Custom Duty at the airport / Bringing many luggages

[BeerT]

Does anybody have any experience with bringing many checked luggages when you move to Thailand for the first time? 

Will you be stopped by custom and be asked to pay for duty? 

 

While I understand some people might suggest that we only bring "necessary" stuffs and buy other things in Thailand, it is just really hard for me to just sell or donate most of my stuffs. In my case, I do have a lot of clothes, electronics, documents, etc. that I need and must bring with me. With that, I am looking at bringing 5+ pieces of big luggages + personal items with me via air. Nothing is for gift, nothing is for commercial use, and everything I am bringing has been used for at least a year. However, I am still a bit concerned if I would be suspected by custom. 

 

Does anybody have similar experiences dealing with custom or suggestions on how to avoid possible custom duty? 

 

Thanks for any advices in advance!!!!!! 

 

[DrJack54]

This isn't much help, however I have seen this discussed previously. 

 

I searched threads but could not find ones I have read in the past.

 

In any event I recall that folk do exactly what you plan.

They choose airlines that have the most cost effective check in baggage allowances. Vaguely recall one with 5 large suitcases. 

 

The plan works without taxes.

Hopefully someone with first hand experience can advise. 

Edited January 15, 2023 by DrJack54

[BeerT]

6 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

This isn't much help, however I have seen this discussed previously. 

 

I searched threads but could not find ones I have read in the past.

 

In any event I recall that folk do exactly what you plan.

They choose airlines that have the most cost effective check in baggage allowances. Vaguely recall one with 5 large suitcases. 

 

The plan works without taxes.

Hopefully someone with first hand experience can advise. 

Thanks Jack!

[NoDisplayName]

I flew in with two large duffel bags and two huge cardboard bicycle boxes.  Loaded onto one trolley, strolled thru "nothing to declare" lane at Suvarnabhumi.  None of the staff looked up from playing fruit ninja.

 

Also sent a dozen 12-kg parcels by surface mail to an address with a Thai recipient.  Nothing opened by customs, no fees.

[richard_smith237]

56 minutes ago, BeerT said:

Does anybody have any experience with bringing many checked luggages when you move to Thailand for the first time? 

Will you be stopped by custom and be asked to pay for duty? 

Ultimately its luck of the draw...  Realistically, getting stopped is unlikely unless you have loads of huge boxes and draw loads of attention etc....

 

I’ve brought in loads of stuff from Bicycles, Ski’s, large push-chairs, Child car-seats etc... (they were in large cardboard boxes) never so much as a look from the customs guys. 

 

 

[Caldera]

38 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

I’ve brought in loads of stuff from Bicycles, Ski’s, large push-chairs, Child car-seats etc...

Out of curiosity, where do you go skiing here in Thailand?

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, Caldera said:

Out of curiosity, where do you go skiing here in Thailand?

Incredible things those cylindrical things with wings that take you places..... 

[Homburg]

7 hours ago, Caldera said:

Out of curiosity, where do you go skiing here in Thailand?

Water skiing.  Still looking for a lake wih a slope though.????

[Tropposurfer]

I flew with 5 suitcases in 2019 to retire (business class but still some airline excess to pay). The rest, the bulk of our home stuff was container shipped.

I had zero problem at Phuket airport (direct via Singapore Airlines).

I did enter on an a brand spanking new Elite visa so this might (?) have had some bearing on not having bags checked by Customs i.e. escorted by Elite concierge through the entire post-flight processes.

I didn't see in your post what visa you are entering on. If your on a retirement visa then I doubt you'll have any issues with what you bring in as they'll see you are a valid long termer.

[Homburg]

They do x-ray your luggage at Swampy.  I was stopped once by customs and the knew what was in my bag before I opened it. In my case I was lucky & there was nothing to pay.  They had thought that I was carrying car parts which are taxable, but I was carrying motorcycle parts which apparently are not taxable.  I guess these looked similar on the x-ray.

[Jaxxper]

We’ve flown in ( I think Canada was the originating destination) and we had 7 large to medium suitcases, plus hand baggage and there was no interest from customs at Bangkok as we passed through.

[paulbrow]

I've brought as many as 11 cases when relocating from China to Thailand with no customs issues. Walked right through the green line with nothing to declare.

[BeerT]

9 hours ago, NoDisplayName said:

I flew in with two large duffel bags and two huge cardboard bicycle boxes.  Loaded onto one trolley, strolled thru "nothing to declare" lane at Suvarnabhumi.  None of the staff looked up from playing fruit ninja.

 

Also sent a dozen 12-kg parcels by surface mail to an address with a Thai recipient.  Nothing opened by customs, no fees.

Thanks for the info!

[BeerT]

9 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Ultimately its luck of the draw...  Realistically, getting stopped is unlikely unless you have loads of huge boxes and draw loads of attention etc....

 

I’ve brought in loads of stuff from Bicycles, Ski’s, large push-chairs, Child car-seats etc... (they were in large cardboard boxes) never so much as a look from the customs guys. 

 

 

Thanks for the info!

[BeerT]

52 minutes ago, Tropposurfer said:

I flew with 5 suitcases in 2019 to retire (business class but still some airline excess to pay). The rest, the bulk of our home stuff was container shipped.

I had zero problem at Phuket airport (direct via Singapore Airlines).

I did enter on an a brand spanking new Elite visa so this might (?) have had some bearing on not having bags checked by Customs i.e. escorted by Elite concierge through the entire post-flight processes.

I didn't see in your post what visa you are entering on. If your on a retirement visa then I doubt you'll have any issues with what you bring in as they'll see you are a valid long termer.

Thanks for your info! 

[BeerT]

35 minutes ago, Homburg said:

They do x-ray your luggage at Swampy.  I was stopped once by customs and the knew what was in my bag before I opened it. In my case I was lucky & there was nothing to pay.  They had thought that I was carrying car parts which are taxable, but I was carrying motorcycle parts which apparently are not taxable.  I guess these looked similar on the x-ray.

Thanks for the info. Glad it worked out for you!

[BeerT]

31 minutes ago, Jaxxper said:

We’ve flown in ( I think Canada was the originating destination) and we had 7 large to medium suitcases, plus hand baggage and there was no interest from customs at Bangkok as we passed through.

That's probably really similar to how many boxes I will bring. Glad it works. Thank you!

[BeerT]

23 minutes ago, paulbrow said:

I've brought as many as 11 cases when relocating from China to Thailand with no customs issues. Walked right through the green line with nothing to declare.

Feeling so much more relieved seeing your post. Thanks for the info~! Was wondering if you sought airport assistance to carry those cases? I would assume it's unrealistic to put 11 cases in one cart. Would probably need 3 or even 4 people to carry all those luggages. 

 

(I think the luggage claim area is not open to those who come for airport pickup. So basically from the luggage claim to airport exit, how did you manage to carry everything?)

 

Thanks in advance!

[thaibeachlovers]

There is no definitive answer to the OP. As always it's down to luck. I've had more than one unpleasant experience with customs on arrival, but happily not in LOS.

IMO might be better to ship non essential items that are not subject to tax.

 

BTW, I hope you have a lot of cash to pay the excess checked baggage charge. It's not cheap. I have used the standby luggage before, where they send extra bags on a later flight. Check it out as may be cheaper.

[thaibeachlovers]

4 minutes ago, BeerT said:

(I think the luggage claim area is not open to those who come for airport pickup. So basically from the luggage claim to airport exit, how did you manage to carry everything?)

I very much doubt anyone on here ever brought more than one can carry on one trolley, but you could probably pay an airport worker to bring another trolley.

[mjakob007]

When we relocated late 2020, had 12 cases between 4 passengers. did not get stopped or asked any question. dont know if the covid quarantine situation helped..

 

2 weeks later (once we were out of quarantine,) another 10 boxes arrived by DHL and got assessed for some 30k baht in duties & taxes. duties were assessed based on value declared for insurance. so thats a catch 22

[BKKTRAVELER]

3 hours ago, Tropposurfer said:

I flew with 5 suitcases in 2019 to retire (business class but still some airline excess to pay). The rest, the bulk of our home stuff was container shipped.

I had zero problem at Phuket airport (direct via Singapore Airlines).

I did enter on an a brand spanking new Elite visa so this might (?) have had some bearing on not having bags checked by Customs i.e. escorted by Elite concierge through the entire post-flight processes.

I didn't see in your post what visa you are entering on. If your on a retirement visa then I doubt you'll have any issues with what you bring in as they'll see you are a valid long termer.

The only few times I got stopped by BKK customs were when I was on my Elite visa.

 

They probably thought I was rich and bought my GF brand new luxury bags or watches from abroad. I did not ????

[Rumpelstilskin]

Have a plain white envelope with 3 100 US Ben franklins inside.  If you are stopped by customs just hand them the envelope -- no problem -- just be prepared in advance.

[RedArmy]

12 minutes ago, Rumpelstilskin said:

Have a plain white envelope with 3 100 US Ben franklins inside.

I thought that this was the land of the "Brown" envelope ??

[NanLaew]

11 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

12 hours ago, Caldera said:

Out of curiosity, where do you go skiing here in Thailand?

Incredible things those cylindrical things with wings that take you places.....

Exactly. I use to leave my skis at the bungalow in Dharan, Saudi Arabia. Absolutely no point in lugging them all the way over here unless I was heading for Japan in winter.

Edited January 16, 2023 by NanLaew

[yogavnture]

DEPends on the day and agent who is on duty.  they might look at the electronics. 

[NanLaew]

For the OP, if everything is in suitcases, it shouldn't draw too much attention. However, the Green channel does get all investigative at random intervals for indeterminate times where they actively pull certain (random?) pax aside to place their kit on the x-ray scanner. I have noticed in the past they tend to cherry-pick locals and other Asiatics who can arguably be shaken down more easily for the fake Gucci "gifts" and the like.

 

Since the OP will probably have at least 15 minutes between clearing immigration and his bags popping out on the carousel, he should check on how busy his chosen Green channel will be (there are two). Once the bags are on the trolley, don't rush but watch if they have some active scanning going on. If it looks busy that way, go off an check on some duty free stuff or the other Green channel or until the heat dies down.

 

Good luck.

[NoDisplayName]

4 hours ago, mjakob007 said:

When we relocated late 2020, had 12 cases between 4 passengers. did not get stopped or asked any question. dont know if the covid quarantine situation helped..

 

2 weeks later (once we were out of quarantine,) another 10 boxes arrived by DHL and got assessed for some 30k baht in duties & taxes. duties were assessed based on value declared for insurance. so thats a catch 22

It seems from posts in this here forum that the express delivery services like DHL and Fedex get all the attention, and all the customs fees.

 

I've moved to Thailand three times (long story), each time sending large boxes (10-15 kg each) by standard surface mail.  The last time relocating with the girlfriend, mailing in year's supply of cosmetics and not available in Thailand stuff, plus some electrical items.  Never had a box opened or any customs assessed.

[BeerT]

1 hour ago, NoDisplayName said:

It seems from posts in this here forum that the express delivery services like DHL and Fedex get all the attention, and all the customs fees.

 

I've moved to Thailand three times (long story), each time sending large boxes (10-15 kg each) by standard surface mail.  The last time relocating with the girlfriend, mailing in year's supply of cosmetics and not available in Thailand stuff, plus some electrical items.  Never had a box opened or any customs assessed.

Thanks for the info! 

[BeerT]

2 hours ago, NanLaew said:

For the OP, if everything is in suitcases, it shouldn't draw too much attention. However, the Green channel does get all investigative at random intervals for indeterminate times where they actively pull certain (random?) pax aside to place their kit on the x-ray scanner. I have noticed in the past they tend to cherry-pick locals and other Asiatics who can arguably be shaken down more easily for the fake Gucci "gifts" and the like.

 

Since the OP will probably have at least 15 minutes between clearing immigration and his bags popping out on the carousel, he should check on how busy his chosen Green channel will be (there are two). Once the bags are on the trolley, don't rush but watch if they have some active scanning going on. If it looks busy that way, go off an check on some duty free stuff or the other Green channel or until the heat dies down.

 

Good luck.

That's a very helpful strategy. Thanks a lot!