My wife and I just arrived this month and are shipping our personal goods into Thailand. Will there be any import tax assessed by Thai customs? The items include some used furniture, kitchen dishes, flatware and utensils, some electronics (example: 1 of each - computer monitor, stereo system, DVD player, etc.), case of basic wine, beauty supplies ( I said "my wife") and clothes.

I did a similar thing when I moved some used items here and got hammered by customs, it was basically pay it or we keep the goods be very aware of the scams they have going on here. It cost me as much to get the good out as its did to send them, last time I`ll ever ship things here it was via fedex but the problem is the agents this side and the customs.

My personal xperience only, and may be different for others:

I shipped some personal effects, old furniture and other household items to Thailand last year from Australia. Was told by the removalist in Aust that they should not attract duties...i was told on the goods' arrival here that the duties were THB20k...we negotiated it down to 15k. The agent here was 4winds (or something like that). We were careful not to pack electronic equipmet/electricals. We had some paintings though. Maybe I should have stood my ground, refused untl I saw some documentation etc but at the end of the day, I decided to save time and cut my losses: there is a list of dutiable items and other useful info that the thai customs "look at" and that should be available from your removalist in your home country (and they will have a Thai agent who will provide answers). That list is somehow reduced to mere "guidelines" and there can be any number of reasons why the shipment suddenly attract duties. I think the guidelines leave enough room for "interpretation", which nobody can help if a greedy customs officer looks at your shipment and starts "interpreting". I should have asked in Australia what's the worse case scenaro and commit it to the contract there (although it had lots of fine print!). Other than this duties issue, the local agent was fantastic.

We packed as much as we could with us in suitcases - with 2 Biz Class tix and frequent flyer membership and the customary "flexibility" to biz class, we stretched to 50kgs between the 2 of us...this was one occassion where the fake smiles and "dressing politely" really helped I think

Error in my last para: should be 50kgs each

20k Baht seems to be the standard to start negotiations at.

My wife and I just arrived this month and are shipping our personal goods into Thailand. Will there be any import tax assessed by Thai customs? The items include some used furniture, kitchen dishes, flatware and utensils, some electronics (example: 1 of each - computer monitor, stereo system, DVD player, etc.), case of basic wine, beauty supplies ( I said "my wife") and clothes.

we moved here 3 years ago ,used my wifes Thai name , the company we employed were supposed to deliver the goods to my sister in law in bangkok as they did not deliver to Pattaya,when it arrived i was phoned and asked if i would like it delivered to us instead ,cost 2000 baht. that is all we ever paid. no import duty should have to be paid on any personal goods if shipped within 6 months of youe arrival.pay nothing .

Is your Thai wife a Thai national or does she hold a foreign, such as US, passport?

Is your Thai wife a Thai national or does she hold a foreign, such as US, passport?

My wife and I just arrived this month and are shipping our personal goods into Thailand. Will there be any import tax assessed by Thai customs? The items include some used furniture, kitchen dishes, flatware and utensils, some electronics (example: 1 of each - computer monitor, stereo system, DVD player, etc.), case of basic wine, beauty supplies ( I said "my wife") and clothes.

we moved here 3 years ago ,used my wifes Thai name , the company we employed were supposed to deliver the goods to my sister in law in bangkok as they did not deliver to Pattaya,when it arrived i was phoned and asked if i would like it delivered to us instead ,cost 2000 baht. that is all we ever paid. no import duty should have to be paid on any personal goods if shipped within 6 months of youe arrival.pay nothing .

This maybe true but it all depends on who is handling the case. I shipped a few Cd's and books and one or two personal items here when I moved here. The goods arrived just two days after me and I had to pay 10000 baht (down from 15000). I protested like mad but was simply told "This is how it is in Thailand"

I now have a friend who works as a customs clearing agent and she told me the same story. She never knows how much it will cost to import certain items. It's simply up to the custom's officer's mood.

we moved here 3 years ago ,used my wifes Thai name , the company we employed were supposed to deliver the goods to my sister in law in bangkok as they did not deliver to Pattaya,when it arrived i was phoned and asked if i would like it delivered to us instead ,cost 2000 baht. that is all we ever paid. no import duty should have to be paid on any personal goods if shipped within 6 months of youe arrival.pay nothing .

There is a link there if you look close enough..

You Ship Personal Effects under the name of John Smith, then let's see how much of " nothing " you'll have to pay..