Post office - what comes through and what gets stopped?

[Green]

It seems to be a random process, sometimes I have to go pick up things at the post office which is a pain in the ass, plus it then has duty slapped on top. Other times I have had packages come through and delivered right to my door. Is it a random check process?

Just going to order some vitamins, it's already costly, really don't want to pay another 1000B on top.

Does ordering things registered mail help? Wondering how to do this. Thanks.

[greg71]

Buy your vitamins from the local pharmacy then,if they dont have them in stock they will order for you,Easy peasy .

[robblok]

Buy your vitamins from the local pharmacy then,if they dont have them in stock they will order for you,Easy peasy .

And real dumb because even with duty and shipment you are still paying a lot less if you order them abroad.

[robblok]

@green if it goes through DHL or an other courier you get duty slapped on it. If you want vitamins think about Iherb it normally gets through.

[weary]

Buy small enough quantities and they'll get through with no duty.

Avoid the more expensive services from courier companies like DHL, FedEx, etc. like the plague as they always present their parcels to customs. Use normal air mail.

[Green]

Excellent thanks. How about something that is envelop size being sent from the USA by registered mail? Will that be checked, or I'm assuming it only gets duty by the size, weight, (and whether they can make any money off it...)

Yes local vitamins are expensive and the quality is not what I want. The MBK vitamin mafia is the only alternative but they are a nasty bunch and charge extortionate prices which seem to keep going up.

[kannot]

A lot depends where in Thailand you are, Phuket etc stop everything Bangkok stop nothing......is what Ive found anyway

[David48]

The 'Blackmores' vitamin range is manufactured in Australia so you can trust that what is on the label is in the bottle.

Widely stocked in most stores.

It's also one of the Brands that Thai buy and trust.

Blackmores

By on-line

.

[jcgodber]

I ordered some glucosamine chondroitin for joint pain. I had a friend simply dump all 600 pills in a bubble mailer and send regular mail. with no problem to my Post office box here in Sa Kaeo.

declared value 5 bucks

[vivek130205]

Today i received ginseng medicine from korea via thailand post, had to go all the way to lad phrao office to collect, they told me whenever medical or sensitive products are send then have to follow their process and need to collect it and pay duty and vat charges. Value declared was 60 dollars and had to pay 620 bhat for duties and taxes.

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[bangkokstick]

It's exactly as anywhere in the world, bigger parcels or parcels with shop name on them are more often checked.

[vivek130205]

Today i received ginseng medicine from korea via thailand post, had to go all the way to lad phrao office to collect, they told me whenever medical or sensitive products are send then have to follow their process and need to collect it and pay duty and vat charges. Value declared was 60 dollars and had to pay 620 bhat for duties and taxes.

ImageUploadedByThaivisa Connect Thailand1374005054.696091.jpg ImageUploadedByThaivisa Connect Thailand1374005085.474957.jpg ImageUploadedByThaivisa Connect Thailand1374005107.637884.jpg

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Can anyone tell me how much is red jinseng worth in thailand. I believe its pretty expensive also know as jinaeng extract or juice, has anyone tried it before?

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[kikoman]

I only had a problem one time being in the states I sent a package to my self, 4 kilos Nixtamal flour to make corn tortillas, 2 kilos of processed nixtamal corn.

I went to the post office to pick them up and was told I owed 3000 baht of import taxes, as I had the sales receipts I refused the package and told the postal service that the total value was 500 baht, I would pay import based on the value of the items imported which should be less that a 100 baht. if the postal service demanded 6 times the item full value, they can keep the package, less then a week later the package arrived at my house, no duty required.

Also when I moved to Thailand I shipped a lot of my woodworking tools, via ship transport, all kinds of personal items in my 3 large boxes shipment of personal items, I was required to show ID to prove the shipment was addressed to me, no import tax at all.

Cheers:

[bubbles]

Does anyone know what customs would do if i shipped paperwork, say 50 sheets of a4 & ring binder, would they tax it or shed it?

I need to send some docs to my new wife & need them to arrive in one piece so I was thinking courier but I don't need or rather she doesn't need the hassle of tax.

Surely they can't tax paper can they?

[misterphil]

Its a load of BS. It depends what side of bed the customs guy gets out of, and what mood he's in. There is already a thread about this somewhere. I ordered 7 kg of protein powder from the UK and they charged me something like 1,500 baht. I thought well thats cheaper than here even with the customs tax on top. The next time I ordered the powder it was no customs tax. Ive ordered $300 watches from the US and paid 80 baht tax, and motorbike boots worth $100 and paid 4000 baht tax. Its a con and a rip off and there should be a chart/list of some sort available. Even if its ticked gift I still get charged customs tax. Its just a game of roulette and if lady luck is on your side then you don't pay the tax.

[vivek130205]

Its a load of BS. It depends what side of bed the customs guy gets out of, and what mood he's in. There is already a thread about this somewhere. I ordered 7 kg of protein powder from the UK and they charged me something like 1,500 baht. I thought well thats cheaper than here even with the customs tax on top. The next time I ordered the powder it was no customs tax. Ive ordered $300 watches from the US and paid 80 baht tax, and motorbike boots worth $100 and paid 4000 baht tax. Its a con and a rip off and there should be a chart/list of some sort available. Even if its ticked gift I still get charged customs tax. Its just a game of roulette and if lady luck is on your side then you don't pay the tax.

agreed its all about luck.

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[p_brownstone]

It's all down to luck.

A few years ago my wife ordered a large quantity of Lego from Germany and arranged to have it shipped via ordinary mail in 5 separate Boxes, one day apart - each box weighed about 15 Kg.

4 arrived at our door delivered by the usual Postman, 1 was stopped by Customs and we had to go to Phrakanong Post Office to pay Duty and VAT and collect the Box.

Bear in mind anything sent via Courier - UPS, DHL, whatever - will invariably be charged Duty and VAT.

Patrick

[robblok]

It's all down to luck.

A few years ago my wife ordered a large quantity of Lego from Germany and arranged to have it shipped via ordinary mail in 5 separate Boxes, one day apart - each box weighed about 15 Kg.

4 arrived at our door delivered by the usual Postman, 1 was stopped by Customs and we had to go to Phrakanong Post Office to pay Duty and VAT and collect the Box.

Bear in mind anything sent via Courier - UPS, DHL, whatever - will invariably be charged Duty and VAT.

Patrick

I know.. my side rack for my motorcycle is stopped at customs its been send by DHL but it has been stuck there since the 14th. I can see that because of track and trace. I would have thought it would be easy to tax it as DHL has provided all the documents.

I knew I was going to get hit by tax and it wont be pretty, I expect 5 to 6 k taxes or so for a piece of steel. It could be depending in what category they place it. I pleaded with the guys ot to use DHL but unfortunately it was company policy to use them and there was no way around it. Sometimes you just have to pay for quality that is not available here.

My biggest gripe is not paying taxes (its normal in all countries) but the idiotic high tarifs they use here. Thailand as a low wages country should not do that it only shows that Thais are unable to compete quality wise on the global economy. Once they have to open up beause of ASEAN they are in for a rude awakening (im sure they will not honor it completely)

[robblok]

It's all down to luck.

A few years ago my wife ordered a large quantity of Lego from Germany and arranged to have it shipped via ordinary mail in 5 separate Boxes, one day apart - each box weighed about 15 Kg.

4 arrived at our door delivered by the usual Postman, 1 was stopped by Customs and we had to go to Phrakanong Post Office to pay Duty and VAT and collect the Box.

Bear in mind anything sent via Courier - UPS, DHL, whatever - will invariably be charged Duty and VAT.

Patrick

I know.. my side rack for my motorcycle is stopped at customs its been send by DHL but it has been stuck there since the 14th. I can see that because of track and trace. I would have thought it would be easy to tax it as DHL has provided all the documents.

I knew I was going to get hit by tax and it wont be pretty, I expect 5 to 6 k taxes or so for a piece of steel. It could be depending in what category they place it. I pleaded with the guys ot to use DHL but unfortunately it was company policy to use them and there was no way around it. Sometimes you just have to pay for quality that is not available here.

My biggest gripe is not paying taxes (its normal in all countries) but the idiotic high tarifs they use here. Thailand as a low wages country should not do that it only shows that Thais are unable to compete quality wise on the global economy. Once they have to open up beause of ASEAN they are in for a rude awakening (im sure they will not honor it completely)

[GreenSnapper]

My biggest gripe is not paying taxes (its normal in all countries) but the idiotic high tarifs they use here. Thailand as a low wages country should not do that it only shows that Thais are unable to compete quality wise on the global economy. Once they have to open up beause of ASEAN they are in for a rude awakening (im sure they will not honor it completely)

There are two kinds of products you can buy in Thailand:

Very low quality but cheap locally produced. These are for the common man.

High quality imports with very high taxes. These are for the wealthy.

Wealthy people cheat on income taxes. So the government gets their tax from imported goods. Even the farang who doesn't pay income taxes here, will indirectly be taxed that way.

Edited July 18, 2013 by GreenSnapper

[infinity11]

I have had good and bad luck.

I am a bit pissed i did not fight the last time, as i think they got the best of me, i should have called them out on what was restricted, unlawful or illegal as in the end they released all the supplements for a hefty fee!!!

[pgs]

The 'Blackmores' vitamin range is manufactured in Australia so you can trust that what is on the label is in the bottle.

Widely stocked in most stores.

It's also one of the Brands that Thai buy and trust.

Blackmores

By on-line

.

It's great how Blackmore's & Thursday Plantation is cheaper to have sent from the US to AU after being sent AU to US, than it is to just buy over the counter in AU - even through the 'discount' stores.

[CRUNCHER]

I only had a problem one time being in the states I sent a package to my self, 4 kilos Nixtamal flour to make corn tortillas, 2 kilos of processed nixtamal corn.

I went to the post office to pick them up and was told I owed 3000 baht of import taxes, as I had the sales receipts I refused the package and told the postal service that the total value was 500 baht, I would pay import based on the value of the items imported which should be less that a 100 baht. if the postal service demanded 6 times the item full value, they can keep the package, less then a week later the package arrived at my house, no duty required.

Sounds like Post Office staff after a bit of extra pocket money.

[Green]

I wonder if things in a thai name would pass through more easily? Might be worth a try so long as you have that person to collect for you.

[infinity11]

Yes highly recommended, thia name and address and a small package less than i kilo not sent via express services

.

United states parcels work well not the same as UPS.

[OldChinaHam]

Thank you for this Topic which might help me.

I have a computer, or a disassembled computer worth about USD700 to me.

The CPU HD MB weighs maybe 2 kilo

I need to send it from Taipei to CM, ASAP

But I have been unable to do so because I cannot afford to lose it in the mail.

What way should I send it, which goes through the Thailand post office, that is safe and will not get lost.

Thanks

I need the computer but the shipping method and reliability problems are holding things up.

Edited July 19, 2013 by OldChinaHam

[vivek130205]

Thank you for this Topic which might help me.

I have a computer, or a disassembled computer worth about USD700 to me.

The CPU HD MB weighs maybe 2 kilo

I need to send it from Taipei to CM, ASAP

But I have been unable to do so because I cannot afford to lose it in the mail.

What way should I send it, which goes through the Thailand post office, that is safe and will not get lost.

Thanks

I need the computer but the shipping method and reliability problems are holding things up.

Why dont you get in touch with carriers, i mean i know these several groups who carry ur stuff between china, india, thailand, hong kong, korea and japan on regular basis. They charge per kg. You need not think about custom duty, i have used them from korea and india to bkk at times. The only thing that bothers me is the trust factor, though products r send within a day or 2 but what if they vanish with ur stuff, no way you can get it back. I have met loads of them in bkk area , especially phaurath and pratunam.

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[OldChinaHam]

Thank you for this Topic which might help me.

I have a computer, or a disassembled computer worth about USD700 to me.

The CPU HD MB weighs maybe 2 kilo

I need to send it from Taipei to CM, ASAP

But I have been unable to do so because I cannot afford to lose it in the mail.

What way should I send it, which goes through the Thailand post office, that is safe and will not get lost.

Thanks

I need the computer but the shipping method and reliability problems are holding things up.

Why dont you get in touch with carriers, i mean i know these several groups who carry ur stuff between china, india, thailand, hong kong, korea and japan on regular basis. They charge per kg. You need not think about custom duty, i have used them from korea and india to bkk at times. The only thing that bothers me is the trust factor, though products r send within a day or 2 but what if they vanish with ur stuff, no way you can get it back. I have met loads of them in bkk area , especially phaurath and pratunam.

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You are not going to believe this, but it is true.

I actually did this myself, carried things back from HK to Taipei, when import duty to Taipei was sky high on luxury goods. This was 1980 and I went along with a few friends to get a free round-trip ticket. I had a whole pile of consumer electronics and Chinese MaoTai, and I forget what else. As you say, this is not very reliable. I think a few of us got drunk out of our gourds on the free wine in coach, that was when they used to fly 737s Taipei to HK. Stumbled off the plane and it was just lucky I did not lose the whole stash. Did it again, just the same way, a second time, and finally called it quits. But I would not trust my HD to people like me who might be high on free wine. (In Chinese, the process of doing this carrying is: PaoDanBang, lots of fun!)

THANK YOU for the suggestion though. If I could give it to a cabin crew on the Taipei side, then that would be good, but I do not know any.

I will keep thinking. I am afraid my pc will die here, then I will be lost. I need a very good backup.

THANK YOU AGAIN!

Edited July 20, 2013 by OldChinaHam

[klubex99]

Get your wife to email the name and address in Thai language to the sender.

Almost all parcels using English on the label have either been hit with duty or literally stolen in the system.

Everything labelled in Thai language, gets straight through for free.

[OldChinaHam]

Get your wife to email the name and address in Thai language to the sender.

Almost all parcels using English on the label have either been hit with duty or literally stolen in the system.

Everything labelled in Thai language, gets straight through for free.

Doing EXACTLY as you instruct may cause a massive delay for me.

If I need to wait for my computer to be mailed,

Until I get my wife.

But this is a very good suggestion that I will try on packages mailed from other countries.

I used to do this a lot long ago, but using Chinese.