on designer goods. Most of them had already been used, she claimed.

Well that's one way to stop the millionaires coming, they have to leave all their bling at home and turn up looking like a cheap Charlie?

 

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, pokerface1 said:

Time to start catching up on all the lost revenue. The desperation of some starts as soon as you step off the plane. 

Got it in one, arrivals are up so the old customs games return.

[RJRS1301]

42 minutes ago, Excel said:

So you know the DPM Prawit then ? ????

Of Course, however I remain alive

 

[Gwen1234]

5 hours ago, shackleton said:

If you can afford to pay for original Designer goods then you can afford the tax enough said 

Okay so tou purchase in the uk pay tax, go on holiday to thailand pay tax on them again, fly back to the UK pay tax on them again, the following year come again and pay tax ? What an idiotic system and supporters of such a system

[sqwakvfr]

"Tax the Rich"? Maybe Joe Biden can learn something from this.  He is stating the rich should pay their fair share of taxes.  Next time a rich American enters the USA then Customs can levy taxes on every piece of designer product in their luggage. 

 

What next?  Taxes on my Ipad when come through BKK? 

[bstafford214]

5 hours ago, shackleton said:

If you can afford to pay for original Designer goods then you can afford the tax enough said 

But why should I be paying tax on my personal items that I worked hard to buy and I wear them and bring them with me on my vacation? Why and how can they justify trying to force me to pay duty tax on items that are used? Because they are also top of the line corruption experts here in Thailand that are part of the elite police experts who know how to take your money. Everyday here I hear of more <deleted> on top of <deleted> and now time to leave, don't worry about any comments on this, the point is, they need proof, and the proof is because they said it was true, now pay me or we take it from you because we can.

[JeffersLos]

Why was she furious, was her foreign ATM not with there? 

 

 

She set it up? 50/50 with the custom lads, pretends to be furious to 'tilak'? 

 

The custom guy is really her boyfriend? 

[dallen52]

Yet you can buy blatant counterfeit and knock off stuff in any market in Thailand. 

[thaivisareader]

certainly a good way to target those elusive & never gonna visit well heeled tourists. You idiotots

[GinBoy2]

6 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

If you can afford genuine designer goods then you can afford the customs charges

What does that mean exactly?

 

My wife has genuine Luis Vuitton and Gucci bags, and Yes we could afford to pay customs tax, but why?

 

It's her stuff bought and paid for in the US for personal consumption.

 

Are you suggesting that when she visits in a few months she just should be prepared to cough up, just because she can, for a clearly fraudulent scam????

[RJRS1301]

21 minutes ago, JeffersLos said:

Why was she furious, was her foreign ATM not with there? 

 

 

She set it up? 50/50 with the custom lads, pretends to be furious to 'tilak'? 

 

The custom guy is really her boyfriend? 

so you are assuming that the woman is not independently wealthy.  How 1950s

 

[Lemsta69]

29 minutes ago, GinBoy2 said:

What does that mean exactly?

 

My wife has genuine Luis Vuitton and Gucci bags, and Yes we could afford to pay customs tax, but why?

 

It's her stuff bought and paid for in the US for personal consumption.

 

Are you suggesting that when she visits in a few months she just should be prepared to cough up, just because she can, for a clearly fraudulent scam????

yes, she'll have to cough up because that's how it works here and there's nowt you or she can do about it. pay or they confiscate, simples.

[JeezeLooeze]

Reminds me of my experience arriving at Swampy with 6 bottles of wine in my suitcase required for a New Years Party to be held later that month. I chose the customs green lane. As chance had it my suitcase was selected to go through the customs x-ray and upon said suitcase exiting the machine there was a customs officer pointing to a sign that said only 1 liter of alcohol allowed duty free. The suitcase was opened there and then and the offending contents verified and removed. In broken English the officer attempted to advise me that as I didn't declare the goods I would have to pay 4x the duty and the goods would be confiscated and that I would need to go to the office to fill in some forms. I then proceeded to withdraw some THB from my wallet and started to speak fluent Thai to him - "bro can I pay the "instant" fine instead? His eyes lit up upon hearing this farang speak his language! This farang understands the system! Before I could say 'Beaujolais' the THB was snatched from my hand, bottles returned to my suitcase, and the officer was directing me to exit in the opposite direction to where his superiors were located. Welcome to Thailand!   

[Tom H]

Pay your import tax. Same like in all other countries, rich designer lady.

[aussiexpat]

12 minutes ago, Tom H said:

Pay your import tax. Same like in all other countries, rich designer lady.

It's not like all other countries. Australia has no import duty on personal items like jackets, shoes and bags. Dutiable items like jewellery are only if they are new and individual item is more than $950 (24,000 baht)

 

[not the ridiculous 20,000 baht total for all items like Thailand]

 

[BE88]

2 hours ago, KanchanaburiGuy said:

I see Thai TVs and appliances with original factory plastic and stickers on them, all the time. Right now, I'm looking at a ten-year-old+ Panasonic refrigerator with the original, yellow, "energy saver" sticker still on the door. The TV that sits atop it still has clear plastic all the way around the perimeter of the 55 inch screen!

 

Being in the original Chanel Box.......... means nothing! 

 

Not in Thailand......... not to Thais. 

 

????????????

 

Cheers! 

Then your gf or wife always travels with the box of her Chanel handbag in the suitcase.

Strange times we live in ????

 

[moogradod]

7 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

If you can afford genuine designer goods then you can afford the customs charges

Do you mean by that that to levy a tax is justified if you are just taking your normal bags, jewellery, gold ornaments etc. along for travel ? If yes than this is total BS. My Wife has several Maison Mollerus items (they seem never to wear out and look like new all the time) and other expensive stuff, diamond jewellery etc. This would mean she could never take this out of the country any more. Keep the receipt ? You must be joking. I am just talking normal use, not 10 Rolexes per arm.

[RJRS1301]

12 minutes ago, BE88 said:

Then your gf or wife always travels with the box of her Chanel handbag in the suitcase.

Strange times we live in ????

 

I have all the original boxes for my watches, and they placed in them when I travel with them  and when not wearing them at home

 

[Mark17AA]

So they want the big spenders, whom are likely to wear/carry high end goods.. so they can fleece them as soon as they have a foot on Thai soil.  Hope this story hits the world press and on turn bites TAT on the rear.

 

Hopefully the couple publish there experience wherever possible.

 

 

[RJRS1301]

3 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

I have all the original boxes for my watches, and they placed in them when I travel with them  and when not wearing them at home

 

not sure why you find that funny BE88, it protects the glass, keeps them in a safe place and they are a potential investment, so keeping them in best condition is like cleaning your car.

[Tropposurfer]

8 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

I travel in my old board shorts and thongs (flip flops).

 

Oh yeah, and my XXXX bitter singlet. 

 

 

 

 

Ahh a bogun to the bone and proud ! ????????????????

[BE88]

3 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

I have all the original boxes for my watches, and they placed in them when I travel with them  and when not wearing them at home

 

Hello time collector.

[Tropposurfer]

I keep all my receipts, but in a file at home ... Now I'm gunna have to dig out and carry these specific receipts for each item we carry every time we holiday abroad.

What a farce!

I know a dude from Oz who came to study language a few years back (I met him at language school) for a few years (2 x 1 year Ed visa's was his plan). He bought a few suitcases with all his clothes and a box of all his shoes and they charged him about $400 AUD duty  despite him being able to tell them in which store, and what year he had bought the shoes all but 1 or 2 pairs bought in BKK going back ten years!!

 

[The Hammer2021]

But But this can't be true- only farang get victimised by Thai officials..LOL

[Jonathan Swift]

9 hours ago, steven100 said:

welcome to Lieland  ... er sorry '   Thailand 

Lieland. Seriously? Did you make that up without any help? Razor sharp wit. 

[Bernietravelling]

6 hours ago, Excel said:

But guess designer fakes are ok because they have less value but of course 10 Rolex watches on one arm may raise suspicions  ????

Not if you looking like a turtle and your name is Pr..it 

[richard_smith237]

27 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

not sure why you find that funny BE88, it protects the glass, keeps them in a safe place and they are a potential investment, so keeping them in best condition is like cleaning your car.

Exactly… 

I used to do the Same & have travelled in & out if Thailand with Rolxes, Panerai, Frank Muller watches. Wife with a Patek & diamond jewelry …

(not always in original boxes though, but sometimes, otherwise in a small travel pouch).

 

I’d be furious if customs tried to charge me tax for ‘importing’ them… 

 

Luckily customs are lazy and never stop me…. But if they did & they wanted to be awkward I’d be screwed.