21000 Thb For Baby Clothes ?

[paulfr]

I just got a call from Thai Customs. My brother and aunt sent my 16 month old daughter a box of baby clothes.

This lady tells me I must pay 21000 THB in duty to have the box delivered from the airport.

I am inclined to tell them they can keep the clothes, the box and Xckfkhjgoskgf too !!

No way the clothes are worth more than 40,000 THB as the duty rate is around 50%.

Anyone know a way around this annoying impasse ??

Thanks for listening ...

Paul

[Monkey Fish]

Easy, call up your friend, The General, who runs the customs dept, and ask him for a favor.

Curious, I looked up the customs website, which I found surprisingly competently made. It included this sample fee schedule that you might find interesting/annoying:

http://www.customs.go.th/Customs-Eng/Sampl...?menuNme=Sample

A while back I ran across a report on international tsunami aid that had this great quote.

Some organisations seeking to bring goods into Thailand at later stages did face some difficulties

with receiving exemptions for goods passing through customs. One NGO donated a number of

computers for schools affected by the tsunami, but these were blocked in customs for several

months despite having a letter of support to the Department of Customs from the Ministry of

Education - possibly via the procedure prescribed for the Florence Agreement. Another NGO

reported having to pay inexplicable fees in customs at several different desks as well as a storage

fee of approximately 10,000 Baht for several boxes of school supplies, despite having a letter of

support from a governmental development agency tied to a diplomatic mission, which was

sponsoring their project.

http://www.ifrc.org/Docs/pubs/idrl/report-thailand.pdf

[LadyinRed]

OMG It's a lot of money!!

Are they brand new designer baby clothes? I can't think of how it can rake up such a high bill unless the shopping bill was included...

I would go down to customs and sort it out personally... and refuse the package if they are unable to show me how the duties are calculated.

(And hope they don't shoot me on my way out!)

[cmsally]

I would go to customs with baby in tow and explain that the clothes are for your baby and not for resale.

You need to speak to someone with enough authority to change the quote that has already been made for tax.

There will be people telling you it is not possible to change the taxed amount and they usually don't have the authority to change the decision.

[Mid]

hey over here

no here we are

over here

can't you see me

here i am

moving goalposts .....................

[TEFLMike]

Easy, call up your friend, The General, who runs the customs dept, and ask him for a favor.

Curious, I looked up the customs website, which I found surprisingly competently made. It included this sample fee schedule that you might find interesting/annoying:

http://www.customs.go.th/Customs-Eng/Sampl...?menuNme=Sample

A while back I ran across a report on international tsunami aid that had this great quote.

Some organisations seeking to bring goods into Thailand at later stages did face some difficulties

with receiving exemptions for goods passing through customs. One NGO donated a number of

computers for schools affected by the tsunami, but these were blocked in customs for several

months despite having a letter of support to the Department of Customs from the Ministry of

Education - possibly via the procedure prescribed for the Florence Agreement. Another NGO

reported having to pay inexplicable fees in customs at several different desks as well as a storage

fee of approximately 10,000 Baht for several boxes of school supplies, despite having a letter of

support from a governmental development agency tied to a diplomatic mission, which was

sponsoring their project.

http://www.ifrc.org/Docs/pubs/idrl/report-thailand.pdf

Hi,

I am about to leave for the airport in the UK. I have been back in BLIGHTY for 2 weeks.

I am seriously considering bringing my PC Printer with me, in fact, it is almost packed up. Obvious reasons, this printer is a very good printer and better than some I have seen in LOS.

I may, or may not, get away without paying a fee to Emirates at Check-In today. I managed that with educational books last April.

However, after just reading the post from OP as regards to duty on Baby Clothes, what are the chances I will be stopped to pay duty on my printer, on arrival at BKK?

Anyone help me plese? Many thanks.

(I have 1 hour before I leave my flat in the UK)

[ZukiSuzuki]

Some organisations seeking to bring goods into Thailand at later stages did face some difficulties

with receiving exemptions for goods passing through customs. One NGO donated a number of

computers for schools affected by the tsunami, but these were blocked in customs for several

months despite having a letter of support to the Department of Customs from the Ministry of

Education - possibly via the procedure prescribed for the Florence Agreement. Another NGO

reported having to pay inexplicable fees in customs at several different desks as well as a storage

fee of approximately 10,000 Baht for several boxes of school supplies, despite having a letter of

support from a governmental development agency tied to a diplomatic mission, which was

sponsoring their project.

Discusting, realy is beyond belief, pathetic.

[SnakeBite]

I'm trying to work out why the heck anyone would send 40,000 baht worth of clothes for a 16 month old baby. hel_l by the time she wears all of it a couple of times, she will have out grown them. Seems bizarre to me.

[sibeymai]

and why would anyone send baby clothes when you can buy in the LOS for 10 baht a piece ?

[Shah Jahan]

--

My family sends over baby clothes all the time and the baby clothes from the US are always a better quality than the stuff from the market.

One question - Was it sent by Fed-Ex because if it was then there is your answer - Fed-Ex in Thailand is more corrupt than the police force. they pay a wholesale clearance rate to the government and then try to make it up/profit off of whatever they can assess to dumb falang.

If it was by Fed-Ex then you may have to negotiate - the best would be to politely tell them to please return the clothes to sender - they will most likely start negotiating then and you can probably get away with as little as 500 baht just to save their face for the trouble.

If it was by the postal service - then just do the same - Once you start to complain they quickly come down in pricing. Worst case have the clothes sent back and reposted - usually the US mail AIR 10-14 days gets through with no trouble or fees. Oh and try to keep your declaration value under $50. In that case they usually just ignore it

[think_too_mut]

and why would anyone send baby clothes when you can buy in the LOS for 10 baht a piece ?

My friends from America did want to send some clothes for my daughter.

What arrived were red cowboy boots and several other dress items, distinctevely American.

Good quality, worth probably 400US$.

No custom, nothing paid to receive the goods. 4 months ago.

[paulfr]

Thank you all for the replies.

My brother just scanned and emailed me the receipt from the store in the US.

The cost was $208. So how Customs can value these items at $1100 is

a pure quantification of the extent of their bravado and corruption.

I will let you all know what happens when we go to Suwannapuhm and

contest this 21000THB tax with receipt, baby and wife next to me.

Thanks again.

[naka]

Good luck dealing with Customs.

The store docket may help though ... There again, they may ask for a certified translation

Naka.

Edited October 27, 2007 by naka

[stoneman]

I had the same experience with Customs several years ago when my sister sent baby clothes for our son...I refused to pay the charges and told UPS to return the shipment to my sister..She had insured it for the actual value and she agreed to pay the return fees after a phone call from me...

Well, they "lost" the package and it was never returned to my sister..She filed a claim with UPS and was reimbursed including the shipping cost and some Thai child is wearing those clothes...

Stoneman

[TEFLMike]

Thank you all for the replies.

My brother just scanned and emailed me the receipt from the store in the US.

The cost was $208. So how Customs can value these items at $1100 is

a pure quantification of the extent of their bravado and corruption.

I will let you all know what happens when we go to Suwannapuhm and

contest this 21000THB tax with receipt, baby and wife next to me.

Thanks again.

I hope you manage ok. It is deplorable really. By the way, I came through customs with my printer, with no problems at BKk Airport, they just sat there watching me push my luggage out, including the printer, all dressed up in it's Emirates Airline bag.

[Amethyst]

Received lots of goods from overseas thru EMS paid nothing , as its labeled as GIFT

But beware they always lost people's packages

Edited October 29, 2007 by tytus

[astral]

Write them off and buy locally.

[jackr]

Thank you all for the replies.

My brother just scanned and emailed me the receipt from the store in the US.

The cost was $208. So how Customs can value these items at $1100 is

a pure quantification of the extent of their bravado and corruption.

I will let you all know what happens when we go to Suwannapuhm and

contest this 21000THB tax with receipt, baby and wife next to me.

Thanks again.

I hope you manage ok. It is deplorable really. By the way, I came through customs with my printer, with no problems at BKk Airport, they just sat there watching me push my luggage out, including the printer, all dressed up in it's Emirates Airline bag.

Well done. Was going to say, just make sure you don't carry through the electronic item in its brand new box.

[PadThaiGuy]

The son of the head Customs guy is a Ferrari collector.

Nuff said.

[singa-traz]

The son of the head Customs guy is a Ferrari collector.

Nuff said.

He likes to collect spare part?

[ercorn]

Thank you all for the replies.

My brother just scanned and emailed me the receipt from the store in the US.

The cost was $208. So how Customs can value these items at $1100 is

a pure quantification of the extent of their bravado and corruption.

I will let you all know what happens when we go to Suwannapuhm and

contest this 21000THB tax with receipt, baby and wife next to me.

Thanks again.

Hi Paul.I have been following this thread and was wondering if how you got on with cusoms.

[PadThaiGuy]

The son of the head Customs guy is a Ferrari collector.

Nuff said.

He likes to collect spare part?

Yes.

He strips a few vital parts (transmission, ABS system, Engine) then imports it to Thailand, doesn't pay the tax, the car goes to auction(fixed) and he buys it back for practically nothing, then installs the parts, the car suddenly worth 30 million bt..

Cargo Mafia. Most likely military people.

They rip this Country for millions every day.

You will get ripped off by them importing almost anything and there is nobody to report it to to get satisfaction.

[paulfr]

Hi Paul.I have been following this thread and was wondering if how you got on with cusoms.

Still working on it from a few angles.

I will post the final outcome when it is over.

Thanks again for all the replies.

[paulfr]

Well I finally did get my package from family in USA. With the help of a brother poster here in the shipping business the charges were reduced to 9100 thb. This was a big bite but much less than the original 21000.

Part of the problem was an over valuation on the shipping end.

We have been advised to ship USPS next time.

It was aggrivating but in the end the daughter and wife loved all the clothes and family pictures.

Thanks again for the replies.