I need to ship several boxes of common household items from my home in the US to my home in Bangkok.

I'm unsure of the most cost effective way to do this. Airlines allow up to 2 bags of 50lbs for the ticket I purchased and then it's $100+ after per bag.

I have expat friends who used a "Thais Returning to Thailand" shipping service that tacks their stuff onto the pallets of Thai students returning to their home country, --but this service is very slow and may take months to arrive.

I have looked at the many other shippers and there are so many choices I don't know where to start.

I don't need my stuff in days, but less than two weeks or so would be optimal.

The boxes are between 50 and 70lbs (pounds) and I estimate there will be fewer than 5 boxes when I'm finished packing.

Thanks everyone!

cheers!

first of all - if you have a O, B, E type visa and this is the first time you will be importing or shipping your household

affects, then you will qualify for a 'customs duty exemption' on your stuff providing the affects are shipped and not

hand carried on a commercial airline flight.

If you ship your stuff by sea-freight, LTL (less than truck load) each box must be labeled with name/box number & a content list + invoice must be prepared and handed over to your shipper (some may do this for you at a additional cost).

* what I did since I couldn't fill a small 20'f container, I opted to have my stuff crated into 2 crates, rather than by each box which

tend to go missing or lost during the voyage at some point.

Upon your personal affects landing in Thailand, you either must file your import papers yourself or assign a custom broker to do this

for you to clear and pick up your stuff or hire a pick up at the port clearance. (a lot of work and paper work)

If you opt to use the airline as extra luggage (each box must have the correct volume dimension and weight) to be accepted and

of course the 'fee' for each over allowance luggage.

*con side: upon arriving at Suvarnabhumi airport you will have a ton of luggage and there may be a high possibility that you

will be stonewalled at the customs point. They will SCAN each luggage and may open them and access what you have and impose a duty on this. Make sure you know what you have and properly label each box contents with an appropriate value (just in case).

The more honest you are, the better off you are - as they may just clear you if the contents are only used stuff of personal affects.

either way you choose; there will be the pros and cons: PS: I lived in the State of Washington and I used this company;

Raineer overseas to ship my stuff.

I've always wondered what happens if you are just coming in for a few months (tourist visa), then leaving again - would you still be hit with a customs bill?

I'll be moving to BKK in Feb for a month or two (then off to somewhere else) so will need to bring all my bits and pieces across (4 suitcases worth at the most I think).

Just put it as a ZERO value gift, and you'll be fine.

With No insurance.

forgot to mention yesterday; /www.customs.go.th/Customs-Eng/indexEng.jsp

check this website out for more info; you will need to fill out a specific form for your tax exempt application

of your personal affects.

first of all - if you have a O, B, E type visa and this is the first time you will be importing or shipping your household

affects, then you will qualify for a 'customs duty exemption' on your stuff providing the affects are shipped and not

hand carried on a commercial airline flight.

If you ship your stuff by sea-freight, LTL (less than truck load) each box must be labeled with name/box number & a content list + invoice must be prepared and handed over to your shipper (some may do this for you at a additional cost).

* what I did since I couldn't fill a small 20'f container, I opted to have my stuff crated into 2 crates, rather than by each box which

tend to go missing or lost during the voyage at some point.

Upon your personal affects landing in Thailand, you either must file your import papers yourself or assign a custom broker to do this

for you to clear and pick up your stuff or hire a pick up at the port clearance. (a lot of work and paper work)

If you opt to use the airline as extra luggage (each box must have the correct volume dimension and weight) to be accepted and

of course the 'fee' for each over allowance luggage.

*con side: upon arriving at Suvarnabhumi airport you will have a ton of luggage and there may be a high possibility that you

will be stonewalled at the customs point. They will SCAN each luggage and may open them and access what you have and impose a duty on this. Make sure you know what you have and properly label each box contents with an appropriate value (just in case).

The more honest you are, the better off you are - as they may just clear you if the contents are only used stuff of personal affects.

either way you choose; there will be the pros and cons: PS: I lived in the State of Washington and I used this company;

Raineer overseas to ship my stuff.

Sorry, not correct. You need a work permit to import tax and duty free. In some cases you may be able to bypass this law, if you are lucky?

first of all - if you have a O, B, E type visa and this is the first time you will be importing or shipping your household

affects, then you will qualify for a 'customs duty exemption' on your stuff providing the affects are shipped and not

hand carried on a commercial airline flight.

If you ship your stuff by sea-freight, LTL (less than truck load) each box must be labeled with name/box number & a content list + invoice must be prepared and handed over to your shipper (some may do this for you at a additional cost).

* what I did since I couldn't fill a small 20'f container, I opted to have my stuff crated into 2 crates, rather than by each box which

tend to go missing or lost during the voyage at some point.

Upon your personal affects landing in Thailand, you either must file your import papers yourself or assign a custom broker to do this

for you to clear and pick up your stuff or hire a pick up at the port clearance. (a lot of work and paper work)

If you opt to use the airline as extra luggage (each box must have the correct volume dimension and weight) to be accepted and

of course the 'fee' for each over allowance luggage.

*con side: upon arriving at Suvarnabhumi airport you will have a ton of luggage and there may be a high possibility that you

will be stonewalled at the customs point. They will SCAN each luggage and may open them and access what you have and impose a duty on this. Make sure you know what you have and properly label each box contents with an appropriate value (just in case).

The more honest you are, the better off you are - as they may just clear you if the contents are only used stuff of personal affects.

either way you choose; there will be the pros and cons: PS: I lived in the State of Washington and I used this company;

Raineer overseas to ship my stuff.

Sorry, not correct. You need a work permit to import tax and duty free. In some cases you may be able to bypass this law, if you are lucky?

Incorrect;

you do not need a work permit;

I have a O visa and an exemption was granted. Check with a Customs broker and Thai Customs.

Airlines allow up to 2 bags of 50lbs for the ticket I purchased and then it's $100+ after per bag.

I just did a move in the opposite direction, BKK->USA.

My findings:

checking an extra bag on United Airlines for an Asia/USA ticket: $250/bag.

mailing a 20kg box BKK->USA: ~7000 baht

I decided instead to let the mother-in-law hold everything I wanted to keep -- I'll bring them back in future trips when we visit her.

Cheaper to buy everything else anew in the new home.

So we filled our luggage quota and everything else went to 'ma-in-law.

You should note though, some airlines give extra baggage allowance to their frequent flyers. Both my wife and I are given 3 checked bags of 32 kg each on United, so we were able to check 6 large suitcases. The standard is 2 checked bags at 25kg each.

first of all - if you have a O, B, E type visa and this is the first time you will be importing or shipping your household

affects, then you will qualify for a 'customs duty exemption' on your stuff providing the affects are shipped and not

hand carried on a commercial airline flight.

If you ship your stuff by sea-freight, LTL (less than truck load) each box must be labeled with name/box number & a content list + invoice must be prepared and handed over to your shipper (some may do this for you at a additional cost).

* what I did since I couldn't fill a small 20'f container, I opted to have my stuff crated into 2 crates, rather than by each box which

tend to go missing or lost during the voyage at some point.

Upon your personal affects landing in Thailand, you either must file your import papers yourself or assign a custom broker to do this

for you to clear and pick up your stuff or hire a pick up at the port clearance. (a lot of work and paper work)

If you opt to use the airline as extra luggage (each box must have the correct volume dimension and weight) to be accepted and

of course the 'fee' for each over allowance luggage.

*con side: upon arriving at Suvarnabhumi airport you will have a ton of luggage and there may be a high possibility that you

will be stonewalled at the customs point. They will SCAN each luggage and may open them and access what you have and impose a duty on this. Make sure you know what you have and properly label each box contents with an appropriate value (just in case).

The more honest you are, the better off you are - as they may just clear you if the contents are only used stuff of personal affects.

either way you choose; there will be the pros and cons: PS: I lived in the State of Washington and I used this company;

Raineer overseas to ship my stuff.

Sorry, not correct. You need a work permit to import tax and duty free. In some cases you may be able to bypass this law, if you are lucky?

Incorrect;

you do not need a work permit;

I have a O visa and an exemption was granted. Check with a Customs broker and Thai Customs.

Been doing this for 10 years 'professionally'. Put your money where your mouth is. 10,000 baht says I'm right. You getting your shipment tax and duty free on a type O visa was just good fortune. I suggest you check with Thai customs before you take me up on my 10k offer.

Going, going.....