My wife (thai) has arranged to have a 1 cubic metre crate containing some personal items shipped to Laem chabeng. She was quoted a price of £195 from our door in the UK to port of laem chabeng which - we though was ok.

I then asked how much to our door in Pattaya and was told £220 which again sounded ok. However we just recieved invioce which is for £415 - the £220 is infact mostly handling charges in thailand (delivery is only £35) meaning £195 total cost from UK to Thailand inc all charges - and £220 to pick up in thailand and travel only 20 kilometers>

Am i being stung!

Thanks for any incite

Edited December 12, 200718 yr by pointofview

My wife (thai) has arranged to have a 1 cubic metre crate containing some personal items shipped to Laem chabeng. She was quoted a price of £195 from our door in the UK to port of laem chabeng which - we though was ok.

I then asked how much to our door in Pattaya and was told £220 which again sounded ok. However we just recieved invioce which is for £415 - the £220 is infact mostly handling charges in thailand (delivery is only £35) meaning £195 total cost from UK to Thailand inc all charges - and £220 to pick up in thailand and travel only 20 kilometers>

Am i being stung!

Thanks for any incite

I got caught in a similar way last year. I was charged £150 to send a box from the UK to the port in Bangkok then had to pay an agent in Bangkok (who was arranged by the UK transport company) just over 11000 baht (import duties, tax and transport costs..or tea money if you prefer) to get the box from the port to my house in Conburi about 65 km away. I would always use a UK company in future that will deliver door to door and not one that delivers door to port. They seem more expensive at first but are cheaper in the long run.

Clearing Thai customs is what your being charged for.. Depends on whats in the crate and the value of the items and what they think they can sell them back to your for.. Its highly corrupt and I would advise you to pay the door to door fees and not deal with them yourself.

My Mum just sent me a package (maybe 0.5 cubic meters, 2-3Kilos?) from Canada, she sent it with the government run postal company (know for being overpriced and inefficient) via airmail, it arrived in 6 days right to my door in Pakkred in perfect condition, in British pounds I think it was about 100 ($220CAD), but the service was pretty good and no special hassels. Don't know how this might have compared to DHL, but all in all the national postal service might be a realistic option for future shipments. How do all these "ebay exporters" out here do it? I know that they are shipping OUT rather than IN, but that practice is wide spread, so there must be some decent services out there... right?

I use to import small car parts not more than 500 USD value per box. Last time i picked up parts at L. Ch. Po office, and the first question they asked me, if i need a bill from the custom. I sayd no no, don't worry, payd the money they asked for and got my stuff right away, without any hasslles.

...I got caught in a similar way last year. I was charged £150 to send a box from the UK to the port in Bangkok then had to pay an agent in Bangkok (who was arranged by the UK transport company) just over 11000 baht (import duties, tax and transport costs..or tea money if you prefer) to get the box from the port to my house in Conburi about 65 km away. I would always use a UK company in future that will deliver door to door and not one that delivers door to port. They seem more expensive at first but are cheaper in the long run.

Does anyone know if there is such a shipper out of the USA that would ship a cubic meter (or slightly larger) crate door to door to Khon Kaen??

Edited February 2, 200818 yr by boatguy

WTH does this have to do with visas?

My Mum just sent me a package (maybe 0.5 cubic meters, 2-3Kilos?) from Canada, she sent it with the government run postal company (know for being overpriced and inefficient) via airmail, it arrived in 6 days right to my door in Pakkred in perfect condition, in British pounds I think it was about 100 ($220CAD), but the service was pretty good and no special hassels. Don't know how this might have compared to DHL, but all in all the national postal service might be a realistic option for future shipments. How do all these "ebay exporters" out here do it? I know that they are shipping OUT rather than IN, but that practice is wide spread, so there must be some decent services out there... right?

Hi All,

Last week I purchased through E-Bay UK two pairs of shoes. I felt like treating myself, so I did!

The price of the shoes (two pairs) came to £ 81.00 plus £ 27.00 for packing and postage to Thailand, using UPS.

There was no opportunity to use another carrier.

The seller (a rather large organisation) did, after requesting, refund the UK VAT to me, immediately upon receipt of my payment.

The shoes were dispatched from the merchant in UK on 30 January at 5.00pm local time via UPS

They arrived in Bangkok on 31 January at 11.30 pm Local time

The shoes according to the UPS on-line tracking service were due to be delivered on 01 Feb

They left the Bangkok depot at 04.55am on 01 Feb. for delivery to me.

Now the fun starts........

I happened to be home all day Friday (1st of February) so, I looked out for the delivery of my new shoes. I live in the Sathorn area

All day Friday (1st Feb.) nobody called me or tried to deliver my shoes.

When I looked on-line at the tracking results on Friday night it said that on the first delivery attempt at 11.35am on Friday 1st Feb: "Receiver did not have funds available on the 1st delivery attempt, a 2nd delivery attempt will be made...."

Well, nobody made any contact with whatsoever....

So, I called them this morning (Saturday 2 Feb.) and asked them where my parcel was. Oh, they said it will be delivered on Monday.

I asked why they had not delivered on Friday as per UPS schedule and that according to the tracking results they had tried to deliver, but I had no cash!

The lady on the other side of the phone did not know how to answer. She said that the bill had not arrived to go with the parcel!!

Anyway, she arranged for a delivery in the next 3 hours, which was fine.

When the parcel arrived I had to hand over 2,646.50 Bht!

On shoes there is an import duty of 30% plus the usual 7% VAT

Then there was a 150 bht Disbursement fee.

The other thing that I find surprising is that from the UK end UPS managed to get the goods to Bangkok virtually within 24 hours. Had I not called UPS in Bangkok this morning, the goods would have remained with UPS Bangkok for another 72 hours. Amazing Thailand!!

I understand that UPS will always collect taxes due to the Customs & Excise. It is not like you find with the normal mail service, where it seems to be hit and miss. Most often it just arrives on your door step, no charges.

So, be aware of these hidden extras. I was glad that at least I had a VAT refund from the UK.

FRM-UK now Bangkok.

My wife (thai) has arranged to have a 1 cubic metre crate containing some personal items shipped to Laem chabeng. She was quoted a price of £195 from our door in the UK to port of laem chabeng which - we though was ok.

I then asked how much to our door in Pattaya and was told £220 which again sounded ok. However we just recieved invioce which is for £415 - the £220 is infact mostly handling charges in thailand (delivery is only £35) meaning £195 total cost from UK to Thailand inc all charges - and £220 to pick up in thailand and travel only 20 kilometers>

Am i being stung!

Thanks for any incite

I got caught in a similar way last year. I was charged £150 to send a box from the UK to the port in Bangkok then had to pay an agent in Bangkok (who was arranged by the UK transport company) just over 11000 baht (import duties, tax and transport costs..or tea money if you prefer) to get the box from the port to my house in Conburi about 65 km away. I would always use a UK company in future that will deliver door to door and not one that delivers door to port. They seem more expensive at first but are cheaper in the long run.

I agree 100%, I got caught in an almost identicle situation. BEWARE THE THAI CUSTOMS.