Shipping To Thailand

[a man with a plan]

Hi there, I'll be moving to Thailand soon and shipping some stuff along. My wife's thai so it'll be going in her name so that we don't get hit with taxes etc.

But my main question is should I arrange door to door or door to port?

I'm, sure that I heard somewhere that it's better to go door to port, and that my wife would have to go there show her passport and most likely give someone a... how should I word this? The guy will want a little somethings for his troubles, so in true thai style he'll want some money to slip into his back pocket.

But the shipping companies that I've spoken to say that they send an agent from there office in BKK to the port, the agent has a copy of my wife's passport, they sort out the customs guy and deliver the consignment to our house. It costs a bit extra of course, but roughly how much would the customs guy want? Would it be comparable to the amount paid to then get it delivered to my door? Can the agent really sort that stuff out? Which route would be easiest i.e. the least amount of headache?

[Seanextra]

Im no Expert on Thailand but i have imported and exported from Australia as a business for the last 5 years and i would suggest getting A. a full container Shipped rather than per Cubic Meter and Also get it delivered to your door let the agent handle it , Its just not worth the headache and from what ive seen so far Thailand wont be any easier ! Good Luck hope it all goes smooth.

[KIWIBATCH]

I owned an import/export in New Zealand for 20 years before moving to Thailand, we handled imports and exports to/from Thailand....As per the previous poster.....your best option is Door to Port....it provides you with a little more "control" ie yes your wife will have to present herself personally with documentation etc and you will have to pay fee's....but once your goods are customs cleared and all the charges are settled....you can then save yourself a bucketful of money by hiring a small truck with a driver and collecting the goods yourself from the "unpack depot" here in Thailand versus consigning the goods door to door where it becomes a "licence to print money" on the Thailand end for the agent....in fact not just Thailand but anywhere in the world...in NZ we always consigned PE's (personal effects) to the overseas Port only. Commercial goods were a totally different scenario and ball game and were more often than not consigned door to door.

As per another previous poster who mentioned utilising an FCL (Full container load) lets assume for this chat that it would be a 20fter versus despatching the items from your overseas home base as LCL (less than a container load)....then the previous poster is totally correct to a point.

To explain......and provide a scenario/example....

1. The shipping and clearance charges for a 20ft container are set worldwide per country....lets assume for the excercise from your door to door Thailand including land transport and loading/unloading the contents both ends...seafreight from the overseas Port to Thailand.... customs clearance on the Thailand end..... was US$5000...lets also add into this equation that you have 23 to 25cm3 (cubic metres) of PE's....then go right ahead and send it by 20ft FCL. A standard 20ft container will hold 23 to 25cm3. and less expensive than sending 23cm3 to 25cm3 via LCL (refer 2)

2. Now if you had (say) 1cm3 to 12cm3 of PE's....then the best option is sending it LCL.......there is a breakeven point whereby upto 12cm3 its cheaper in the long run to send it as an LCL shipment rather than an FCL shipment. Obviously 12+ cm3s reverts to sending it an FCL which will only contain your freight.

3. Either way your PE's will be "containerised" for their journey to Thailand....but the container will also contain other folks freight....each of you paying the "per cm3" rate relative to the cm3 of your freight...on receipt of the FAK (freight all kinds) container in Thailand....the goods are unpacked using a container manifest....which will have your name attached to it and the other folks...and also details on the number of pallets, boxes, crates, etc that belong to you. Once the unpacking is completed....and you receive advice from the unpack station in Thailand....your wife is free to visit and complete formalities.

Suggestions:-

You can decide who the customs clearance agent is in Thailand...(whether its an FCL or LCL shipment)....dont be dictated too by the unpack station folk in Thailand.....shop around.

Must do's:-

Your freight forwarder in your home country will forward you the shipping documents (either FCL or LCL documents) shortly after the vessel departs your overseas port....keep on his case though they can be a bit slack.( if the FCL/LCL arrives before you get the documents you could end up with a massive port storage bill/container detention charge)...what he sends you will be the "original Bills of lading"......make sure he DHL's them to you (or similar) so that are traceable......DONT LOSE THEM....they are orginals and need to be lodged immediately you receive them with your chosen customs clearance agent.......under no circumstances let your overseas freight forwarder send these documents to anyone other than yourself.

Lodge these with your customs clearance folk here in Thailand.....give them your wifes contact details....and sit back...if the customs folk are any good they will communicate with you progressively throughout the process.

I will mention that a customs agent is not the Thai Customs Dept itself ...an agent is an individual or company authorised and licenced by Thai Customs to perform inbound/outbound import/export (paper/paperless) entries....the Thai Customs Dept control the inspection of goods and "border control" functions....PE's are generally subject to inspection on import to any country....by the relative Customs Dept in that country.

Finally, and something we advised all of our clients back in NZ over....get rid of the "junk" you have accumulated over the years..."junk" becomes very expensive when it is shipped overseas....the other bit of advice (simplified) was...."is that refrigerator that you have owned for 6 months in your home country worth (the freight cost) of shipping to Thailand....when I could get ? dollars for it by selling it before I arrive...and buy a brand new refrigerator in Thaland for less"....

trust this assists your decision making

[Colabamumbai]

To port and use an agency here to clear it through Customs and they will pay any duties due on your behalf and billing you for them, just as The 2 largest courrier companies D.H.L U>P>S etc., You know that you will get the parcel and you just pay any duties or taxes to the delivery guy if they are due. They may look after having your lady having to show up. They deal with the same Customs agents daily, they will save you a lot of hassle for a small fee.

Although she would still have to show her passport if the agency requested it, for Customs documentation. Degree in International Trade

[Colabamumbai]

Ask an agency here to give you an idea of the costs??? What are they based on, flat fee? Percentage of the value of goods? Percentage of value of goods and any duties if due? What is their price schedule? And What are your responsibilities.

[steve187]

A 20 foot container collected from your door in the UK and delivered to Laem Charbang is about £1,500. ship in wifes name only, ALL fees at the dock and delivered to your door in thailand, not too far from the port 27,000 baht. I have just done it in the last couple of months

[Pib]

To the OP, your situation sounds pretty identical to my move (i.e., Thai wife, shipping under her name, hope to minimize customs costs, etc). I moved from the U.S. using the door-to-port method versus the door-to-door method due to the shipping company's estimated cost (their door to door estimate include a high expected customs charge...a charge I thought was way too high...but their basic shipping charge was a very fair price).

But as you mentioned, the shipping company said I would need to contact their receiving agent on the Bangkok end to arrange/finalize the Bangkok port-to-door delivery. Well, the Bangkok receiving agent contacted us before we contacted them (we already had a Bangkok home phone number when initially shipping), we discussed the firm delivery costs and expected customs charges, with emphasis on shipment under the Thai wife's name to avoid/minimize customs charges. We ended-up having to go with the receiving agent's representative to the port customs office for the wife to show the Thai passport and sign some papers...when the dust settled we paid a 3,000 baht customary customs charge to the receiving agent, which was part of the "receiving agent's bill." I have no clue whether the receiving agent pocketed all of that 3,000 baht or some of it went to the Thai Customs Dept...I didn't really care as I was very happy to escape any large customs fee/tax for the approx 1,600 lbs we shipped over, with about 1000 pounds of it being stuff the wife just could not, absolutely no way leave, come to Thailand without...that is, irreplaceable junk and memories. The total Bangkok port to Bangkok door cost was a little over 10,000 baht, which included that 3000 baht customary customs fee that was on the bill. I thought about questioning/challenging the 3,000 customary customs fee, but I figured that small customs fee could very well save me (a maybe it did) from a BIG customs fee even if I did think I had all the right paperwork lined up to avoid any customs fee.

Good luck in your move. Cheers.

Edited June 12, 2010 by Pib

[phatmax]

To the OP, your situation sounds pretty identical to my move (i.e., Thai wife, shipping under her name, hope to minimize customs costs, etc).

I'm not married to a Thai so can't use her name when shipping a container. I'll get a Non Imm O visa and put the container in my name (from the US).

Has anyone shipped a container to Thailand with it being in a foreigner's name?