Hi I am planning to move to Thailand soon, and i am taking all my trains with me...About 180 or so wagons and 40 or so locos, mostly trix and athearn...(H0 scale)

Any similarly minded farangs there? Have you got a layout? I know two-three thai guys who are into the hobby....but no farangs...:jap:

Check carefully whether there are customs requirements, These definitely would not be counted as Personal Housold Goods and I am sure you would hate to lose them.

In the worst case I would have to pay some tax...a lot of these trains were purchased in thailand previously, and I have all the bills. Stuff bought from germany, has VAT paid, sometimes not...Probably I will end up paying some tax on them, but I will try to pass them as toys..

In the worst case I would have to pay some tax...a lot of these trains were purchased in thailand previously, and I have all the bills. Stuff bought from germany, has VAT paid, sometimes not...Probably I will end up paying some tax on them, but I will try to pass them as toys..

tax could be up to 100% of the new price or more.

i will check this...I will have a word with my model train shop guy in thailand, as he should know what the taxes are for this type of thing...

Edited May 22, 201115 yr by Debothai

a) get the German VAT back (after all, it's hefty)

declare the entire trains as "toys"; pack it nicely into the middle of the container and off you go

By all means avoid the crooks at customs to see it; they will skin you alive, half the stuff is missing and the rest is broken. For whatever is left over they will charge you a fortune and nothing goes without "drinkgelt". These guys are a bunch of greedy bastards.

Please also ensure that the shipper and consignee has the identical name as in passport and that the removal goods arrive Thailand only AFTER you have received your one-year visa; there is only one air and one sea freight shipment allowed and has to arrived within six months upon entry into the Kingdom.

It will be a challenge; option alternative is that you keep the way greased, i.e. 20" container is approx THB 20'000 and double for the 40" container.

Last not least the climate here is not very favourable for electric mini gadgets and make sure that you have a power surge protector to avoid, that your trains explode midtrip when the clowns over at MEA is pushing through 300 volts instead of the normal 220 volts. Just a few tips to the wise though