Sea Container, For Shipping, For Storage

[boatguy]

I'm moving to the Khon Kaen area from the USA. I have a fair amount of stuff I want to bring to Thailand, including an extensive collection of model trains. I am considering bringing and maybe setting up the trains in a coffee shop atmosphere for both the young kids and old retired 'kids' to enjoy.

Because I may not have an immediate place to store some of this stuff (particularly the trains) I likely will not want to unload the entire container right away. So my thoughts were to buy a 20' container in the USA and ship it here to Khon Kaen, then utilize it as a storage unit until I found a home for everything. At that point I might sell off this container to someone shipping out, or donate it too someone else looking for storage. Does this sound doable??

What has surprised me is that I see very few sea containers anywhere around KK?? I would have thought in this modern world of shipping that there would be numerous standardized shipping containers arriving from the port areas of Thailand, and/or even from producers in other parts of Thailand? i would also expect to see at least some of these std containers utilized to store various goods (tires, building supplies, etc) in and around the area. I don't see any.

Can anyone explain this lack of containers in the NE of Thailand??

Edited September 21, 2010 by boatguy

[kamalabob2]

Perhaps you might consider renting a nearby apartment or attached house. In Buriram Province you can rent a good sized two bedroom duplux with better protection from the elements for 2000 baht a month. You can obtain renters insurance if you desire for 2200 baht a year. One bedroom Apartments can be rented for 1500 baht a month in this town. Utilities would not be much for you to store items and it would protect things from the heat WAY better than a shipping container. Outside our town a modified shipping container is used as the office of a gravel sales area and they a/c bill must be incredible. You can NOT easily obtain insurance for a structure with no "paperwork" or legal address. Even the 2000 baht a month rental house we lived for over three years had metal security doors, metal bars and insect screens on the windows and a roof that did not leak.

[harrry]

Look into the customs situation in Thailand regarding the trains. It may prove non viable.

[boatguy]

Look into the customs situation in Thailand regarding the trains. It may prove non viable.

Even if I've owned them for quite a long time...and they are hobby items??

[boatguy]

Perhaps you might consider renting a nearby apartment or attached house. In Buriram Province you can rent a good sized two bedroom duplux with better protection from the elements for 2000 baht a month. You can obtain renters insurance if you desire for 2200 baht a year. One bedroom Apartments can be rented for 1500 baht a month in this town. Utilities would not be much for you to store items and it would protect things from the heat WAY better than a shipping container. Outside our town a modified shipping container is used as the office of a gravel sales area and they a/c bill must be incredible. You can NOT easily obtain insurance for a structure with no "paperwork" or legal address. Even the 2000 baht a month rental house we lived for over three years had metal security doors, metal bars and insect screens on the windows and a roof that did not leak.

Not sure I am fully understanding your reply?

First off I have a townhouse in KK to live in, so I don't need another apartment. This townhouse does not have enough room to store all of the items I'm wishing to bring via the container. That is another reason I would be seeking temporary storage rather than paying demarage charges on 'their' container. (I am hoping to buy the townhouse unit next door, but it seems to be tied up in the banking system in some strange way)

I understand what you are getting at 'a metal box in the hot sun'. But if you stretch a piece of awning material to give it shade, that should make quite a difference. At the construction site you speak of I would imagine they would give this shade situation some deep consideration. Secondly if I were occupying such a 'container office' surely I would surround it with a little foam insulation either outside or inside. Plug up the air leak holes and you should be able to air con this relatively small volume fairly easy?

Edited September 22, 2010 by boatguy

[boatguy]

Originally i posted this message in the 'local' Issan area postings of Thaivisa. On a second thought I believed it might garner more attention if it were posted in the "General Section' of Thaivisa, so I made a new posting there.

Am I incorrect that I should have made the original posting in the "general section' rather than the NE section of the forum??

[Mario2008]

This topic now continues here:

in the general section. This one is CLOSED as double topic.