Customs Charges In Thailand

[Upcountry]

Hello fellow expats,

I couldn't find a relevant thread here, so I'm starting one.

I went to http://www.customs.go.th/Customs-Eng/indexEng.jsp and looked around, but I coudn't get any specific information to answer my questions.

I read somewhere that I could expect to pay around 5% to recieve a package of that oculd be classified s "electronic".

I'm considering ordering a networking device from amazon for around $60 plus shipping, before rebate. It would cost around $20 or more to have a family member send it to me from the States as a gift. Unfortunately, scamazon waited until I tried to order with my Thai address to tell me that the hidden seller would not ship here, but that's a different story. If Amazon did ship to me, their website indicated they would charge me around $7 or $8, as far as I can tell - not counting customs. Could that be right?

Assume that Thai customs disregards the price I pay ($60) and decides it's worth $140 in Thailand. At 5%, that's $7 US, or around 266 Baht.

Now, I realize there are lots of variables. What I'm suggesting in this tread is that we share experiences with the cost of ording items on the Internet and having them shipped to a Thai address. What sorts or read-world charges can we expect for different types of items based on their retail value?

Thanks,

Upcountry

[LivinLOS]

7 % VAT on anything marked with a value (over 20 USD in my experience)...

20% import duty seems the norm though DVD's seem to incurr 30 and other stuff I have bought has mysteriously been charged none..

Seems to be higher charges and always billed when using a courier like DHL but often slips through with Thai mail.

The real issue is I tend to only get 50% of packages shipped to me.. Currently have 500 USD worth of stuff (insured signed for) missing for >2 months..

[sabaijai]

At http://www.customs.go.th/Tariff/Tariff.jsp I found a listing for 'Electronic integrated circuits and microassemblies', including digital and hybrid ICs, taxed at a rate of 35% (not counting VAT).

There was another category called 'Electrical apparatus for line telephony or line telegraphy, including line telephone sets with cordless handsets and telecommunication apparatus for carrier-current line systems or for digital line systems' and 'other apparatus, for carrier-current line systems or for digital line systems', at 40%.

I don't know if your networking device falls into either of those categories or not. I have my doubts as to whether the men in brown could figure it out either.

I've noticed I get taxed on almost everything ordered from abroad these days, whether it arrives via DHL or post. They seem to be getting stricter. CDs and DVDs used to slip in untaxed (all the time, before circa 2000, less often afterwards) but nowadays not at all, in my experience.

One thing that's exempt from any tariffs is English-language books, and considering the cost of English-language books in Thailand it's cheaper to order from overseas.

[Ajarn]

According to customs in CM, if the value of the shipment is under 20,000 baht, duty can be collected by the Post Office. Over 20, 000 and you have to go to customs to get your package. Try to avoid going to customs if you can. It's a well-oiled corruption machine in my experience. A pain in the ass, at the very least.

Unlike Sabaijai, the vast majority of my cd's/dvd's have come duty free when through the Thai PO. I get shipments every couple of months from Amazon.com- who have provided me with excellent service, even immediately replacing a 'lost' package...The only time a package in Thailand has gone missing for me, that I can remember.

Sabaijai, I'm wondering at what point they can decide to hold for duty, or just pass on.... I'd like to know where to send a New Year Fruit Basket

[Pink Mist]

I am moving this to a more relavant section where it should get better support

regards

[sabaijai]

According to customs in CM, if the value of the shipment is under 20,000 baht, duty can be collected by the Post Office. Over 20, 000 and you have to go to customs to get your package. Try to avoid going to customs if you can. It's a well-oiled corruption machine in my experience. A pain in the ass, at the very least.

Unlike Sabaijai, the vast majority of my cd's/dvd's have come duty free when through the Thai PO. I get shipments every couple of months from Amazon.com- who have provided me with excellent service, even immediately replacing a 'lost' package...The only time a package in Thailand has gone missing for me, that I can remember.

Sabaijai, I'm wondering at what point they can decide to hold for duty, or just pass on.... I'd like to know where to send a New Year Fruit Basket 

Perhaps you receive your Amazon parcels through a different postal branch than I do? Over the last two years virtually every Amazon order I've put in has been held up at the Phra Sing PO, which sends me a slip telling me to go down there and pay the duty if I want to pick it up. Occasionally the order of a single CD would slip through, but two or more - beginning around year 2000 and becoming pretty constant starting in 2002 - typically were charged 30%.

The first few years ordering via Amazon was great, when they had something called WorldPost (can't remember the exact name, just that it had 'World' in it) costing only 89 cents per CD to ship anywhere in the world. Then they jacked up the postage, and then Thai customs started charging. I no longer order anything through Amazon directly but rely on friends who are going back and forth to carry a few discs for me.

So count yourself lucky, Ajarn

[Kringle]

I've got a friend that just sent 4 packages from the states and he told me it cost more to send than to buy. There was quite a bit of weight (some canned goods) but what is the duty on food items? I should receive the parcels next week and I'll post the outcome of this little adventure. My friend had never shipped overseas before and didn't know that you had to say what was inside. It's mostly food items and a few things for my daughter but it should be interesting to see what happens.

I've tried to stay away from customs with anything because the wheels need to be oiled. I thought everything was supposed to go to 5% across the board with some things duty free but then again TIT.

[Axel]

You might have a look into this section of the customs site:

http://www.customs.go.th/Customs-Eng/Posta...e=PostalParcels

which explains at least in theory what will happen at the customs office. The figure of Baht 20,000 for easier clearing is correct. Bear in mind this figure does include goods' balue, postage, insurance-premuim and it is the appraisal officer who decides the value.

Myself? I gave up long time ago to have something sent to here, it's just too much trouble.

My wife is searching at the moment for a parcel sent a few weeks ago by regular airmail from Australia. Not even arrived. Costs? A few phone calls with Brisbane, faxing receipts, checking with the post office and I know the result, without registered mail next to impossible to find out.

Anyway, the OP suggested to exchange experience. Believe me, every single parcel will be different.

[Kringle]

Update: packages arrived with only 2 being partially opened and no fees on my end. Cost my friend about 400 US to send the stuff (80lbs.) but it's here.

[Axel]

Update: packages arrived with only 2 being partially opened and no fees on my end. Cost my friend about 400 US to send the stuff (80lbs.) but it's here.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Congratualations!

My wife still waits for an airmail parcel from Brisbane to Bangkok, sent mid November, not registered.

Guess it's lost.

[SiamJai]

Any illusions on my part about the reliablilty of customs actually following their own rules have been shattered when my 600-dollar keyboard got slapped with the usual 5% customs - when a musical instrument intended for personal use should have been exempt.

Sorry about that package, Axel, but don't give up hope yet! It happened with me too, but it was on the US-Europe route. It took three months, but it finally got to its destination - after having it searched but the post office. (unregistered, just using the receipt) Try that if haven't already. Good luck!

[Wolfie]

Twice i've had packages sent to me in Thailand, Once by Royal Mail (UK) registered post (swift is it called now?) and once from the US via UPS.

Royal mail, got here two weeks, no problems, no customs, no hassles...

UPS got here 3 weeks, got stiffed for something silly like 35-40% tax...

[SiamJai]

40% ?!?! That's a LOT! Was the package that valuable? Or was it one of those 'restricted' items with huge tariffs?

[BIG SPUDS]

I work for DHL - just sent the GF a parcel 5kg contents £100 she got charged

2700 baht

yep its 40% and yes its a &lt;deleted&gt;****g rip off!!!!

[Chailen]

Customs in Thailand is very much corrupted. You can get charged for "free samples" here. The safest way is to mark as "gift" and keep the declarations low.

I've sent and received enough to know exactly what to do, but experience comes at thousands of bahts worth of tariff.

If you don't have a friend or relative outside the country that is willing to do customs declaration for you, use a service like myus.com or usglobalmail.com- they'll hold all your packages and send them to you with your own specifications. They'll charge you for the shipping, but because they send so much, they receive reduced rates. I found these places while searching for something like this for a client. I'm a freelance personal assistant.

[Sunny Valentine]

I received my first Amazon Parcel (from Germany) yesterday. 5 Books, total bill value about 140$, no tax, travelled one week.

Was I just lucky?

Sunny

[LivinLOS]

You were lucky it arrived.. However I understand books are import duty free..

[Upcountry]

Chailen,

Thanks for that tip.

For music, I had a good experience with http://www.cdbaby.com

I ordered a Jonathan Richman cover CD from them once.

What's cool is they will ship your purchase without the jewel case and label it as "gift".

Their specialty seems to be in alternative music (if anyone is interested in corresponding about any type of non-commecial hits type music here in Thailand, please pm me.).

They're small but obviously more user friendly in some ways than mega-Amazon.

[fisherd3]

7 % VAT on anything marked with a value (over 20 USD in my experience)...

20% import duty seems the norm though DVD's seem to incurr 30 and other stuff I have bought has mysteriously been charged none..

Seems to be higher charges and always billed when using a courier like DHL but often slips through with Thai mail.

The real issue is I tend to only get 50% of packages shipped to me.. Currently have 500 USD worth of stuff (insured signed for) missing for >2 months..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah check out the real issue, out of four items sent to me from abroad only one package arrived, the missing items include 2ozs of tea tree oil from Australia and one plain letter in DL envelope (typed full address albeit in Roman characters) from UK. I believe world wide, including UK the honesty of postal workers is on the decline.

Based on this experience I would not ship anything to LOS unless I had previous experience / advice shipper was 100% reliable. Tey are unlikely to be cheap.Can you control who Amazon uses?

Edited January 17, 2005 by fisherd3

[farangene]

My recent experience:

I received 6 packages from the US in the last two months. 4 of them contained two dvds each that a friend from the US forwarded to me. One contained 3 books and one contained a one pound box of chocolate candy.

Of the six shipments, I paid a grand total of 17 cents (US) tax on one of the dvd shipments. I paid zero on the other five. The value of each shipment was shown as about $15.

Most of the shipments arrived within one week of mailing from the US except one of the dvd shipments (took two weeks) and the candy (took almost two months). All were mailed using air mail except the books that were supposed to be surface mail but were shipped air apparently in error.

No complaints from me. I have lived here 4 years and have never had a missing package.

Knock on wood!!

[Ajarn]

My recent experience:

I received 6 packages from the US in the last two months.  4 of them contained two dvds each that a friend from the US forwarded to me. One contained 3 books and one contained a one pound box of chocolate candy.

Of the six shipments, I paid a grand total of 17 cents (US) tax on one of the dvd shipments. I paid zero on the other five.  The value of each shipment  was shown as about $15.

Most of the shipments arrived within one week of mailing from the US except one of the dvd shipments (took two weeks) and the candy (took almost two months).  All were mailed using air mail except the books that were supposed to be surface mail but were shipped air apparently in error. 

No complaints from me. I have lived here 4 years and have never had a missing package.

Knock on wood!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've had good luck, too. Only one missing package in 20 years... From what I've gathered, it usually a local affair. Some PO's are more honest than others. Also the theives at the airport sort facility as well as the main sorting facilty in downtown Bkk have been problematic for a long time.

Someone asked about Amazon.com...

I've had at least 30 shipments od DVD's over the last 3 years. One missing package, one order with the wrong stuff. In both cases, Amazon had the stuff on a DHL flight within 24 hours of being notified, no questions asked. One DHL package I kicked back to Amazon because DHL's handling fees were more than the value of the CD's, and it was supposed to have been shipped free. Amazon credited my account anyway. Never had any problems with them...

If ordering through them, you'll do okay in regards to customs as long as you don't opt for the fastest (DHL to your door). The other two options come to your home via your local PO, and in my case, I have only gotten stung by custom a couple of times- none in the last two years.

Btw, A couple of years ago a family member kindly sent me a shit-load of chocolate, leftover from their Easter... Needless to say, that shit-load of chocolate arrived looking like a melted load of shit

[OldAsiaHand]

You were lucky it arrived.. However I understand books are import duty free..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wrong. There are very substantial duties on books coming into Thailand, and even if there weren't, you'd frequently pay anyway.

Customs here is utterly and completely corrupt. They simply pick out a number of packages coming into the country and refuse to release them until they extoprt a bribe from you. The size of the bribe is directly proportional to who you know.

I imported about a hundred and fifty books a year or so ago and was slapped with a bill for over B42,000 in duty (yes, you read that right). When I had a highly placed friend in government call customs about the matter, it was explained to him that the duty bill had contained a typing error. The duty, you see, was actually supposed to have been B42.

Good luck, and welcome to Thailand.

[OldAsiaHand]

Sorry, but the edit button seems to have disappeared on me.....

What I meant to say was that customs can (and does, if you draw a black bean) classify books as 'printed matter' (which, I suppose, they are) and that throws them into a tariff class that is pretty hefty. Something like 35% of whatever they claim the original cost of the books was, not the present value, but of course that is just a starting point for negotiations.

I've never known of anything like this happening with couriered documents and books addressed to Thai names, so it doesn't seem unreasonable to see this as probably yet another farang tax. Or maybe Customs just figures they're safer extorting foreigners since we're less likely to be connected and able to bite back in any meaningful way.

[joinme2leave]

no1: normal mail service (austria to Thailand). sent to my thai biz partner (her name only). arrived safely and unopened after 4 days. content: shaving cable.

no2: normal mail service (austria to Thailand). sent to my thai biz partner (but mistakenly showing my farang name as well). never arrived so far. now waiting 1 month already. content: documents

no3: normal mail service (austria to Thailand). sent to my name. Arrived after 12 days, letter has been opened but nothing missing. content: documents and credit card size business cards.

I decided to have NO MORE MAIL sent to me as I am not really into russian roulette gambling...

[varun]

Hmmm.

I have been pondering myself over this issue.

I order Vinyls(12") online every week from the UK in sets of 2/package...usually costing approx. 15 quid per package and i usually get it within 4-5 days(Royal Mail). I have NEVER been charged duty on them.

To the best of my knowledge, the max. value of a package being posted to Thailand should not exceed 1000 baht per package/dose.

One thing you could do is request the site to put your reciept inside the package as opposed to sticking it on the package itself(as was the case with the earlier vinyls I ordered). This helps cause most of the time customs officials are plain lazy to open the package.

[Upcountry]

Sunny Valentine,

How much was the cost of shipping on that $140's worth of books. Compared to the price of books in Bangkok, and given the good deals that can be had on Amazon, etc., would you say you came out ahead?

I appreciate everyone's input here.

joinme2leave, thank you for suggesting using a Thai name. If I order from Amazon, etc., I'll see if I can set the mailing address to show my wife's name instead of mine!