Shipping Household Goods Into Thai

[HoofHearted]

I have just moved to Bangkok and I have 3 pallets of household frieght coming in from the states. None of the freight is for resale, its just commen used household goods. Can anyone tell me what to expect when it hits port here in BKK ?

Are there taxes or tariffs to pay ? I realize that if I leave the freight I will be charged a storage fee that may be expensive. If anyone has gone through this before, I would love to get a few bits of advice as to what to expect. I'm wondering if I can pay any fees/taxes with my bank card (thai bank) or is it cash only ?

Thanks in advance for any info.

[Semper]

Talk about buying a pig in a poke

[mario299]

I have many questions for you.

How was it shipped from the States? Have you been notified by the Thai "Freight Forwarder" yet? Do you know the ship it is on and the arrival date yet? Are you married to a Thai and are claiming these goods to be personal goods belonging to them?

I had 13 boxes shipped by a freight company from Portland, Oregon to BKK about two years ago. Once the freight was put on a ship I was notified of a forwarder in Bangkok that could offer to receive it or put it on a truck to transport to my desired location for a fee. I chose to pick up the freight myself, and then the fun began.

I needed to pay the freight forwarding company to get the paperwork needed for the Customs people. Even though I am married to a Thai, I needed to pay Customs a fee for some of the goods, as there is no free lunch in Thailand and there is no such thing as no charge by Customs for personal goods belonging to a Thai citizen returning to Thailand.

Once I was through with Customs, I needed paperwork from the Port Authority in order to go to the warehouse that had my goods after being off-loaded from the ship that brought them. At the Port Authority you will be hit hard by people requesting that you hire them to get your goods from the warehouse. At first I refused but thankfully later came to my senses and hired a man to do the leg-work at the warehouse.

The man who inspected the goods to verify that they were mine and were correct needed a bribe. The big boss upstairs that signed the paperwork releasing my goods to me needed a bribe. The forklift driver that loaded my goods onto my truck needed a bribe. The nice man that I hired needed to get paid.

All told, this little experience cost a total of about $150 US if I recall correctly. It took almost the entire day. No one takes a credit card, so be sure to take cash with you, have lots of small bills for the warehouse experience.

Good luck, and welcome to Thailand

[ang]

It´s not only enough to being married to a Thai to getpersonal item duty free into Thailand. Non-Thai, holder of Thai Residence Visafor at least one year. Persons possessing a one -year nonimmigrant visa with avalid work permit at the time shipment are imported. All other categories aresubject to high taxes.

But with the right forwarder/ removal company, things can go smoothly.Many forwarder don´t care about helping their customer with the customs, otherthan doing the paperwork.

[Julaluck]

Here is the information about Importing Used / Secondhand Household Efffects from Customs

http://www.customsclinic.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=143&Itemid=188〈=en

Sea port of Thailand can be BKK port, Leam Chabang port, Lad Krabang port (close to BKK ) and some private port in Samutprakarn Province.

Import duty condition please take a look at web link.

[meatboy]

my twf shipped 1pallet 3cubic mtrs.from uk.her personel items collected after 20years.cost to get it all through bkk end 12,000bht.+delivery.i know many that have dumped in in the dock.