Hi guys, I was thinking of buying a notebook for personal use from Ebay or possibly Amazon, what would be the additional charges that I would have to pay once it gets here in Bangkok?

Would I just pay 7% VAT? Do I go and collect the merchandise at the post office? Would love to hear any experiences regarding this matter (Especially if anyone has done it before)

I know there are a lot of stories about customs trying to rip you off and charging obscene amounts, but there has to be some standard/set tax, right?

The tax rates are standard, the problem is the *valuation* of the goods, which can be completely unreasonable.

shipping cost may outweigh any money saved

Lots of recent/past posts on buying and shipping computers. Recommend you use the ThaiVisa search function...enter the words "computer shipping" and a bunch of threads/posts will come up. One of the most recent ones is: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/371313-buying-computers-from-usa-using-shipito/page__p__3662177__hl__computer+shipping__fromsearch__1#entry3662177

The tax rates are standard, the problem is the *valuation* of the goods, which can be completely unreasonable.

Completely unreasonable doesn't get close.

I've goods I bought on ebay for the equivalent of 2300 THB in Customs now (with copies of the original PayPal invoices). The extortionists and thieves that masquerade as customs officials have decided the goods have a value of 16,000 THB.

They want a further 5800 THB to release the goods.

How these vermin get away with this is beyond all reason.

Goods sent normal registered post have a chance of getting through but anything sent by courier seems certain to be intercepted by the pond life that are Bangkok customs.

Hi, I have zero experience with importing although I plan to experiment soon with some things that I need.

This thread also has some details which may or may not be helpful for you.

And there is also this thread which got quite "lively".

I had followed these discussions because I have some items from china I want to ship in ... and I haven't figured out what would be best.

If you just want to buy a top spec notebook computer get a flight out of Thailand, I would think Hong Kong would be a good location, and bring it back in your cabin baggage (minus packing of course)

If you just want to buy a top spec notebook computer get a flight out of Thailand, I would think Hong Kong would be a good location, and bring it back in your cabin baggage (minus packing of course)

The overhead on transport and time costs in doing this would surely exceed whatever customs want?

Depends if the OP stays permanently in Thailand . . . . . ? No non border visa runs or trips home? And even so I would rather pay the extra and go abroad rather than give my money to robbing ba*@rds!