Moving To Thailand

[tuffy]

I will be moving to Thailand with my Thai wife in a few months.

Will I have a problem bringing some household goods in particular my brand new 60 BEAUTIFUL Wide screen TV ? My job is rotational so I will be coming in on a tourist visa at first and will not be working in thailand

Can anyone give me examples of what a container or possibly even just 1/2 of a container would cost from the states. Any suggestions on which company to use ( i am moving from Alaska).

Also another issue a friend of mine brought up is wheather i will even be able to usae my NTSC tv in thailand or not. I have seen PAL/NTSC converters advertised on Ebay but i have also heard rumors that they do not work worth a darn. What about satelite tv converting to NTSC? I noticed that the price of the same set in Bkk was about $4000 more than i paid here in the US.

[Boon Mee]

I will be moving to Thailand with my Thai wife in a few months.

Will I have a problem bringing some household goods in particular my brand new 60 BEAUTIFUL Wide screen TV ? My job is rotational so I will be coming in on a tourist visa at first and will not be working in thailand

Can anyone give me examples of what a container or possibly even just 1/2 of a container would cost from the states. Any suggestions on which company to use ( i am moving from Alaska).

Also another issue a friend of mine brought up is wheather i will even be able to usae my NTSC tv in thailand or not.  I have seen PAL/NTSC converters advertised on Ebay but i have also heard rumors that they do not work worth a darn.  What about satelite tv converting to NTSC?  I noticed that the price of the same set in Bkk was about $4000 more than i paid here in the US.

Check these guys out.

They gave me a good quote on a 40ft. standard container.

Best of luck with your move - can't say for sure if your NTSC television will work...

[Baal]

I will be moving to Thailand with my Thai wife in a few months.

Will I have a problem bringing some household goods in particular my brand new 60 BEAUTIFUL Wide screen TV ? My job is rotational so I will be coming in on a tourist visa at first and will not be working in thailand

Can anyone give me examples of what a container or possibly even just 1/2 of a container would cost from the states. Any suggestions on which company to use ( i am moving from Alaska).

Also another issue a friend of mine brought up is wheather i will even be able to usae my NTSC tv in thailand or not.  I have seen PAL/NTSC converters advertised on Ebay but i have also heard rumors that they do not work worth a darn.  What about satelite tv converting to NTSC?  I noticed that the price of the same set in Bkk was about $4000 more than i paid here in the US.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Check these guys out.

They gave me a good quote on a 40ft. standard container.

Best of luck with your move - can't say for sure if your NTSC television will work...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

PAL to NTSC converters do not work well at all and the larger the tv the more you will notice the anomalies.

Now Im not sure about the SAT services but I would think that they are all setup for PAL. They use different SAT's depending on where you are now.

Then again I dont know what kind of TV you have.

If you want to get serious go to this forum and find out,

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/

if your issue cant be answered there it isnt an issue.

[solo siam]

Doubting very much that your TV will be NTSC only, unless perhaps its a rear-projection set, in which case the shipping will probably be too high or break it.

LCD and Plasma displays arent generally made in the USA but China/Korea/Taiwan, they should work fine out here.

[Baal]

Doubting very much that your TV will be NTSC only, unless perhaps its a rear-projection set, in which case the shipping will probably be too high or break it.

LCD and Plasma displays arent generally made in the USA but China/Korea/Taiwan, they should work fine out here.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It has nothing to do with where they are made, but with where they are purchased. These days a lot of them will do both, but we have no idea what TV he has and Im going to guess its not a NEW 50 inch Plasma because most people dont omit the PLASMA when they got a PLASMA.

We really dont know anything till he tells us make and model. I certainly wouldnt assume because its "widescreen" that it is PLASMA...especially at 50 inch.

TV/DVD Home Theatre is no longer plug and play, you would be amazed at how many people there are out there watching Squashed, stretched ,and distorted images with smiles on their faces.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/index.html

Edited November 29, 2005 by Baal

[Baal]

I just got back from the local High End Home Theatre store, 90% of the TVs sold in the US do NOT have PAL recievers on them.

Just check your model, look at the specs and if it doesnt say something like this,

SIGNAL - COMPATABILITY

Color System NTSC, PAL, SECAM

Formats 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1035i, 576i, 576p

leave it at home.

He laughed at me when I asked him about converters.

[Crossy]

I'd leave the TV at home. Chances are it's NTSC only and 110V, not worth the hassle of shipping (together with the danger of it not arriving / arriving in bits).

Please also remember that any other electrical kit you bring will need voltage converters, the plugs will fit here but the resulting bang and smoke is not the intended operational mode

Equipment with motors may run slow / overheat on 50Hz, cheap electric clocks will run slow.

The exception is high end electronics (digi cams, laptops etc), many have universal power supplies, look on the rating plate, if it says something like 100-250V 50/60 Hz it will work just fine without a converter.

We moved from the UK last year, brought nothing except my laptop, camera and clothes, I had 1 large case, my wife had 200kg (shipped by an an excess baggage company) mainly clothes.

Ah, looking at your original post, I suspect you won't need many of your clothes either, it's slightly warmer than Alaska

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I'd leave the TV at home. Chances are it's NTSC only and 110V, not worth the hassle of shipping (together with the danger of it not arriving / arriving in bits).

Please also remember that any other electrical kit you bring will need voltage converters, the plugs will fit here but the resulting bang and smoke is not the intended operational mode 

Equipment with motors may run slow / overheat on 50Hz, cheap electric clocks will run slow.

The exception is high end electronics (digi cams, laptops etc), many have universal power supplies, look on the rating plate, if it says something like 100-250V 50/60 Hz it will work just fine without a converter.

We moved from the UK last year, brought nothing except my laptop, camera and clothes, I had 1 large case, my wife had 200kg (shipped by an an excess baggage company) mainly clothes.

Ah, looking at your original post, I suspect you won't need many of your clothes either, it's slightly warmer than Alaska   

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Just a tad

[lopburi3]

First point is who is sending this and do they qualify for duty free import. You obviously do not coming here on a tourist visa. Why, oh why, would you come here on a tourist visa? If you really have a Thai wife you can at least obtain a non immigrant O visa which will make your life a lot easier - although still not allow duty free import.

I agree with other posters that the chance you have a multi system TV bought in the USA and not know it is slim to nil. The US sells by price and a multi system costs more to make and more in the marketplace. For overseas sale in smaller markets (like Thailand where most are multi system) that is not a major factor but in the US where the sales are much higher and price dependent they do not spend any more than will work.

Edited November 30, 2005 by lopburi3

[astral]

Leave the TV at home and buy a new one when you arrive.

The same with a VCR.

Not sure with a DVD player.

We do not use NTSC in Thailand.

Your PAL

Astral

Edited November 30, 2005 by astral

[barryofthailand]

If you are married to a Thai, get a retirement visa from the Thai consolate where you live, otherwise you will not qualify for duty free imports of household goods.

If you come here on a tourist visa do not ship household goods as you will be heavily taxed by customs.

Barry

[astral]

If you are married to a Thai, get a retirement visa from the Thai consolate where you live, otherwise you will not qualify for duty free imports of household goods.

If you come here on a tourist visa do not ship household goods as you will be heavily taxed by customs.

Barry

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No need.

His wife can import the whole house full.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Won't they pick on tools etc ?

[Crossy]

If you are married to a Thai, get a retirement visa from the Thai consolate where you live, otherwise you will not qualify for duty free imports of household goods.

If you come here on a tourist visa do not ship household goods as you will be heavily taxed by customs.

Barry

No need.

His wife can import the whole house full.

Can a returning Thai still import without duty? I thought they'd closed up that route earlier this year. Hope I'm wrong though.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

So far, a returning Thai is OK.

[tuffy]

Here are the specs on my TV. She is a Sony grand Wega KDF 60WF655 Rear Projection LCD. We have grown quite close over the last year if I have to leave her I just might not survive (*sob*).

I still have a few tears in my eyes after reading some of your replys.

But from what I gather

#1 there are no converters that will make the PAL to NTSC converstion painless. #2 power issues are a problem and

#3 shipping will either be cost prohibitive or destroy the set.

I paid about $3400 for it last Christmas I will be lucky if i can sell it for half that.

Well off to drown my sorrows in some Christmas cheer

Thanks for the info!

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Have a few for us while you are at it.

[johnh101]

Whatever you decide to bring make sure it is shipped in your wife's name as she is a returning Thai and they are allowed a one time return to Thailand with no duty on furnishings, etc. If you have a non imm B visa you are entiltled to the same. Beware of bring computers or printers as they can be classed as office equipment and hit with heavy import duty.

Here is the Government website.

http://www.customs.go.th/Customs-Eng/House...nuNme=HouseHold

Oh..........and be prepared to pay some Tea money but get your wife to negotiate down from their first "offer".

Hope this helps.