Shipping Household Items To Thailand - How Much Duty Did You Pay?

[rickb]

"Use a Thai name from the very beginning with "

What? I plan to move with my Thai wife from South Korea with everything in her name. She took my last name when we got married.

Should we put our goods in her MAIDEN name? All of her ID (national ID AND Passport) where changed to her new last name.

Or are we just outta luck?

She's 100% Thai and been living overseas with me for years (only a couple vacations to Thailand yearly for a couple weeks)

If she has a Thai passport and ID card, it shouldn't be a problem since a copy of her passport will be included with all of the shipping documents presented to Thai Customs. That will prove to them that your wife is Thai, no matter what her married name is.

[samran]

It is the Thai passport which counts for the duty free import. Not the Thai name. Plenty of Thai's who have western names.

[FredLee]

"Use a Thai name from the very beginning with "

What? I plan to move with my Thai wife from South Korea with everything in her name. She took my last name when we got married.

Should we put our goods in her MAIDEN name? All of her ID (national ID AND Passport) where changed to her new last name.

Or are we just outta luck?

She's 100% Thai and been living overseas with me for years (only a couple vacations to Thailand yearly for a couple weeks)

No need to use her maiden name. All of my wife's documents reflect her married name, and we didn't have any problem when we relocated 10 months ago. We used her passport, and she signed all the paperwork. We ended up paying 1,200 baht to customs.

[GeorgeO]

Samran: We imported household goods into Thailand from Australia about 18 months ago in Thai wifes name. At that time bycyles were not exempt from import duties so gave them away to friends. Cross check if this is still true as you may be hit hard.

Ask your agent in Oz if they have an business arrangement in place with Asian Tigers in BKK. They provide a great service and will delivery to your Thai address.

Thanks for that. Leaning towards Allied Pickfords. Just looked up the thing about bicycles. As you say, not considered as part of household goods, so the tax on that might be up to 40%. Might be worth selling.

Cheers for the heads up.

Be careful with Allied Pickfords. I moved here from Taiwan and paid for door-to-door service, only to find that I was transferred to another mover in Thailand (Sante Fe) with whom I had to negotiate to get my things through customs. Ended up having to pay THB 20,000 for used household goods that were supposedly exempt from duty.

[flexomike]

I shipped a 20 foot container of household goods last year from the US to Bangkok. I paid 18K TB in duty.

How much did it cost you to ship from US to BKK, I live in MN so I guess I will be paying a premium,

[flexomike]

When my Thai wife and I shipped our household goods from the USA to Thailand, we used a US-based company to box everything up and put into a container. Items that we were a little worried about having problems with the Thai customs officers were put in the container first on the assumption that the container would not be totally unloaded and inspected. That's what I would suggest you do with your bicycles, if you decide to ship them. We also had the packing company coordinate with Asian Tigers on the Thailand end of the shipment. As others have already stated, Asian Tigers was fantastic. Since my wife had stayed in the USA for many years, we were not charged any import duties or taxes. Asian Tigers asked that we pay a "facilitating payment" of THB 3,000 only to help mover the container through customs quicker. This charge was actually included in our original estimate and final billing. Overall, we had a very easy move. Total cost was about US$ 7,000 for the entire shipment, including delivery to our door in Suphanburi and unpacking.

Rick

where did

you ship from in the US I live in MN and my final destination will be in the Petchabun area

, Nong Phai to be exact, I live in MN

[samran]

Deleted

Edited March 15, 2014 by samran

[macinc]

"Normally, as a Thai citizen I'd go for the duty free thing for living outside of Thailand for a year, but because I've been buzzing back and forth between Aus and Thailand I'm not counting on qualifying for it."

We were caught for duty because my wife (Thai) had managed to lose her passport (not in Phuket!) and get a replacement just a few months before we shipped, this gave customs an excuse to charge under the 12 months rule.

Our shipment size was probably similar to yours.

The duty to pay options were: -

THB32,000 with receipt.

THB20,000 with no receipt.

[Langsuan Man]

"Normally, as a Thai citizen I'd go for the duty free thing for living outside of Thailand for a year, but because I've been buzzing back and forth between Aus and Thailand I'm not counting on qualifying for it."

We were caught for duty because my wife (Thai) had managed to lose her passport (not in Phuket!) and get a replacement just a few months before we shipped, this gave customs an excuse to charge under the 12 months rule.

Our shipment size was probably similar to yours.

The duty to pay options were: -

THB32,000 with receipt.

THB20,000 with no receipt.

No Thai wife but mine was:

80,000 THB with receipt

40,000 THB with no receipt

[samran]

"Normally, as a Thai citizen I'd go for the duty free thing for living outside of Thailand for a year, but because I've been buzzing back and forth between Aus and Thailand I'm not counting on qualifying for it."

We were caught for duty because my wife (Thai) had managed to lose her passport (not in Phuket!) and get a replacement just a few months before we shipped, this gave customs an excuse to charge under the 12 months rule.

Our shipment size was probably similar to yours.

The duty to pay options were: -

THB32,000 with receipt.

THB20,000 with no receipt.

At the end if the day I got stung. 32k from memory. Allied Pickfords were kind enough to organise a receipt.

[i claudius]

We paid nothing ,just put it in my wifes name and had it sent to her sisters in BKK,when it arrived the company rang to deliver it ,when we said we were living in Pattaya for a small fee they delivered it to us there instead.

[sms747]

I have brought in 3 separate shipments of personal belongings over the last 4 years, twice from the UK and once from Australia, ranging in size from 4- 8 tea chest size boxes. The last shipment arrived about a month ago. I used Seven Seas door to door service each time, arrived quickly with no duty to pay each time.

I have used them twice first time was OK the last was a complete nightmare. Did not turn up when should have, wrong quotes, overcharging. When you ring them they are either clueless or just rude. Never again would I use sevenseas, did not respond to emails or faxes, in the end got a refund for the overcharging from credit card When they goods got to Bkk they called me and wanted me to pay gain, even though you have to pay for them to send, no problems in Bangkok though. Put in wives name no checking, no fees and never went to customs.

Edited March 16, 2014 by sms747

[BB1955]

Four years ago I shipped 5 boxes from the USA . Consisted of books two lap tops one mountain bike . I shipped in my Thai wifes name door to door in Chiang mai took three months . I paid no duty nothing broken the boxes I could tell where never opened . I used Seven Seas and was very pleased . I just wish I had shipped more .....

[Tug]

Greetings all my wife and I will be retiring soon to the sakhon nakhon province in the near future she is from that area we have been married 30+ years raised a family here in the states my question is will I be able to bring my rc aircraft collection with me when we ship the household items?I have about 12 sailplanes 3 to 4 meter wingspan and 3 power planes she is worryed I will go bonkers without that outlet!she very well might be right!lol! Your thoughts and experience would be apprecated thanks

[ricktak]

My container is now held up at thai customs, i was notified today that they were checking the container and a couple of items were not on the inventory list so the first quoted and already paid 31000 baht will be going up and we have to go to the customs dept. for a more complete inspection which will be costing a lot more money. It is definitely going to be an expensive shipment.

[pgrahmm]

They took my car......Everything was OK and all papers cleared (for the car) until the date of pick up......Once they got the car signed off not any taxes levied - retirement visa......all was to be unencumbered.......

Edited June 19, 2015 by pgrahmm