Mail Gifts To Thailand And Thai Pays 1500 Baht Tax?

[ronz28]

My Thai wife mailed her sister a purse and some cosmetics in a gift package. Filled out the usual declarations clearly showing the contents were a gift but the U.S. Post Office quoted her a price for air mail with insurance. U.S. Post office is doing that now to up-sell the customer and wife went for it although she could have rejected the insurance and sent it surface mail as she has in the past. She paid a total of $35 for postage and the insurance of the contents of the package was put at $75. U.S. Post Office told her the person would need to sign for the package too which my wife thought was a good idea since mail with pictures and a card both with a $20 she has sent have never reached her sister. Do they have money detectors at the post office?

So wife gets a call from sister in Thailand saying post office charged her 1500 baht as tax to receive the package. We have never had this happen before and would like to know if there has been a change in rules or what? Wife was so upset she could not sleep and vows to never send anything to Thailand again.

[nick2k]

My Thai wife mailed her sister a purse and some cosmetics in a gift package. Filled out the usual declarations clearly showing the contents were a gift but the U.S. Post Office quoted her a price for air mail with insurance. U.S. Post office is doing that now to up-sell the customer and wife went for it although she could have rejected the insurance and sent it surface mail as she has in the past. She paid a total of $35 for postage and the insurance of the contents of the package was put at $75. U.S. Post Office told her the person would need to sign for the package too which my wife thought was a good idea since mail with pictures and a card both with a $20 she has sent have never reached her sister. Do they have money detectors at the post office?

So wife gets a call from sister in Thailand saying post office charged her 1500 baht as tax to receive the package. We have never had this happen before and would like to know if there has been a change in rules or what? Wife was so upset she could not sleep and vows to never send anything to Thailand again.

its called "protectionism". ok for thailand to sock it to america. but when the usa wants to control prawns coming into america, to protect their own shrimp industry, it is another story.

[cdnvic]

Its called duties which are often applied arbitrarily by customs in many countries (including the US) when packages arrive in the mail. The "gift" aspect is up to the person who deals with the individual package as many small traders like to abuse the term to avoid duties.

Usually it would just get stolen. You got lucky this time.

[ronz28]

We aren't conducting business just sending an occasional gift to relatives. 1500 baht tax for a gift to someone that probably makes 12,000 baht a month hurts.

I thought small gifts were exempt from Customs but I guess not so we will just wire money in the future for a gift and let them do their own shopping. We usually get ripped off by Western Union or one of the big Banks when doing that but we are trying Washington Mutual Bank this time as their Swift wires are supposed to be free. We tried it today and the out going fee was waived. We should be hearing soon if it gets to a Bangkok Bank account with about a 200 baht incoming fee and normal in Thailand foreign exchange conversion rates.

We buy large shrimp from our local grocers HEB and the package says its from Thailand and it tastes very good. I just bought a Cannon printer PIXMA 4300 that was made in Thailand and have bought other things in the U.S. such as a 32 inch Toshiba TV, ceramic tile and lots of Mae Ploy Curry, etc. all with labels saying the products are made in Thailand. They have all been good products at great prices.

[Johpa]

My Thai wife mailed her sister a purse and some cosmetics in a gift package. Filled out the usual declarations clearly showing the contents were a gift but the U.S. Post Office quoted her a price for air mail with insurance. U.S. Post office is doing that now to up-sell the customer and wife went for it although she could have rejected the insurance and sent it surface mail as she has in the past.....

As of a few weeks ago, sending packages via surface mail from the US is no longer an option. All packages sent international, including to Canada, must go by air.

Edited July 3, 2007 by Johpa

[November Rain]

A few years ago, I used to buy clothes from UK catalogues and books from Amazon. If I got 10 parcels through, I'd have to pay duty on 7. No difference in contents or size, I really think it was up to whether the sorter had had a bad or good day.

This Christmas my Mum sent presents for myself & my son. Mobile phone for me & quite expensive toy motorbike for littl'un. I got the piece of paper saying I had to pay duty, so went to the counter - no, not here, at customs in Prachuabkhirikhan, an hours drive away!

So, I took the morning off, had to pay for transport there & back (I don't drive) & went down there. I can't actually remember the duty I paid, but I think it was well over 1,000 bt - and most of it was due to the toy! Had my son not been expecting his gift, I'd have told them to send the parcel back! Then, they proceeded to unpack my mobile phone and pass it round the office, commenting on how small it was & the design - this is my Christmas present from my Mum!

So, a gift cost me a day's work, transport to & from Prachuab & the duty.

Amazing Thailand.

[Ijustwannateach]

Best to make sure there is no packaging, receipts, anything to indicate the contents are new and/or valuable.

If it's electronics, best to make them look VERY well used.

"Steven"

[LostInBKK]

When I moved from my base in Iraq to Thailand, I shipped 2 large foot lockers.... the 1st one contained my xbox 360 and games and some various small items, it cost me $200 to send via DHL and THB 7,000 to receive it in Thailand....i was told that if I were able to go and present my passport in Bangkok then I would only pay handling fees which were about THB 1,000. That trunk left Iraq about 3 weeks before I did and my wife wanted it so she paid the fees.

The 2nd trunk I shipped the day I departed my base in Iraq, cost $150 to send to Thailand, and when I arrived here my wife said that DHL wanted my passport. They sent a courier to the hotel I was staying at to retrieve my passport, but I did give it to them (I know, stupid of me but I had time to get a new one if needed) and the next day they returned it to me. I had to pay THB 500 to receive the package in Chaiyaphum, and they delivered it 2 days later.

I have no idea what showing my passport has to do with getting a lower price, maybe this will help someone else?

I have been wanting to order some books and various things that I can't purchase here, the cheapest option for me right now is using the APO in bangkok as my shipping address, and plead with APO staff to let me pick up my stuff as I do have a military ID (not retired, but not expired either). I guess I could also ship these books to the APO in Iraq to a friend of mine and they can bring it for me when they come, but I don't want to trouble anyone...

Anyone have a better idea?

[ronz28]

Well the $300 we wired from our Washington Mutual checking in Texas resulted in $300 being deducted from my checking account a $20 fee charged and then $20 credited back the same day, therefore no wire fee to me to send the wire.

However Bangkok Bank only credited our relative's account with only 9,518 baht on a day when their web site showed the exchange rate was 34.55. They told her she got an exchange rate of only 34 baht even and they charged a fee of 682 baht for whatever. From their web site I thought the fee would be the 200 baht minimum charge so I was expecting the account should have been credited with 10,365-200=10,165. There appears to be no way to send a gift to a Thai without getting ripped off by the system.

I think next time we will try a wire to a Krung Thai bank account to see if the fees are less.

[LostInBKK]

I wired USD 15,000 to my Bank Of Ayudhya account from Wells Fargo about a month ago and never got hit up for a charge on this end, it was about USD 30 from Wells Fargo and took less than 24 hours.

[swain]

What I dont understand is that Toshiba TV you bought in the USA most likely cost less then what we will pay for it here in Thailand. I don't understand the logic.

We aren't conducting business just sending an occasional gift to relatives. 1500 baht tax for a gift to someone that probably makes 12,000 baht a month hurts.

I thought small gifts were exempt from Customs but I guess not so we will just wire money in the future for a gift and let them do their own shopping. We usually get ripped off by Western Union or one of the big Banks when doing that but we are trying Washington Mutual Bank this time as their Swift wires are supposed to be free. We tried it today and the out going fee was waived. We should be hearing soon if it gets to a Bangkok Bank account with about a 200 baht incoming fee and normal in Thailand foreign exchange conversion rates.

We buy large shrimp from our local grocers HEB and the package says its from Thailand and it tastes very good. I just bought a Cannon printer PIXMA 4300 that was made in Thailand and have bought other things in the U.S. such as a 32 inch Toshiba TV, ceramic tile and lots of Mae Ploy Curry, etc. all with labels saying the products are made in Thailand. They have all been good products at great prices.

[ProThaiExpat]

What a mixed bag of "stories". OP is speaking of customs duties levied on mailed packages. I understand it is 30% of the declared value. There are customs agents at postal entry points that access the duty, it has nothing to do with the post office, although the post office collects the duty when you pick up the package.

I have received many packages over the past five years and have never lost a package. Sure they are insured, usually 2.50 USD.

Last package arrived from the U.S.last week, an online purchase, value declared by shipper at 180USD. Duty 860 Baht. Don't bother to figure if it is correct based on the 30% rule. Have been called to the Airport customs office on a package that had no value declared and they accepted by valuation. At that time they told me no duty on items of value less that 25USD, that was when USD was 1 USD to 40 Baht.

Last week a 60AUD declared value package came through without any duty. Perhaps they don't bother when the duty is less than a certain amount?

[steveromagnino]

its called "protectionism". ok for thailand to sock it to america. but when the usa wants to control prawns coming into america, to protect their own shrimp industry, it is another story.

Both are just as bad; it isn't Thailand's fault that Americans shrimp farmers are complete morons and cannot successfully compete against Thailand, Vietnam or a bunch of other places, so use legislation deemed illegal by the WTO to protect them. Ask NZ lamb farmers about the state of US protectionism ;-)

Let's stick to talking about gift duty aye? And if you want to have a rant, start your own thread :-)

Yes in theory you can be hit for duty on gifts and items can be refused entry; in practise low value items are exempt but not always.

Generally sending from a Thai to a Thai reduces possibilities of duty; in fact some westerners would do well to mark sender as a Thai and recipient as a Thai; much like the selective 'random selection' of certain people at US airports, for whatever reason it is usually felt that a Thai sending to a Thai is less likely to attract duty than the alarm bell type western name.

In NZ the cut off is supposed to be less than $100 duty, i.e. an item worth less than about $800, but customs sometimes will be bl00dy minded when they feel like it. For my own experience, the US were equally annoying in hitting me up for duty (paid by sender) for some books and also delaying the shipment by 7 weeks while they 'inspected it'. Twice.

Out of interest was there a specific type of item that she hadn't sent before? Drugs, liquor, that sort of thing (possibly perfume) are going to attract duty every time.

Have had a much better experience with UPS and Fedex since; however not sure that inbound would be the same pleasant experience; reading here seems just as many get hit with fees as not.

Regarding sending cash; every postoffice i know advises against it; and so don't be surprised to see it missing. This is what I have been told since i was a kid.

NOt sure if the US banking system is still as retarded as it was when I lived there, but even back then I vaguely recall being able to do a swift transfer abroad. To do it from here to NZ or vice versa currently costs me about $2 USD. I would check out your options here. Better than sending things and getting hit up for duty innit.

Edited July 9, 2007 by steveromagnino

[think_too_mut]

So wife gets a call from sister in Thailand saying post office charged her 1500 baht as tax to receive the package. We have never had this happen before and would like to know if there has been a change in rules or what? Wife was so upset she could not sleep and vows to never send anything to Thailand again.

I have sent probably 100 of parcels to Thailand, my wife has never had to pay anything - other than 7 (seven) baht to the building office for handling it.

Just last Friday, we received a sizeable package from my US friends: cowboy boots (red, for a 3 yr old girl) and some clothes, including a cowboy hat for a small head. The goods were hand picked and expensive, possibly 10K baht.

It came as expected - and 7 baht handling fee to the building.

Nothing has ever been stolen.

Possibly, the key thing is to state in the "Value" line: "No Commercial Value". IME, works for gifts too.

[LostInBKK]

It came as expected - and 7 baht handling fee to the building.

Nothing has ever been stolen.

Possibly, the key thing is to state in the "Value" line: "No Commercial Value". IME, works for gifts too.

How was it sent? USPS? When I have to order something it's because I need it now, so I'll usually go with FedEx or DHL....

I wonder if writing "No Commervial Value" on those receipts will work too...

[ProThaiExpat]

My experience with UPS and DHL from the U.S. to Chiang Mai at my door is 7 days. USPS Global Priority Mail is 10 days. If three days makes a difference to you, go DHL or FEDex and pay the additional fees.

[think_too_mut]

It came as expected - and 7 baht handling fee to the building.

Nothing has ever been stolen.

Possibly, the key thing is to state in the "Value" line: "No Commercial Value". IME, works for gifts too.

How was it sent? USPS? When I have to order something it's because I need it now, so I'll usually go with FedEx or DHL....

I wonder if writing "No Commervial Value" on those receipts will work too...

Evertyhing I ever sent was as an ordinary post parcel, never used DHL or UPS (except 3-4 times for important documents).

This last parcel from the US came as a package box via regular air mail, took 5 days from Arizona.

[LostInBKK]

Wow, I would not have expected to see those transit times......good to know. Thanks for the info!!

[ronz28]

Wife did address the package to her sister in Thai and English but declared it was a gift with a value of $75. There was a small bottle of inexpensive perfume among the cosmetics sent. I guess if we do send a package again we will declare Gift- No Commercial Value and see if that works.

We have bought CDs, DVDs, clothing, etc. over the internet from Thailand websites and have never had to pay any customs or any other fees incoming to the U.S. It comes through our regular mail with Thai postage on it. Never had a problem with those purchases being delivered as advertised.

[lopburi3]

Any gift is subject to tax if more than a set amount - believe someone mentioned the current amount as $25. The items sent (cosmetics/perfume) are among the highest taxed items in Thailand and would draw customs attention faster than most packages.

[Gary A]

I recently bought a couple of items off eBay. The shipping cost was outrageous at $80. The package weighed four pounds. I was going to have them shipped to a friend of mine in the US and have him bring them over but I was in a hurry to get my new toys. I was worried about Thai customs but apparently UPS took care of that. For $250 declared US value it cost me 788 baht for taxes. The package was NOT opened and it took about 9 days delivered right to my front door out here in the boonies.

[steveromagnino]

I recently bought a couple of items off eBay. The shipping cost was outrageous at $80. The package weighed four pounds. I was going to have them shipped to a friend of mine in the US and have him bring them over but I was in a hurry to get my new toys. I was worried about Thai customs but apparently UPS took care of that. For $250 declared US value it cost me 788 baht for taxes. The package was NOT opened and it took about 9 days delivered right to my front door out here in the boonies.

Yeah, shipping can be a lot.

In general shipping here has always been fine; my biggest problem has always been shipping out to the States in particular. Massive delays and lost stuff found a month later within the US postal/Spring service.