Importing Used Tractor To Thailand

[simon43]

Some 6 years ago, when I still lived in the UK, I bought a 'Kubota' diesel mini-tractor for cutting the grass in the paddocks where I lived. This was no toy tractor, but a 1 million baht, very sturdy machine.

Anyway, since coming to Thailand 3 years ago, this tractor has generally laid idle, but stored in a dry shed, with occasional use by the gardeners! (NB - Its a 'tractor' not a sit-on mower. It has chunky wheels, front/back gears and a take-off shaft for driving external equipments.)

Now, my sweet, ex-wife has told me to 'shift that bloody machine'

I wondered if this tractor would be useful to my Thai wife's parents, who farm rice in Issan. The answer was a resounding yes!

It would only make sense to import this tractor if there were no big import fees or hassles. From previous enquiries, I know the cost of shipping a container from the UK to Thailand is only a few hundred pounds, (because most of the container traffic is east to west, so they all end up in the west and need to be sent back east...).

Can anyone advise me of the procedures to follow, or any other advice? I will be back in the UK at Xmas, so it would be good if I can get a shipper to collect it and send it eastwards......

cheers

Simon

[Thetyim]

Those are very good tractors. Is it the 3 cylinder model you have ?

Parts are available as you can buy the tractors over here.

The import duty ......er.......best of luck

[simon43]

Thetyim, it's probably the import duty bit that concerns me! Is it the same as cars? (ie think of a very high figure and then triple it...). I'm hoping that agricultural vehicles fall into a lower duty/tax category

Simon

[chownah]

How many horsepower?

[sierra01]

Going by previous threads on importing cars into LOS, forget it, sell it and buy one here.

[chownah]

Used tractors from Japan get bought up by tractor dealers all over the world including Thailand...I'm not sure why....maybe Japan has very strict exhaust regulations and these don't pass. My point is that the import duty must not be too bad or else this would not happen.

[zzap]

Regular commercial importation is different from a one-off done by a foreigner who doesn't know the ropes.

Tha Japs seem to bin everything after 2 years, good for the rest of the world where their scrap will be used for another 20-40 years.

[simon43]

I have certainly seen Thai import companies seeking suppliers of used tractors to import into LoS, so I think the import tax/duty cannot be restrictive.

Zzap, I certainly do know a fair amount re importing into LoS. But this was a specific question about a specific item which might enable me to avoid pitfalls etc

[simon43]

I just checked the Thai Customs duty database and it quotes a duty of 30% of current value - as opposed to the 200% quoted for cars....

So, it's actually about 10 years old (and I still have the original invoices). Probably resell in the UK for about 2,000 pounds. So I shouldn't get hit too hard (I hope!).

Since I'm giving this tractor to my father in law, it might even be better if all import paperwork is done in his name, without any involvement of a farang name!

Simon