Bringing Personal Items Into Los On O Visa

[daveb1]

Sorry to post on this one again but I am still a bit unsure on some of the answers i got last time i posted. I have an O muti entry 1 year visa and when i move to Thailand later in the year can i ship over personal belongings ie Hifi TV (bonly six months old plasma so dont want to sell it and buy a new one in LOS as they are much more expensive) I know you can only bring one of everything to avoid paying any duty but can i do this on an O visa without a work permit.

I do have a house in Thailand and have set up a company for future possible investment or business in thailand in the future. Anyone done this and got there stuff over without any problems? Also can anyone recomend a good company in the UK to ship stuff and any idea of cost

Thanks

DAVE

[kenkannif]

I think you're only allowed to bring stuff over tax free on the first 6 months of your extended Visa (i.e. you used marriage and money to extend your Visa so you don't have to leave every 90 days).

So if you're using it as a multiple entry (i.e. leaving every 90 days or so) there's a good chance you'll get battered on tax.

I'm not 100% sure this is correct, so please do take it with a pinch of salt. I've also heard even if you do do it in the first 6 months of your extension they can be funny about it and charge you tax?

[astral]

If you have a one year extension to your visa, based on marriage, or retirement

then you can import your personal belongings.

Where are you coming from?

Equipment from the US may not work here!!

[daveb1]

From UK I think is visa based on investment in property

[astral]

Sorry I forgot to add investment.

It is not a route that many people take.

UK equipment should be alright here.

[monsieurhappy]

Hi,

When I came out about 2 1/2 years ago there were some things I wanted to bring, personal items eg. photos, books, a hi-fi, video etc. I was able to get them into a wooden box ( or at least the shipping co. was ) about 1 1/2 cubic metres. They took them away, boxed them up and put them on the ship. The cost of this inc. making the box and insurance came to 405 GBP. I put the ownership as myThai wife and the addressee as her sister in Bangkok. They told me the name of the ship and when it was due in Bangkok, about one month after dispatch.

I left the UK on a 6 month double entry tourist visa. A friend of my wife called the port in Bangkok when the box was due to arrive, to confirm it's arrival. Then we went to collect. We were shunted about from office to office getting paperwork signed and stamped. This took about 6 hrs., probably because we refused to pay any "tea money" But eventually we got the box from the customs without having to pay any tax. The box had been damaged, but not the contents. We wanted to take everything out of the box and put into our pick-up, but they said that as only one box came in, only one box could go out. So we had to pay for a fork lift to put our broken box on one of their trucks, take outside the gates and transfer to our pick-up. About 200 baht.

So maybe the answer is to put everything into someone elses name.

[Tufty]

Equipment from the US may not work here!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Coming to live here from England 2 years ago

I brought (and still bringing) a lot of stuff, a bit at a time in my suitcase the largest being a very expensive Panasonic video recorder

Although I can get a picture of sorts the sound is just white noise and I can only tune it into about 4 or 5 channels,

If I play old tapes through phono connectors into the TV its great but its rubbish on the RF lead. I'm in the process of trying to get a new Thai receiever fitted but so far not a lot of success

So I dont think your TV will work here but your HiFi will be ok I was a bit sad I couldn't fit my 4' Mission speakers in my bag

Be warned though the last time I flew into bkk I had my bag scaned in the green channel (luckly no metal stuff)

[The_Moog]

1 1/2 cubic metres. They took them away, boxed them up and put them on the ship. The cost of this inc. making the box and insurance came to 405 GBP.

This is about right, and when you price it up, there is not much that is worth 400 quid per cubic metre - unless its of real sentimental value.

I keep a lot of my old gear in the UK, and whenever I go over, I return with a couple of extra cases filled.

A plasma television is probably going to shatter as they are terribly delicate and cannot withstand any pounding.

Consider "Unaccompanied baggage" which is an alternative to shipping. The goods go on the same airline as you, but not same flight. Its arranged through your airline and is based on weight, not size. A friend shipped a television Thailand-Australia via this method for about half the price of a removal company (80 baht per kilo)