Moving to Thailand using a repatriation service

[Sparkling]

Dear Members,

 

looking forward to finally moving to Thailand (from Germany) kind of mid term (actually asap) there are more or less things my thai wife and me would like to bring along. Of course there is the matter of cost relation and personal preferences about what and how much of our stuff we may take with us.

There always was this idea of thais having an allowance of personal household goods to import that is (as far as i have undertstood) false. Yet it must be possible to import used personal stuff. Most of it old enough to be of no real value, but some with at least some value that could be taxed even it is obviously for only personal use.

And there are shipping cost and all this to handle.

Therefore we also consider the use of a professional service, mostly because there will be enough to do for ourselves anyway AND we believe their professional routine may benefit the process to be smooth.

In total the stuff may come up to a small container (with 2 or 3 pieces of furniture and even dishes my wife would like to take) but could be reduced to about 100 - 200 kg. That includes books, an old (2008) computer, screens and electronical instruments (really not worth much).

 

Will you please give us your experiences and recommendations or even services you used to your satisfaction.

 

Please accept my apology for language flaws for i am not a native english speaker.

If there is a special forum for matters alike, please move the topic, cause i couldn't find it.

 

regards

[DrJack54]

12 minutes ago, Sparkling said:

Please accept my apology for language flaws for i am not a native english speaker.

No problem.

Your explanation very clear.

Just posting to make you aware that this topic comes up often and I'm not sure of the forum that covers it.

Read threads in "general" 

Think a mod will move your OP. 

Also many threads in particular local forums such as this one ...

 

 

Edited September 27, 2022 by DrJack54

[Luuk Chaai]

Good Am..  we used a service from the  US /Thai owned company to do this,  most important is that  " everything " goes under the wife / Thai National's name .. stating repatriation.  All the  boxes must be numbered and labeled "USED PERSONAL EFFECTS " so there is no VAT / Customs Duty for shipping.  We took clothes, books, dishes, silverware, utensils, pots, pans, glass ware, couch, chairs, cast aluminum patio set, wood cabinets, vases, Buddha Statues (yes.. and some pretty big ) 2 bicycles, 3 sets golf clubs and a large rolling tool box with all the  tools, all in all it was 72 moving boxes plus the  big items .   door to door and  ZERO hassle  I suggest you watch this You Tube video for a basic understanding     Good Luck, hope all goes smooth.  

 

[ClaySmc]

Eight years ago, I used a Thai company in LA, which has a large Thai population. All I did was hand them a list of items in my boxes. Each box measured .75 meters square, so large, but not huge. There were 7 boxes with books, kitchenware, computer, etc. I am American, not Thai. Just paid the fee, which was reasonable. And they shipped the boxes by boat. It was supposed to take a month, but took longer. Everything arrived in good shape, with no problems with customs.

 

[sandyf]

11 hours ago, Sparkling said:

There always was this idea of thais having an allowance of personal household goods to import that is (as far as i have undertstood) false.

It is certainly not false as I personally know someone who has done it, and I also believe someone else I know is currently in the process.

You would need to check the current customs regulations for returning Thai  nationals.

When I shipped my goods I used Asian Tigers and found the service very good.

 

PS.  You need to think carefully about the insurance. My goods were mainly well used and not a great deal of value but the insurance was based on replacement value and the premium more than the shipping cost, I declined to take out any insurance and bore the risk.

 

Edited September 28, 2022 by sandyf

[ubonjoe]

If your Thai wife imports the goods it can be duty free.

See: 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

[Tropposurfer]

If you are retiring and on a retirement visa then you are allowed a one-off import of all personal goods (this could be a huge house load of things) or a few crates, all are complete import tax exempt.

 

There is no limit on volume of import (a 40 or 20 foot sea freight container no problem) so long as it is 'personal and personal household items and not amounts of things that could be considered as commercial import e.g (trying to bring in 300 sets of bed linen or some such mass import).

I imported all my tools, lots of furniture, garden tools, mowers the lot, new golf clubs ... hehehe, BBQ, surfboards, paddle-board, surf ski ... everything ! from my 4 bedroom house and we had zero issue with Customs.

 

I 'used the system' a bit knowing how shockingly expensive imported goods are here and bought new furniture and other items to place in my/our new build home and thus I saved the frightening luxury good tax which to me is one of the scourge that hurts LOS reputation and greater revenue collection.

 

Saved myself tens of thousands of dollars by not buying those things here e.g. an imported leather large module lounge cost $30K+ AUD here instead of 10K in Australia! 

 

This Customs law was in place when I emigrated as a retiree when did it a few years back from Australia.

Edited September 28, 2022 by Tropposurfer

[ubonjoe]

28 minutes ago, Tropposurfer said:

If you are retiring and on a retirement visa then you are allowed a one-off import of all personal goods (this could be a huge house load of things) or a few crates, all are complete import tax exempt.

That went away several years ago. The only exemption is for those working with a work permit and Thais now.

Info is on the webpage I posted a link for in my previous post.

[donmuang37]

We shipped a 20 foot container using Transpo, in my wifes name, of course.  No hassle, no tax and Customs didn't even cut the seal on the container. Easy. But it wasn't cheap - 4,000 kg from US east coast. For us it was worth it. Good luck!

[sandyf]

On 9/28/2022 at 9:28 AM, ubonjoe said:

If your Thai wife imports the goods it can be duty free.

The emphasis being on "can be".

The goods have to be seen as used, my friends wife paid quite a bit on stuff that appeared "as good as new".

[Sparkling]

Thanks for all the replies and information. That definitly takes us a step further. And yes of course will all be sent in my dear wifes name. Sincerely