On 12/19/2025 at 8:41 PM, mangkut70 said:

 

Fingers crossed - sooner or later, it will happen… the plan is a one-way-ticket to Thailand once the kids are out. Missus is Thai, and we are sufficiently set up there already with a house and everything needed for daily life.

Well, we’ve got an apartment here in Germany as well, full of stuff. When I think about the actual process of moving, I wonder if it’s worth shipping everything (or anything for that matter) or if it might be more trouble than it’s worth. Some nice furniture & art I would be happy to take to Thailand, but sending a container will probably cost more than I paid for it years ago (in China). Also the space in Thailand is not unlimited.

 

Well, I guess many of you currently residing in Thailand have been at this point before, and I would love to learn from your experience.

 

1 - Moving sooner or later? After you moved and things settled down, did you feel like you should have done this earlier? Keep working longer in Europe to receive a better pension, or move earlier to enjoy retirement longer?

 

2 - In case you own(ed) a house or apartment back in Europe, how did you handle this? Sold it? Rented out? Landlord and tenant law in Germany is a bitch—most power to the tenants. Renting out could be more trouble than it’s worth considering obligations, high taxes, etc.

 

3 - Did you ship your household to Thailand, and if yes, how did this work out?

 

Basically, when you made the move, what could have gone better if you had just known about it beforehand?

For a German,your English is perfect.Congrats Herr Mangkut.

Welcome to Thailand.

23 hours ago, pchansmorn said:

I would only bring personal items. Everything else can be purchased here at a very low price.

Not very good advice, price isn't everything.

I brought with me a 3 step aluminium ladder that I had bought in Lidl.

My wife cannot understand how it is a great deal heavier than the 4 step ladder of the same type bought here in Thailand.

1 hour ago, sandyf said:

Not very good advice, price isn't everything.

I brought with me a 3 step aluminium ladder that I had bought in Lidl.

My wife cannot understand how it is a great deal heavier than the 4 step ladder of the same type bought here in Thailand.

Easy answer, western ladders need to support 300lbs (150kg), Thai ladders only need to support 150lbs (75kg).

5 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Easy answer, western ladders need to support 300lbs (150kg), Thai ladders only need to support 150lbs (75kg).

Be very careful with the cheap models sold here, they do not even support 75 kg. I nearly fell down several times because the so called aluminum bended quite quickly

when I tried to  trim some trees. My weight is clearly below 75 kg.

I came with a "carry on." 

Bring Nothing except your wallet and cards  Merry Christmas and a happy new year  

On 12/24/2025 at 10:16 AM, BritManToo said:

Easy answer, western ladders need to support 300lbs (150kg), Thai ladders only need to support 150lbs (75kg).

OP question - To ship, or not to ship?  Not just about cost.

As far as Thai ladders are concerned..

 

 

Sorry for late reply; got behind in my email. I'm an American, so can't comment on European issues. My wife is Thai. We shipped 8,000 pounds in a 20 foot container from Baltimore, MD, USA. It included furniture, clothes, dishes/China/silver, books and sentimental items. It was expensive, but we have no regrets. We misjudged which furniture we would need after we bought a house in Bangkok (house was larger than expected), and consequently donated about half of it to relatives, which they appreciated. However, some of the furniture was useful and/or sentimental, so we enjoy having it.

We sold our house in America; I'd been a landlord in the past and never want the hassle again. Profit from sale of US house was used to buy a nice upper middle class home in Bangkok for cash.

Note that we kept our US bank accounts and credit cards. Good move because our limits are much higher than available with Thai credit cards. Also kept a US AT&T mobile which is a God send due to the need for one time codes via SMS these days. I also kept 2 IRA accounts to fund retirement for my younger wife,

We consider our move a success and wouldn't change anything.

I can't comment on todays prices, but we shipped all we wanted in a shipping container from the US They delivered a shipping container to our house and gave us a few hours to load it up. Driver waits. i hired a work crew from a home depot parking lot to carry everything out and place into container. Container left and was sent to Bangkok where a truck picked it up after agent cleared it through customs and delivered it to our home in Chiang Mai. Uncle had a crew waiting to empty the container (driver waits) It was a separate charge to bring it from Bangkok. Total costs were under $4000 usd dollars at that time. Most of the stuff gathered through life was still mine but in a different place. as I've a Thai wife supposed to be no taxes on stuff brought in but of course they added a little saying there was so much stuff. agent in Bangkok handled the Thai end of things. As far as things go it went off without a hitch. They did require a deposit on the container in Thailand but returned it after the truck brought it back to Bangkok.