Phuket, Phang Nga And Krabi Goes Tax Free Zone

[Cpt_M0ney_Sh0t]

It woud be nice and worthwile if they made the nice resturants Duty Free. I.e. no VAT or service charge. I for one HATE when a place charges me a service charge. I decide how much I will tip not the establishment. Stateside I do the 20% thats pretty much standard here. Offsore useually 10%+ oftentimes more if the service or food is really good (wich it really is in many places that charge this). But when I see them gank me for that 10% on my bill, I don't leave them Sh*t.

[silk123]

Good idea to drop the price of perfume.

Duty free limit flying foreign anyway for cigs and drink but the idea is nice.

Also it would be a good idea for them to restrict the baggage handlers from robbing so much at the airport there. They have gone mad altogether nicking stuff out of bags since the tsunami.

[Crushdepth]

Now they are allowing people yachts in tax free but they should also allow people to bring some of there cars in also. Many people have some nice toys they would like to enjoy over here but the Customs department has prevent people from enjoying there beautiful cars here let this be a real tax free place allow the cars in also.

You can forget it. My work has tax free status (diplomatic) but customs doesn't give a rats arse. They just impound everything and demand 'duties', tax free status or not. They held one minibus we imported for more than a year!

The corruption in the customs department is a very big headache for anyone trying to trade with Thailand - particularly if you're an importer. They really need the cleaners put through them.

[thai_italy_trade]

Nice to know it. Thank you.

Does somebody knows if i can have Duty Free allowance for my Household effects when i will come beginning of september as a new expat with a One year Long stay OA retirement visa ??

I read a lot of contrarian writing on this and the custom webpage on it is confusing also.

Thanks in advance

Philippe

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Phillipe,

Make certain to speak with your moving company about this. You can bring in USED household effects however the trick is that you will require a valid work permit (more than 6 months old) to be able to clear the goods. Moving companies here get around the problem by bribing the officers at the port (a fairly large sum as I recall) to release the goods. You also must be here in the country and be prepared to give them your passport for a few days to clear the goods (not a copy of your passport, but your actual passport).

Since you are coming in on a retirement visa, the rule may be different but I suspect you will still have some troubles. Seriously, speak with an INTERNATIONAL moving company about this first or you could find yourself in a world of trouble.

For the OA visa, I believe that you are required to open a fairly large bank account first and be able to prove monthly income of some amount (see the forum on Visas for the information). The Crown Relocations website has quite a bit of good information on movng procedures (www.crownrelocations.com) but I dont advise using them as your moving company .

Good luck

Edited August 19, 2005 by thai_italy_trade