Hello,

I write programs for an university in Switzerland. I do my developing work in UNIX with a MacBook Pro 17" which belongs to my employer. Unluckily it froze and can not be rebooted up to the graphic interface (kernel panic). I can boot it in single user mode, but there is certainly something wrong with the hardware. I have a complete timemachine backup - hence data loss is no issue.

I contacted my employer and they would be willing to send me a new MacBook to Thailand.

My questions:

• Is there a save way to send a MacBook Pro to Thailand? Its value would be well above 100'000 Baht.
  
• Would there be any troubles with customs? It would be a replacement for the MacBook I took with me when I came to Thailand. I will take both back to Switzerland when I go back. Hence I don't want to pay any custom or import taxes for it in Thailand.
  

Does anybody have experiences?

Thanks for any pointers

Thedi

Get your employer to agree to you making a local purchase for a new machine and charge them back on expenses. In the long run it will be a lot cheaper than getting slammed for import duty.

Hello,

I write programs for an university in Switzerland. I do my developing work in UNIX with a MacBook Pro 17" which belongs to my employer. Unluckily it froze and can not be rebooted up to the graphic interface (kernel panic). I can boot it in single user mode, but there is certainly something wrong with the hardware. I have a complete timemachine backup - hence data loss is no issue.

I contacted my employer and they would be willing to send me a new MacBook to Thailand.

My questions:

• Is there a save way to send a MacBook Pro to Thailand? Its value would be well above 100'000 Baht.
  
• Would there be any troubles with customs? It would be a replacement for the MacBook I took with me when I came to Thailand. I will take both back to Switzerland when I go back. Hence I don't want to pay any custom or import taxes for it in Thailand.
  

Does anybody have experiences?

Thanks for any pointers

Thedi

agree with Guesthouse;

check out the local AppleMAC stores in Bangkok. The pricing of MAC equipments are pretty much in line globally.

I compared my MACBOOK versus the one in Bangkok and it was about the same after the exchange rate calculation.

Make an online purchase from Thailand Apple store or get your employer to do this.

Mine was shipped from China, they pay for the shipping and no customs problems.

You just need an address with someone there to sign and a telephone number where they can contact you (they will call you to confirm address).

You can get an educational discount if for your children, have children, in teaching etc.

Having said that, no one ever actually checked whether we were legit for that or not. We just logged into the educational store.

It was actually for my daughter who is still studying, but no one asked for details. The discount was about 10%

As already said above, buy it locally. You can even ask for a model without the Thai letters on the keyboard if you do not intend to use it for typing in Thai.

Thanks for all the replies.

I think that sending a new laptop from Switzerland by fedex or whatever is too risky, especially considering customs and their well-known fondness for expensive teas.

I will now first try to contact a local Apple dealer. There is a shop which sells MacBooks in Khon Kaen, which is only 50 km from where I live. No idea if they just sell or if they know something about Macs. But maybe it is just a minor hardware problem like memory or disk drive - then a repair in Thailand should be possible.

If that does not work out, I will try to buy a new one directly from store.apple.com and let them deliver it to my home here in Thailand. This should solve all difficulties with customs, taxes etc. Special thanks to cmsally for this tip.

Regards

Thedi

If that does not work out, I will try to buy a new one directly from store.apple.com and let them deliver it to my home here in Thailand. This should solve all difficulties with customs, taxes etc. Special thanks to cmsally for this tip.

Regards

Thedi

unless it is shipped from within thailand you may have customs disaster and apple wont care.

incidentally, if you have time for a trip to KL, MACs are maybe %15 cheaper in RM and there is no Tax there - so you pay for the ticket and save a few bucks if you get it there. and of course no Thai keyboard