Hypothetical export problem scenario

[Dancali]

This is a small continuation of the discussion of the legality of small time exporters without the proper visas and permits.

Basically, Indo-Siam argued, quite well, that people shipping stuff abroad are not on the authorities' radar screen.  Further, it would take an absurd scenario such as a vengeful girlfriend talking to her policeman brother who then presents a ridiculously detailed court case against the criminal exporter.  Indo-Siam repeatedly challenged people to come up with plausible scenario where the exporter would be caught and punished -- it seems that noone generated a serious response to this challenge.

Well, what about this?  The small time exporter goes in to the Thai post office every other day or so mailing multiple parcel items to multiple addresses.  Perhaps they have a successful mail order business where they sell direct to their buyers from Thailand.  After a little while of this it becomes obvious that the farang is not just a tourist sending stuff home or some other legitimate excuse.  What might the authorities do?  Perhaps they don't worry about it.  But perhaps they crack down somehow.  The evidence is your repeated mailing of things, probably with your return address saved in the computer.  They could quickly verify this in their computers and see an obvious pattern.  It would not seem very hard to make the case against this sort of exporter.

What do you think?

[Indo-Siam]

Hi -

My answer is:  Hire a Thai to make the post office runs for you every day, with return address to a cooperative business near your home - ideally a tailor shop, or a handicrafts or souvenir store.  'Might cost you a thousand baht per month or so - I don't know what you could work out.

I know that every day in Bangkok, several thousand Thai companies are mailing out stuff all the time.  With all mail going overseas, your activity might (in this post-9-11 world)at some point trip a surveillance monitor.  I suspect that as long as you aren't shipping Semtex, or drugs, or RPG rounds, or kiddie porn, no one's going to care too much.

Even if you just played out the hypothetical scenario at face value,  on any given day, I'd scarcely think they would arrest you.  They would perhaps give you a "desist" order.

I believe that there is a Thai law on the books concerning tax liability for income generated through on-line sales - and I think it specifically addresses income from overseas.  My only source for this is my memory of reading a Bangkok Post article sometime earlier in 2003.   Going forward, this might be more of an issue - due to loss of tax revenue.  But this would probaly not come into play until you started showing up with a truckload of packages every day.

My question - what is the manner in which the hypothetical shipper maintains his legal presence in Thailand, entry-permit wise?

Again, I know nothing special, but it sure looks to me as if Thailand is in the process of making endless visa on arrival turnarounds a thing of the past.  They are almost certainly setting up the preparations to clamp down on this practice - whether they will pull the trigger or not, I can't say.

Cheers!

Indo-Siam