Boy am I in the dog-house ! I took the wife and kids to the airport this morning for their trip back to Thailand for the school holidays. At check-in the wife informed me I had forgotten to bring the box of clothes she ordered from a shop here last week, for her cousin who is going on holiday next weekend (of course, it's all my fault). The bottom line is: I have to send a 2.5Kg box of new clothes direct to my wife's cousin in Thailand ASAP (the cousing lives quite far away). They are all packed in the original box from the shop and have the original invoice - total value around 130 UK pounds (as per the invoice, so around 6500 baht). I'm thinking to use DHL (my workplace has it's own DHL account so I can send it duty paid by sender to hopefully minimise delays clearing customs and to avoid the cousin having to pay taxes). Then I'll reimburse my workplace. Is there anything else I need to consider ? I thought about unpacking it all and sending it as used clothing (personal effects) but I thought that may end up causing problems with customs (and the wife & her cousin). If I use the original invoice from the shop and send it with DHL al, packed in the original shop box, I hope they will just charge whatever the "standard duty/tax" is, with a minimum of delay. Am I missing anything ?

Any advice would be welcome.

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Edited July 21, 201213 yr by David48

If you can send it using standard Royal Mail then mark as 2nd hand clothing. If it has to be a courier then you are more likely to be inspected so be straight and include the receipt. There is no "right" or "wrong" in this as we are talking about customs in a corruptible country (for reference this is not Thai-bashing, the same applies to many similar countries around the world).

Firstly, sorry about the above

Am I missing anything ?

Yes, what you are missing is the strength to say ... "no problem, your cousin has other clothes to wear. Next time you are here we can send them over.'

Let me guess for a second that you paid for the clothes and not your wife's cousin?

In not, then the dynamics do change a little ... but not a lot.

Firstly, sorry about the above

Am I missing anything ?

Yes, what you are missing is the strength to say ... "no problem, your cousin has other clothes to wear. Next time you are here we can send them over.'

Let me guess for a second that you paid for the clothes and not your wife's cousin?

In not, then the dynamics do change a little ... but not a lot.

No, my wife's cousin paid for them.

Dont use DHL

If you can send it using standard Royal Mail then mark as 2nd hand clothing. If it has to be a courier then you are more likely to be inspected so be straight and include the receipt. There is no "right" or "wrong" in this as we are talking about customs in a corruptible country (for reference this is not Thai-bashing, the same applies to many similar countries around the world).

Thanks. I think it has to be courier due to the time. My wife's cousin is going to Mexico on Saturday. She ordered the clothes especially for her holiday (according to my wife), so I can't really just do what the other poster said and say "no problem, your cousin has other clothes to wear"

Dont use DHL

Why not ? I've sent things (but never clothes) to Thailand by DHL before without much drama. Which one do you suggest ? My company also has a Fedex account I think.

Just thinking outside the box here - dismiss it if it seems flawed (it probably is).

Send the clothes direct to the hotel in Mexico addressed to the cousin for her to collect on arrival? Gives you a bit more time to send it by Royal Mail. No idea if workable or not or what customs dues in Mexico are like.

Just a thought.

Just thinking outside the box here - dismiss it if it seems flawed (it probably is).

Send the clothes direct to the hotel in Mexico addressed to the cousin for her to collect on arrival? Gives you a bit more time to send it by Royal Mail. No idea if workable or not or what customs dues in Mexico are like.

Just a thought.

Thanks Simon, from what I gather there is 35% duty plus 15% VAT and customs admin fees payable in Mexico, and I would also have to deal a "she wants to wear the clothes on the plane" comment from my wife probably......that is, if I can even contact her. She isn't answering her Thai phone (rings through to voicemail) - the plane landed nearly 5 hours ago according to the airline website. She went completely ballistic yesterday - the last thing she said as she went through to security was "Next month you come to Thailand and take the children. I not come back to England" and she switched her phone off. She has freaked out a bit like that before (four times, I think, in 10 years), and those times she got back to normal within a couple of days and never said another thing about it ! I also have no way to contact the cousin so I think I just have to bite the bullet and send it out by courier to Thailand first thing tomorrow.

Dont use DHL

Why not ? I've sent things (but never clothes) to Thailand by DHL before without much drama. Which one do you suggest ? My company also has a Fedex account I think.

There have been many reports on this forum about packages (not documents, but goods) being 'inspected' by Thai customs and extortionate fees being demanded when sent via DHL or Fedex. Better results have been noted by TV members using their home country's mailing service. Check the Royal Mail Parcel Force website, it may be just as quick and almost certainly far less hassle for the receiver (and you).

Good luck.

Dont use DHL

Why not ? I've sent things (but never clothes) to Thailand by DHL before without much drama. Which one do you suggest ? My company also has a Fedex account I think.

There have been many reports on this forum about packages (not documents, but goods) being 'inspected' by Thai customs and extortionate fees being demanded when sent via DHL or Fedex. Better results have been noted by TV members using their home country's mailing service. Check the Royal Mail Parcel Force website, it may be just as quick and almost certainly far less hassle for the receiver (and you).

Good luck.

Thanks, but I assumed those problems only occur when the duty/taxes are charged are paid by the receiver/consignee ? I am going to use my employer's DHL account and use the "duty paid by sender" option. I suppose that means customs has carte-blanche to charge whatever they like, but my employer is a fairly big customer of DHL and I guess customs might handle that kind of situation more "by the book" ?

Just thinking outside the box here - dismiss it if it seems flawed (it probably is).

Send the clothes direct to the hotel in Mexico addressed to the cousin for her to collect on arrival? Gives you a bit more time to send it by Royal Mail. No idea if workable or not or what customs dues in Mexico are like.

Just a thought.

Having experienced Latin American Aduana (in Bolivia and Paraguay) I would say that you are up against it there too. Probably more expensive. We had a package shipped to Paraguay, 2nd hand hard-drive and clothing and they tried to charge £120 on £180 worth as new. A LOT of back-handing and 48 hours wait saw us paying about £45 as well as having to pay DHL a release fee for a letter showing that we were going to handle customs ourselves.

DHL may not be corrupt as an organisation, but they have little control, in reality, on those that work for them in a franchised environment. Worst thing was that this package was sent Parcelforce, but DHL were contracted as the delivering agent in Paraguay.