Best Way To Ship Some Stuff From Uk To Thailand

[naughtybadfurrimunki]

Guys I would really appreciate some input on this!

I've read all the posts regarding shipping personal effects.

I've got a long list of shipping companies, logistics, freight forwarders, agents, international removals companies etc etc, all recommended by TV members.

Also, I know from experience to avoid DHL, UPS, FedEx et al for small items, and I've never had any problems ordering stuff online from the US or UK and having items sent by USPS or Royal Mail.

However, right now I'm facing a bit of a conundrum. I've had 2 items made in the UK and they're ready for shipping to me here in Bangkok.

They're not electronics, but they'll be used with electronic audio equipment.

The first item is a 70kg slate plinth for my record player, and the second item is a precision engineered bearing for the record player. Total cost £1.5k. They'll be sent together.

So, first I found this PDF:

www.acerelocation.com/intl/thailand.pdf

In which it states that 'Foreign diplomats, members of govt or international organisations are granted tax and duty free entry of their personal effects and household items either new or used'. It also states that Bill of Lading / Air Waybill must be received by the destination agent 2 weeks prior to arrival.

Does that mean the person's arrival or the item's arrival? Maybe a stupid question but not immediately obvious to me!

Is this any use to me anyway? I've not just arrived, I've been here 6 years, the last 2 of which I've been on a non-imm F visa working for a British government organisation... so no work permit but my contract is renewed every six months, so I guess I could try this option when the new contract starts.

Moving on; if the above doesn't apply because I've been here too long what are my other choices?

The package will be too heavy for Royal Mail parcels, and there's no way I'm risking not having it insured.

My wife is Thai, would it help if it was all in her name?

Would I be better off putting the above 2 items in with some household items from the UK and arrange the shipping myself? Or should I let the guy in the UK find a shipping company and then get details of their agent in Bangkok so I can check the agent out? Or should I do the work at this end and find a good agent in Bangkok first and then get them to arrange collection from the UK?

Also, ideally I want a door to door service and don't want to be messing around having to go down to customs etc.

The last thing I'm not sure about is the duty tariff code. If they're classed as furniture then it's 80%, however if it's classed as machined slate it's 40%.

I could really use a good company to guide me through this because right now I'n totally confused, of course I want to pay as little import tax as possible, and I certainly want to avoid paying 75,000thb or upwards!

Thanks for reading, please advise on any of the above and thanks for your patience and time. Please PM me with phone numbers email etc.

Cheers

---

I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=13.682311,100.644251

[Langsuan Man]

In which it states that 'Foreign diplomats, members of govt or international organisations are granted tax and duty free entry of their personal effects and household items either new or used'. It also states that Bill of Lading / Air Waybill must be received by the destination agent 2 weeks prior to arrival.

What type of Diplomatic status do you have here in Thailand ?

Unless you have full Diplomatic status, in other words are on the Diplomatic List maintained by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then you only have 6 months upon arrival to qualify for duty free import of your "household goods / personal effects"

So the whole paragraph you cite does not apply to you, if it did, then the cited documentation must be received before the items arrive (to prepare to expedite them through customs)

Find out which company or customs broker your "employer" uses and they can steer you through the best and cheapest way to get the items into Thailand, since they deal with the customs people on a daily basis

[naughtybadfurrimunki]

Thx for the reply Langsuan,

I definitely don't have full diplomatic status and am not on any diplomatic lists! I just have a nom-imm F.

I'll speak to the hr dept at work as you suggest to find out who they use.

Out of interest, would there be an opportunity to take advantage of the tax free import of 'household objects' upon receipt of a new contract from my employer? Or is it only applicable for new arrivals to Thailand?

---

I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=13.682112,100.644455

[Langsuan Man]

Once again your HR Department would know that, but I doubt it, since they have a 6 month time limit for members of the Diplomatic community that are not on the list

The problem is that you are and have been here for a long time and I doubt very much if Thai Customs cares about your "new contract", they are concerned how long you have been in the country

Now, if you were to leave and then come back on a new contract that would be a whole new ball game