i'm looking to buy a certain instructional dvd from the states at 200usd,& i'll probably be buying a couple more after.anybody know what sort of duty or tax i should expect,or do they not worry about the odd one?

thanks for any help offered

As far as I recall there is no tax on DVD discs but there is on DVD players.

I found this when a large pack of DVD discs was taxed at the machine rate.

Bittorrent and rapidshare have severely reduced my contributions to Amazon.

Cheers

Edit hard to explain.

Not sure, I had some box sets sent over a few months ago, and ended up having to pay Somchai import duty. I was not best pleased and it seemed like a bit of a con, but in the end it was a pay it or lose it. They have you by the balls.

I had a few arrive yesterday and had to go to the post office and pay 480 Baht.

Thre is an import duty on them. I have had to pay every time, but I am not sure the exact charge. I think it was about 1000 bht for 6 DVD's from HK.

Its always exactly as much as they feel they can extort from you. You should first pay the vendor $199 for the privilege of doing business with them, and then buy the CDs for a $1. Thats what gets declared on the commercial invoice and customs declaration. That should give you a decent beginning bargaining position. If they see $200 on the invoice, you might as well bring lots and lots of baht to get them released.

Best is to buy them, have them uploaded on a secure server, FTP them to hard drive and burn a copy. Just pay the original company each time you burn one.

When I get stuff from Amazon, duty is usually around B300-B400 per title. Funny thing is, at one address in Pattaya, my Amazon deliveries were always delivered by the postman box unopened and no invoice for excise/duties But when I move a few sois away, my deliveries always came with a duty invoice

Also, another quirk, if I paid the extra for air-express delivery (DHL or the like), I would also receive the packages sans duty bill (but lost any savings on the higher shipping charge).

Its always exactly as much as they feel they can extort from you. You should first pay the vendor $199 for the privilege of doing business with them, and then buy the CDs for a $1. Thats what gets declared on the commercial invoice and customs declaration. That should give you a decent beginning bargaining position. If they see $200 on the invoice, you might as well bring lots and lots of baht to get them released.

Best is to buy them, have them uploaded on a secure server, FTP them to hard drive and burn a copy. Just pay the original company each time you burn one.

yes maybe thats the awnser,i dont object to paying anything,but would rather not be in a position where they have me by the you know whats & i have to pay something silly.

what about family sending it over in a beat up old case,eg it looks used?

What about asking someone to throw it in a suitcase during an upcoming visit?

I've been ordering DVD's and books from Barnes & Noble for years. If I order just DVD's the Customs rate is about 30% (official rate is 60%). If it is a mixed order (books & DVD's) I've never paid customs. Same goes for other types of orders, ie: mixed customs rates, they just seem to say The hel_l with it, too hard to figure out!

As far as I recall there is no tax on DVD discs but there is on DVD players.

I found this when a large pack of DVD discs was taxed at the machine rate.

Bittorrent and rapidshare have severely reduced my contributions to Amazon.

Edit hard to explain.

It's hard to understand. You said there is no tax on DVD discs, but then said a large pack of DVD discs was taxed??

What is the machine rate? A DVD machine?

As far as I recall there is no tax on DVD discs but there is on DVD players.

I found this when a large pack of DVD discs was taxed at the machine rate.

Bittorrent and rapidshare have severely reduced my contributions to Amazon.

Edit hard to explain.

It's hard to understand. You said there is no tax on DVD discs, but then said a large pack of DVD discs was taxed??

What is the machine rate? A DVD machine?

What I meant was a single DVD disc would not be taxed , but a package that resembled the size of a DVD player (machine) had been taxed by mistake.

I think there is no duty on books or DVD discs.

Cheers

Any I have ordered have always been sent with 'FREE SAMPLE' printed on them....... never paid duty/customs anything

Now that someone mentioned it, I do recall reading somewhere in the distant past that there is little or no duty on imported books. Maybe to encourage better reading habits in Thais (though most imports seem to be Japanese or Korean manga comics ) Therefore, if the shipping declaration states it's books or books and DVDs they let it pass through untaxed.

Will have to try that on my next Amazon order. Also like the "Free Sample" or maybe "Business Sample" label idea. Will see if can get Amazon to put that somewhere on the shipping label

As far as I recall there is no tax on DVD discs but there is on DVD players.

I found this when a large pack of DVD discs was taxed at the machine rate.

Bittorrent and rapidshare have severely reduced my contributions to Amazon.

Edit hard to explain.

It's hard to understand. You said there is no tax on DVD discs, but then said a large pack of DVD discs was taxed??

What is the machine rate? A DVD machine?

What I meant was a single DVD disc would not be taxed , but a package that resembled the size of a DVD player (machine) had been taxed by mistake.

I think there is no duty on books or DVD discs.

Cheers

Are you talking about blank DVD discs or pre-recorded media, ie movies? I certainly think there IS import duty on pre-recorded media. I have paid it every time.

As far as I recall there is no tax on DVD discs but there is on DVD players.

I found this when a large pack of DVD discs was taxed at the machine rate.

Bittorrent and rapidshare have severely reduced my contributions to Amazon.

Edit hard to explain.

It's hard to understand. You said there is no tax on DVD discs, but then said a large pack of DVD discs was taxed??

What is the machine rate? A DVD machine?

What I meant was a single DVD disc would not be taxed , but a package that resembled the size of a DVD player (machine) had been taxed by mistake.

I think there is no duty on books or DVD discs.

Cheers

Are you talking about blank DVD discs or pre-recorded media, ie movies? I certainly think there IS import duty on pre-recorded media. I have paid it every time.

pre recorded media "movies".

On single movies and books ordered from Amazon I have never paid duty.

hi am i breaking any law ?... my brother in the u.k records me dvds from SKY sat movies, you can fit about 4 hours on 1 disc v good quality, and sends me 6 / 7 discs every month . on the customs paper on the parcel the writes contans dvds when they get to me i never need to pay anything to thai customs ... is that correct ????

p.s living in ISAAN village can be boring somtimes thats why so many free movies ...