Bringing Personal Food Products Into Thailand.

[kikoman]

I will be going back to Mexico/Arizona in a few months, I will be bringing back Mexican food products for my own use. Has any one had any experience in doing that lately ( any type of food products).

Did you have any problems with Thai Customs, (I plan to declare it) ?

Have to pay import taxes, if so how much ?

Any information will be useful, I want to do everything above board and Legal !

Thank you for any information ,you may offer.

Cheers:

Edited January 17, 2010 by kikoman

[londonthai]

buy foods from the shops/supermarkets, rather than the street markets, so it's properly packed, vacum sealed - but you can take off an extra packaging/boxes to make it lighter and to proove to customs, that it's not for sale. Spread them equally in each bag, thai customs do x-ray usually only one of your bags, so there is less chance being stopped.

the last time I did bring 7.5kg of chocolate in my hand luggage - it was x-rayed, but they stopped me for something else which I was carring. On hand inspection I did explain that it's not the brand chocolate, but the tesco one (it was) and they didn't bother about it.

the worst they would channel you into the red where there is tax 10-20%

[Jingthing]

It depends on the quantities but I wouldn't bothering declaring small to moderate amounts of packaged foods for personal use. They definitely don't seem obsessed about keeping out foreign foods the way US customs is for agricultural protection reasons. Maybe they should be.

[hawthorne]

Not sure if being Thai has any bearing on how the customs agents treat this matter. My wife always takes dates (up to 10 kilos) each time she goes home to Thailand. Nothing has ever been said to her. She has even taken large quantities of other items as gifts. She has never declared any of it and has never been stopped. This last trip of a couple days ago she took 18 rugs(for gifts to monks), several kilos of dates and one DVD player in its box. All were gifts but no way she could prove it. Nothing happened maybe she looks so sweet.

But yet they weigh her carry on ( 7 kgs max) each and every time she leaves the thai airport?

On a second note She always mails food and other items back to our home outside of Thailand and it gets out and to us with no issues. I think most countries are concerned about fruit more than anything else because of the insects or their eggs that could be transported.

[kikoman]

I have brought food over in the past, when more baggage was allowed per person,one was completely full of food items, and once I brought over a Television /VCR combination they saw it on the x-ray and asked me about it, I told them that I took it home to play tapes I had for my family, because Thai Video tapes did not play on US VCRs ,they let it pass.

I have not gone back to Mexico and the US in 5 years and was wondering if , the bringing in food items for personal use was still allowed, I do not mind paying 10-20% taxes on it a lot cheaper that shipping or mailing.

Thanks for your post:

Cheers:

[londonthai]

customs in the new airport are much more stricter than they were in don muang, now they have 50 scanners and happen they scan all luggage. The chances of scanning just 1 piece of luggage (usually the hand luggage, which is smaller and usually on the top of the other, larger bags on the trolly) are high, so in the hand luggage put the safest goods.

[GungaDin]

^^^ they scan your luggage b4 or after the carousel?

[bonobo]

I bring back over 150 lbs on each trip, from fresh meats, salamis, prosciuttos, Diet Dr. Pepper, wine, Miracle Whip, spices, dijon mustard, lemons, etc. and have never had a problem.

[londonthai]

^^^ they scan your luggage b4 or after the carousel?

they scan all or at random after the carousel, but most probably do have a fascility to scan before the carousel as well (as many other airports do), if they have a tip off or a high chance of a contraband from some particular airplane/destination. Because of the workload they wouldn't bother about foods

[eTiMaGo]

Whenever friends come over from europe to visit, they bring us back food stuff... cheese, salami, chocolates, etc, and nobody's ever had a problem

[toptuan]

Before Tesco came to our Isaan city, I regularly brought back boxes of oatmeal. Don't think customs knew what it was. No Thais who've tried it at my house like it. No competition. No problem.

Edited January 18, 2010 by toptuan

[dttk0009]

I bring back over 150 lbs on each trip, from fresh meats, salamis, prosciuttos, Diet Dr. Pepper, wine, Miracle Whip, spices, dijon mustard, lemons, etc. and have never had a problem.

You'd be wise to point out that you either know someone or have been lucky enough to not gotten a random pull over at the declaration counter.

[bonobo]

I bring back over 150 lbs on each trip, from fresh meats, salamis, prosciuttos, Diet Dr. Pepper, wine, Miracle Whip, spices, dijon mustard, lemons, etc. and have never had a problem.

You'd be wise to point out that you either know someone or have been lucky enough to not gotten a random pull over at the declaration counter.

I did get checked once, but nothing happened.  I just took my bags and left.

[kikoman]

Thanks to all for the very useful information,

I plan to bring food and declare it by going to the red line, I never had problems before, was just checking to see if anything has changed, Thanks Again!

Cheers;

[eTiMaGo]

Thanks to all for the very useful information,

I plan to bring food and declare it by going to the red line, I never had problems before, was just checking to see if anything has changed, Thanks Again!

Cheers;

Offer them to try some, if they are dubious... on the bad side, the customs guy might decide to "seize" a couple things...