Slow Boat Shipping To Usa

[rollright]

I will be leaving Thailand in a few months with my partner and we have collected quite a bit of stuff since we first came here. We plan on doing some travelling around Asia before we go home and the plan right now is to ship a bunch of stuff we don't need home. Initially we heard sending stuff home on the slow boat was pretty cheap but with rising gas prices the scenario seems to be changing. I was wondering if anyone knew what the prices were like to ship from Thailand to the States. I am not sure how much weight or stuff we will have. Maybe one or two big luggage bags full of clothes, souveniers, and gifts. If anyone could tell me about how much it costs per/kg or lbs or has a website to direct me to that would be appreciated.

One more question about customs. We will be taking a bunch of stuff bought here in Thailand home. All of it will be either for us or gifts for other people. Will we have to pay customs on all of this stuff to ship it home? Non of it is alcohol, weapons or anything fancy like that.

Thanks.

[raro]

I will be leaving Thailand in a few months with my partner and we have collected quite a bit of stuff since we first came here. We plan on doing some travelling around Asia before we go home and the plan right now is to ship a bunch of stuff we don't need home.

you need to be in the country when your shipment arrives to clear it from the customs. Otherwise it will be stuck at the port and collect storage charges.

Initially we heard sending stuff home on the slow boat was pretty cheap but with rising gas prices the scenario seems to be changing.

define cheap. I had private customers who considered "dirt cheap" what others considered a rip-off...for similar volumes, similar items.

I was wondering if anyone knew what the prices were like to ship from Thailand to the States.

any freight forwarder could answer that question, if you send me a PM, I can direct you to one..

I am not sure how much weight or stuff we will have.

That would be a crucial bit of information...everything starts with a detailed packing list.

Maybe one or two big luggage bags full of clothes, souveniers, and gifts. If anyone could tell me about how much it costs per/kg or lbs or has a website to direct me to that would be appreciated.

you might be surprised that the overall costs for airfreight for this kind of volume is not much higher than for seafreight. The inland transport is quite expensive and depending from where you live in the US the cheaper seafreight is all eaten up by the trucking charges! It does not have a big effect in LA, but if you're from Idaho, it does.

One more question about customs. We will be taking a bunch of stuff bought here in Thailand home. All of it will be either for us or gifts for other people. Will we have to pay customs on all of this stuff to ship it home? Non of it is alcohol, weapons or anything fancy like that.

Thanks.

If you are a returning citizen and you have lived a certain time abroad (depends on the country, I think it is 1 year for US citizens, better check that with your embassy!) you can import personal effects duty free.

[travelbucho]

Check out the Thai postoffice website. the link below goes to their shipping cost calculator.

http://www.thailandpost.com/search_ems_en.asp

type in country and weight of parcel, and they list you all possible shipping options and prices

Max allowed weight for US is 30kg. (Int'l air parcel = 15.000 / Int'l SAL =9.400 / Surface =4.600bht.

You might have some extra options as well with the type of shipment you choose

Customs? I only have guesses.

[LaReina]

You can also send by UPS, 25 KG in one of their boxes for about 6,000 baht. Gets there all the time.. and they rarely check what is in it.. By ship is always cheaper than by air if you have a lot to move. The only problem is the shipping companies here will sock it to you every which way they can.

But I have a question for some of the folks here who are familiar with the local/expat/international movers located in thailand.

Is it true that all boxed items need to be held in a warehouse for customs to inspect what is being shipped out of the country, as opposed to loading directly into a container, and then the entire container x-rayed??

Does anyone know how this works...

[LaReina]

I stand corrected, "Moving Companies" as opposed to "Shipping Companies" will sock it to you.

When confused, always ask a TV member as there is a wealth of information floating around here.