Is It Legal To Bring Alcohol Into Thailand (not Bought At Duty Free)

[Zen]

i bought 5 bottles of alcohol from europe (not from duty free), each 50ml.

is it ok to bring them into thailand as they're not bought from duty free?

[Mario2008]

You don't have to buy them at duty free. They are still duty free if you don't bring in more than 1 liter.

[BritTim]

Where you bought the alcohol is irrelevant. If you are bringing it into Thailand, you will be charged customs duty if bringing in more than a liter. Carefully check how much you are bringing. I suspect each bottle is 50 cl (half a liter) rather than 50 ml which is an unusual size. Any amount over 1 liter will be subject to customs duty. Make sure you declare it.

[mrclough]

Where you bought the alcohol is irrelevant. If you are bringing it into Thailand, you will be charged customs duty if bringing in more than a liter. Carefully check how much you are bringing. I suspect each bottle is 50 cl (half a liter) rather than 50 ml which is an unusual size. Any amount over 1 liter will be subject to customs duty. Make sure you declare it.

50ml is about a standard double shot in many bars so if OP had say bought a small gift pack of maybe 5 different whiskys as a set this really wouldn't be so unusual.

If you think about it, a small standard bottle of spirit is 70cl so a 50 cl bottle would be a very unusual size.

[Spoonman]

50cl bottle is a very common size.

[PoorSucker]

One time many moons ago I asked the duty free shop at Malaysian border how much I could bring in.

They said two bottles.

So I bought 1 litre scotch and a 3 litre bottle of Cognac.

No problems bringing in.

Two times I have brought in those huge 3 litre bottles without questions.

At land border and on a flight Penang - Samui.

[PattayaParent]

One time many moons ago I asked the duty free shop at Malaysian border how much I could bring in.

They said two bottles.

So I bought 1 litre scotch and a 3 litre bottle of Cognac.

No problems bringing in.

Two times I have brought in those huge 3 litre bottles without questions.

At land border and on a flight Penang - Samui.

2 bottles of 50cl would be right, but 2 bottles of 1 litre would get you in bother. Just search the posts on bringing in over the limit on cigs, the same is true for booze.

To answer the OP, the 'Duty Free' tag refers to the country you are bringing it in to, not the origin. For example you are allowed to bring in a shedload of 'Duty Free' into UK so long as duty has been paid in another EC country, provided it is for personal consumption,

[mrclough]

50cl bottle is a very common size.

Must be a half size bottle I suppose, not really seen many that i can recall. I don't really buy a great deal of spirits so I'm no expert to be fair.

Would that be like a small sangsom / maekong bottle? (50cl)?

I know a lot of places sell collectable minatures which usually are 50ml, which is what i based my comment on.

If wrong I stand corrected but when all's said and done I'm sure the OP can differentiate between 50ml & 50cl which should be clearly stated on each bottle. Wouldn't you agree?

[orlov]

To answer the OP, the 'Duty Free' tag refers to the country you are bringing it in to, not the origin. For example you are allowed to bring in a shedload of 'Duty Free' into UK so long as duty has been paid in another EC country, provided it is for personal consumption,

Your second sentence rather contradicts the first. How much alcohol you can bring into the UK depends entirely on the origin (i.e. EEC or non-EEC). But EC countries are a special case and Thailand has no similar

arrangement with their neighbours as far as bringing in alcohol for private citizens are concerned. Booze is booze and if you bring it into Thailand you are supposed to pay duty if you bring in more than 1 litre. Simple. But I usually travel with my family and we always have mountains of luggage plus several duty free bags and customs at Bangkok have never stopped me for a check. But what you can 'probably' get away with and what the laws says is two different things.

[orchidlady]

Won't he have to pack it in his luggage due to the (security) liquid limitations if it was not bought at the duty free counter? The airline holds the duty free purchases and hands them to you at the end of your flight...

Does anyone know the duty if you are over-say .5 liter (bring two .750 bottles)?

[PattayaParent]

To answer the OP, the 'Duty Free' tag refers to the country you are bringing it in to, not the origin. For example you are allowed to bring in a shedload of 'Duty Free' into UK so long as duty has been paid in another EC country, provided it is for personal consumption,

Your second sentence rather contradicts the first. How much alcohol you can bring into the UK depends entirely on the origin (i.e. EEC or non-EEC). But EC countries are a special case and Thailand has no similar

arrangement with their neighbours as far as bringing in alcohol for private citizens are concerned. Booze is booze and if you bring it into Thailand you are supposed to pay duty if you bring in more than 1 litre. Simple. But I usually travel with my family and we always have mountains of luggage plus several duty free bags and customs at Bangkok have never stopped me for a check. But what you can 'probably' get away with and what the laws says is two different things.

How so? It says that you don't pay duty in UK if you have paid duty in another EC country. The 'Duty Free' tag refers to the country you are bringing it in to.

If you are bringing it in from a non-EC country then Duty Free (in UK) restrictions apply.

[Crossy]

Does anyone know the duty if you are over-say .5 liter (bring two .750 bottles)?

I don't think there is a mechanism to pay duty on over-limit booze / cigs, certainly if you get caught in the Green Channel the lot is forfeit along with a nasty fine

There is a drop box by the Green Channel with instructions to drop your over-limit goods, no indication that you can pay the duty.

Anyone with first hand experience of voluntarily paying duty on over-limit goods please let us know.