"Medical" device ordered outside Thailand being held by Import Export Inspection Division

[jakow]

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this. My wife ordered a small electronic device from Korea called the "Medicube AGE-R Booster Pro Home Skin Care Device" that supposedly makes your skin absorb lotion better. It cost about 8,000 baht. It's being held up with the Import Export Inspection Division because they say it's in the "medical/massage" category and they want a prescription from a doctor. We went to the local hospital, but the doctor said he doesn't know about this product and won't write a prescription. I talked to the seller and they said this is not a medical product, it's just for personal skin care, and they should not be holding it. They're charging us every day that they hold it, and they won't send it back to the shipper. So basically we're about to lose a whole bunch of money. Has anyone dealt with this before?

Edited November 5 by jakow

[Puccini]

Medical devices are covered by Thailand's Medicine Act, aka Drugs Act, and a licence is reqired for their importation.

 

In your wife's case it is possible that a custom's official has tken a shine to the device and plans to keep it.

[jakow]

38 minutes ago, Puccini said:

Medical devices are covered by Thailand's Medicine Act, aka Drugs Act, and a licence is reqired for their importation.

 

In your wife's case it is possible that a custom's official has tken a shine to the device and plans to keep it.

 

That's definitely what my wife is thinking 🙂 Not so much that one particular official wants it, but that this whole thing is set up so all the officials to get a constant flow of free imported products.

 

I guess our only recourse aside from bribing a doctor to write a prescription is to convince them that it's not a medical product. I talked to the seller and he's contacting the shipping company because he says they should not be holding it. He said it's probably because the product's name is "medicube" but that it's not an actual medical product. This is going to be difficult. Plus we're getting charged something like 100+ baht a day while we try to sort it out.

[Puccini]

1 hour ago, jakow said:

…I talked to the seller and he's contacting the shipping company…

 

Parcels shipped via a shipping company or a courier service are routinely routed to customs for examination, where as postal parcels with a low declared value apparently rarely get checked. THB 8,000, however, probably does not count as a low value.

 

There have been news, though, that Thailand wants to start collecting at least VAT for all shipments valued at THB 1.00 or more, including for postal parcels, if they have not already started. In your case, though, there is the added complication of the classification of the product as "medical/massage"

 

Unless the courier can convince customs to return the parcel to them for return to the sender, I see little chance for you to recover the money.

[Celsius]

2 hours ago, Puccini said:

Medical devices are covered by Thailand's Medicine Act, aka Drugs Act, and a licence is reqired for their importation.

 

In your wife's case it is possible that a custom's official has tken a shine to the device and plans to keep it.

 

Please. Most  countries would send such devices to a trash bin. You simply don't import anything even resembling a medical device. 

 

Ordering on lazada would be my only choice.

 

[Puccini]

Unfortunately, your helpful comment about ordering from Lazada comes too late for the OP.

[GammaGlobulin]

Perhaps, the guys checking this product mistakenly believe this might be some sort of mechanism used for self-gratification.

 

This confusion might cause problems.

Just a thought.

 

[Puccini]

Do you suppose that this is the reason why customs is asking for a doctor's prescription?

[rwill]

10 hours ago, Puccini said:

Parcels shipped via a shipping company or a courier service are routinely routed to customs for examination, where as postal parcels with a low declared value apparently rarely get checked. THB 8,000, however, probably does not count as a low value

Officially it is items below 1,500 baht in value that are exempted, except for restricted categories.

[thesetat2013]

12 hours ago, Celsius said:

 

Please. Most  countries would send such devices to a trash bin. You simply don't import anything even resembling a medical device. 

 

Ordering on lazada would be my only choice.

 

I do not agree.. I got a TENS device sent to me from a US medical supply company. I had no trouble getting it sent to my door. 

I think the first post is more accurate. One of the Customs officers have taken a shine to owning it and has decided to confiscate it to collect later..

[newbee2022]

17 hours ago, jakow said:

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this. My wife ordered a small electronic device from Korea called the "Medicube AGE-R Booster Pro Home Skin Care Device" that supposedly makes your skin absorb lotion better. It cost about 8,000 baht. It's being held up with the Import Export Inspection Division because they say it's in the "medical/massage" category and they want a prescription from a doctor. We went to the local hospital, but the doctor said he doesn't know about this product and won't write a prescription. I talked to the seller and they said this is not a medical product, it's just for personal skin care, and they should not be holding it. They're charging us every day that they hold it, and they won't send it back to the shipper. So basically we're about to lose a whole bunch of money. Has anyone dealt with this before?

Yes, that's the law here.

No prescription = no import.

And sure, it will probably impossible to get a prescription for a Vibrator 😁. 

Could be now a bit costly. If you get your Vibrator once you have to pay taxes too.😂. 

 

[newbee2022]

14 hours ago, Celsius said:

 

Please. Most  countries would send such devices to a trash bin. You simply don't import anything even resembling a medical device. 

 

Ordering on lazada would be my only choice.

 

Did you see a "vibrator" on Lazada. I read it's strictly forbidden to sell??😱

[john donson]

that's an expensive vibrator

[fvw53]

Can somebody provide the name of the Authority granting import license. I want to import a stoma care product not sold in Thailand

[NicoBKK]

9 hours ago, Puccini said:

Do you suppose that this is the reason why customs is asking for a doctor's prescription?

Because they know no doctor will issue one 🙂

[jcmj]

A friend had a cane ordered for bigger people and had to go to Laem Chabang and fill out forms to register in order to get it. He said it was pretty easy but surprised he had to do it for a cane. It is considered a medical device so I would imagine you’d have to do the same thing. 

[Donald Bright]

I ordered some natural health medication from the US some years ago and Thai customs held the package and sent me an account for tax which was 150% of the cost of the order.  I sent them an email saying i would not pay the tax and to send the goods back to the US, which fortunately they did and ii got a full refund from the company.

Never ordered any more from overseas since.

[Bagwain]

2 times I have had some Fenbendazole taken by customs declaring it forbiden. 1 order from China and then 1 order fron India. Indian supplier is raising the issue with there end as they have sent before and directly to customers. Total lost about 8,000. The 1st order they wanted 20,000 plus bond storage fee for 4,000 Baht worth. Plus endless hours dealing with the Tw@ts.  

[mikebell]

On 11/5/2024 at 3:35 PM, jakow said:

the Import Export Inspection Division

SOP for anything they may take a fancy to.  My son has a persistent cough (living in Bangkok) and relatives sent him some Lockets (a sweet made with honey).  He ended up paying hundreds before they would release them.

[gravity101]

Household lost an electronic skin rejuvenation kit to the same rules recently. We could do nothing. Also a handheld marine radio a few years back. They wont send them back, so effectively they are gone. Be careful. On both occasions it wasn't so much that they were medical and radio devices, it was also that the products themselves have not been tested and approved and therefore the only way to get them in was to obtain certification. Not practical for a one off import.

[Hakuna Matata]

You should NEVER use anything like DHL, FedEx, UPS, TNT, etc. for shipping your orders to Thailand from abroad!

 

Always use Air Mail Postal Service only, and you will pay only 7% Thailand VAT. In this case it should have been shipped by Japan Post.

[sgtsabai]

@fvw53

I am facing the same problem. I need HMEs and lary tube from the Veteran's Affairs Hospital in Minneapolis and they can't/won't send them. Apparently Thailand is a few years behind on throat cancer surgery. So far the only solution seems to be to send them to my US address and then forward here and hope "customs" doesn't want an arm and a leg for the package. They did when the VA sent my own clothes back to me after returning from the states. I got clothes, didn't pay.

Edited November 8 by sgtsabai
change wording to correct

[LukKrueng]

On 11/5/2024 at 4:34 PM, jakow said:

 

That's definitely what my wife is thinking 🙂 Not so much that one particular official wants it, but that this whole thing is set up so all the officials to get a constant flow of free imported products.

 

I guess our only recourse aside from bribing a doctor to write a prescription is to convince them that it's not a medical product. I talked to the seller and he's contacting the shipping company because he says they should not be holding it. He said it's probably because the product's name is "medicube" but that it's not an actual medical product. This is going to be difficult. Plus we're getting charged something like 100+ baht a day while we try to sort it out.

A few years ago someone sent me carpeting samples. He sent it by EMS and clearly stated these are samples and have no commercial value. Customs wanted a big sum of money as taxes and VAT. I went to the post office holding center, asked them to open the 2 parcels and see for themselves. They were reluctant and said it must have value or otherwise it wouldn't be sent by EMS but by a much cheaper means of transport.

After they opened it and saw it was only samples they let it go.

So your best option is to go there in person (not you, your wife obviously) and argue the case that it is not a medical product. Maybe suggest to class it as a cosmetic product, pay some duty and take it home.

[fittobethaied]

5 hours ago, Bagwain said:

2 times I have had some Fenbendazole taken by customs declaring it forbiden. 1 order from China and then 1 order fron India. Indian supplier is raising the issue with there end as they have sent before and directly to customers. Total lost about 8,000. The 1st order they wanted 20,000 plus bond storage fee for 4,000 Baht worth. Plus endless hours dealing with the Tw@ts.  

 

 

I ordered a drug for Leukemia from India for only 875 Baht that was costing me 7000 Baht per month at a government hospital. The first delivery came straight to my home, but the 2nd delivery was held up at Custom's in Nong Khai. Customs wanted to confiscate the tablets, but my wife talked them out of it this time and paid a custom's tax plus 7% VAT. We were sent to the office of the FDA nearby to request a special license to import the drug in the future, but we were denied since there are other companies in Thailand which already import that drug. We were threatened again with confiscation but were allowed to keep that shipment; however, we were threatened with a 50,000 Baht fine and up to 5 years in prison if were ever tried to import medications again. Believe me, if you are importing meds from abroad, they have your name in their computer system, and they have the capability to keep track of your activity. It's just not worth the risk.

[fittobethaied]

On 11/6/2024 at 11:13 AM, fvw53 said:

Can somebody provide the name of the Authority granting import license. I want to import a stoma care product not sold in Thailand

You can see the FDA in Nong Khai for the license.

[Bagwain]

18 hours ago, fittobethaied said:

 

 

I ordered a drug for Leukemia from India for only 875 Baht that was costing me 7000 Baht per month at a government hospital. The first delivery came straight to my home, but the 2nd delivery was held up at Custom's in Nong Khai. Customs wanted to confiscate the tablets, but my wife talked them out of it this time and paid a custom's tax plus 7% VAT. We were sent to the office of the FDA nearby to request a special license to import the drug in the future, but we were denied since there are other companies in Thailand which already import that drug. We were threatened again with confiscation but were allowed to keep that shipment; however, we were threatened with a 50,000 Baht fine and up to 5 years in prison if were ever tried to import medications again. Believe me, if you are importing meds from abroad, they have your name in their computer system, and they have the capability to keep track of your activity. It's just not worth the risk.

My missus was threatened as well. They also said why don't you buy in Thailand. 1/ Can't get it. 2/ When we did find some it was rediculously priced. 

[keysersoze276]

On 11/5/2024 at 3:35 PM, jakow said:

They're charging us every day that they hold it, and they won't send it back to the shipper. So basically we're about to lose a whole bunch of money. Has anyone dealt with this before?

No. They charge you every day to hold it?  How much per day.  This sounds like a nightmare.  What might happen if you don’t pay their holding fee, aside from losing your 8,000 baht device?  

My mom sent me a cowboy hat from USA for my birthday years ago.  She paid $50 for the hat and paid for the shipping.  Upon delivery I had to pay around 3000 THB for customs fees. About 300% the cost of the hat.  You might be better off chalking it up as a loss.

[NoDisplayName]

On 11/5/2024 at 3:35 PM, jakow said:

they say it's in the "medical/massage" category and they want a prescription from a doctor.

 

Can you get a prescription from one of those strip mall doctors that write the health certificates for drivers license applications?

 

If not, tell them the same item is offered on Lazada by dozens of sellers without prescription.

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/2311-medicube-age-r-booster-pro-6-in-1-skin-care-booster-apps-i5108963023.html