Shipping Personal Belongings From Uk To Thai Home.

[Farang0tang]

I have some personal effects, documents, books, some small electronic gadgets, clothing etc. Which I would like transported from UK to Thailand. Correct me if I am wrong, but a mate has said if I send my stuff by air, the shipping price depends on the weight, whereas by sea its down to the size of the boxes - and possibly a lot cheaper. As there is no hurry to receive the items I would send it the cheapest route.

Currently everything is packed in 1 large suitcase and a slightly larger 'gorilla' box. Not sure of the weight, I imagine not more than 60 kilograms in total, which could then be packed into a single larger box about 1m square.

My concern is whilst reading various similar threads, posters are quoting their current Thai immigration visa status. Does this matter? I am UK citizen but have a home in Thailand. I work in another country and always enter Thailand on a 30 day tourist visa. Will this in anyway hinder my attempt to ship my stuff into the country?

I do realise customs will have to be dealt with, and have read it is better to arrange shipping direct from home-to-home, as apposed to collect yourself at the port in BKK.

Thought: Would it be better to send everything in my Thai wifes name? Or at least have her name down as the eventual receiver?

Any advice greatly accepted.

[tim armstrong]

I have some personal effects, documents, books, some small electronic gadgets, clothing etc. Which I would like transported from UK to Thailand. Correct me if I am wrong, but a mate has said if I send my stuff by air, the shipping price depends on the weight, whereas by sea its down to the size of the boxes - and possibly a lot cheaper. As there is no hurry to receive the items I would send it the cheapest route.

Currently everything is packed in 1 large suitcase and a slightly larger 'gorilla' box. Not sure of the weight, I imagine not more than 60 kilograms in total, which could then be packed into a single larger box about 1m square.

My concern is whilst reading various similar threads, posters are quoting their current Thai immigration visa status. Does this matter? I am UK citizen but have a home in Thailand. I work in another country and always enter Thailand on a 30 day tourist visa. Will this in anyway hinder my attempt to ship my stuff into the country?

I do realise customs will have to be dealt with, and have read it is better to arrange shipping direct from home-to-home, as apposed to collect yourself at the port in BKK.

Thought: Would it be better to send everything in my Thai wifes name? Or at least have her name down as the eventual receiver?

Any advice greatly accepted.

Send it in your wife's name door to door with a company like Pickfords. They negotiate all the customs stuff, probably add a bit to the cost but are excellent at moving anything anywhere. Good luck.

[jamora]

First, by sea is far cheaper than by air, we had a whole 30ft container shipped from Denmark to Bangkok, and paid 1,000 GBP for the entire shipment. (and you can have MANY 1m3 boxes in a 30ft container!!!) the shipment took 3 weeks, guess it would be the same from UK.

Ship it in your wife's name, and if you have no contacts at the customs, get a shipping company to do door-to-door shipping and negotiate for you.

[Farang0tang]

Thanks for the early replies.

Looks like sending it in the wifes name is the way to go.

Does anybody know the procedure once it arrives at port in BKK?

[jamora]

Since I just picked up the container myself, I do not know the "normal" procedure. But I have been told that the customs can be very annoying... And you have to be VERY careful writing the shipping list!

[getgoin]

I have some personal effects, documents, books, some small electronic gadgets, clothing etc. Which I would like transported from UK to Thailand. Correct me if I am wrong, but a mate has said if I send my stuff by air, the shipping price depends on the weight, whereas by sea its down to the size of the boxes - and possibly a lot cheaper. As there is no hurry to receive the items I would send it the cheapest route.

Currently everything is packed in 1 large suitcase and a slightly larger 'gorilla' box. Not sure of the weight, I imagine not more than 60 kilograms in total, which could then be packed into a single larger box about 1m square.

My concern is whilst reading various similar threads, posters are quoting their current Thai immigration visa status. Does this matter? I am UK citizen but have a home in Thailand. I work in another country and always enter Thailand on a 30 day tourist visa. Will this in anyway hinder my attempt to ship my stuff into the country?

I do realise customs will have to be dealt with, and have read it is better to arrange shipping direct from home-to-home, as apposed to collect yourself at the port in BKK.

Thought: Would it be better to send everything in my Thai wifes name? Or at least have her name down as the eventual receiver?

Any advice greatly accepted.

Take it in a little at a time when you come to Thailand.

[Farang0tang]

My gear has been packed away and locked up in a friends garage for over a year now. I will not be back in UK in the near future, and would be loathed to go back just to collect it. The plan was to ship it out to Thailand. It will be a problem to compile an accurate shipping list, as I cant remember everything that was put in it. Does that mean if i get nobbled by the Thai customs, they may confiscate all items not listed?

[jamora]

My gear has been packed away and locked up in a friends garage for over a year now. I will not be back in UK in the near future, and would be loathed to go back just to collect it. The plan was to ship it out to Thailand. It will be a problem to compile an accurate shipping list, as I cant remember everything that was put in it. Does that mean if i get nobbled by the Thai customs, they may confiscate all items not listed?

I don't think they can confiscate them, as long as they are legal. But they can give you trouble, charging you for trying to "smuggle" stuff in, or they can add import taxes, tariffs etc. (which they can do anyway) And if they see that several goods are not specified on the shipping document, they might make a more detailed check. We shipped with DSV, and they warned us that the Thai customs have a bad reputation of being a pain in the ..., so they can get some easy extra money.

[jasreeve17]

Send it in your wife's name door to door with a company like Pickfords. They negotiate all the customs stuff, probably add a bit to the cost but are excellent at moving anything anywhere. Good luck.

I wouldn't want the stress of dealing with immigration, so I agree with Tim Armstrong (I used to work with a guy called Tim Armstrong...).

I had grief sending 320 teabags from the UK, I'd hate to open pandora's box.

[trainman34014]

I had grief sending 320 teabags from the UK, I'd hate to open pandora's box.

Bring your own teabags with you inside your luggage, head for the green channel and don't worry about it.

[finnomick]

I shipped a container from the UK to Bangkok a couple of years ago, so I hope the following will be of some use to you. I used Brittania ( Appleyard's of Brinsworth, Rotherham -- I know John Appleyard ). They made out the manifest when they packed the items into the container -- most shippers will insist on packing everything especially if you take out transit insurance with them for obvious reasons. Appleyards use a company in Bangkok called Asian Tigers who dealt with all the paperwork and custom's formalities ( a very efficient company I must say ). The container took 5 weeks to get from the UK to Thailand direct, but as you say, time is not an issue. When Asain Tigers did the customs formalities, I had to send them my passport and customs wrote the ' large ' electronic items on one page. They do this because you are only allowed to import one item of any electronic device such as t.v's., fridges etc. If you are importing personal goods, you are allowed ONLY one shipment by either air or sea which will not attract any import duty. Subsequent shipments will attract import duty so make sure you bring all items in in one go. My container was not opened in Bangkok by customs. The customs formalities took 5 days to complete. I had the container addressed to my Thai girlfriend which was no problem. Even if you use ' door to door ' service, the crate will go to a customs area before it will be released for onward delivery, and finally, I think, yes, much cheaper by sea. If you have any other questions in which I can be of help, contact me.

[jasreeve17]

Bring your own teabags with you inside your luggage, head for the green channel and don't worry about it.

I haven't been outside of Asia in eight years... Just needed some decent tea; found some Yorkshire teabags (lovely cuppa) on ebay (cheaper than UK Tesco stores) and received them 3 days later - sorry received the 1200 baht bill from customs 3 days later. After a couple of weeks of hassle the missus got fed up, headed down to their office and found the teabags with several big stamps saying NO DUTY TO PAY plastered all over the box. A visit to the big boss; "oh sorry, somebody must of made a mistake (which the missus actually believes...): no duty to pay"

Lovely tea. I don't even remember that brand last time I was in the UK.

[Rinrada]

[ attachment=91833:T123.jpg]

[jasreeve17]

Yep, those are the beauties; very nice too.

[longstebe]

My shipment should arrive any day now.

I paid for door-door delivery.

From what I understand,if you put it in your wifes name she has to prove she has been out of Thailand for longer than 1 year.

Also your wife has to send her passport to the shipping company in BKK. A copy is not good enough. If your wife has come back

to Thailand to visit beforehand,it can't have been longer than 3 months. I 'm hoping all of these stupid little rules are to avoid paying the

taxes. Basically your wife would be re-locating back home.

This is exactly what I am dealing with at the moment.

Feel free to PM me with any further questions. I will be glad to share my story.

Though it's not over yet!!!!