Best (cheapest!) way to ship my effects to Krabi from the States

[buddhaland]

I am making a more-or-less permanent move to Krabi, from Seattle WA. I arrive in one week (11/5), and will start looking for an apartment. I have several boxes of personal effects that I want to have shipped to me after I get settled in. Speed isn't that important - cost and the security of my stuff are. Any suggestions? Many thanks in advance!

[nattymatt]

I would suggest getting a " door to door" price and don't pay until your stuff arrives.

BKK customs will probably want to charge some kind of import fee and may hold your stuff until they get it.

If you have a work permit you are allowed (in theory) one shipment of personal belongings...however they will still probably want to charge you some import tax.

If you get a "door to door" fee from the shipping company then either they will tell customs where to go, or they may have someone on the inside that can sort it out.... or they will sort out the situation one way or another.

Good luck... its a lottery

[XINLOI]

I moved my household from Ancharage Ak to Udon Thani. The cost was a little over $17,000 USD. There is no cheap way of getting goods from the USA to Thailand. It averages out to about $4.75 per pound using a 20 foot conex box. The less you ship the more it costs (by weight). Most carriers have a minimum weight before they will ship too. Then there is Thai customs, which always bend the rules in their favor. My wife is Thai and was entitled to one shipment duty free.....Ha!, it still cost me 30,000 Baht to get my belongings released from customs!

Edited October 30, 2013 by XINLOI

[grumpyoldman]

Separate your stuff into "absolutely cannot live without" and "well, just stuff I like".

Store the "just stuff I like" with a friend or family check other boxes on the flight, may have to pay extra luggage, certainly not 17,000$U.S. though......

Next year when you visit family and friends, bring other boxes back.

Overall this is a very good exercise in getting rid of stuff that you just don't really need, i.e. clothes. "Have I worn this in the last 6 months?Is this logical clothing for the tropics".

[Issanman]

A friend of mine recently shipped a 40 foot container from Tampa, Florida to Korat for less than $4000. It was a door to door shipment based on his Thai wife returning to Thailand. Customs was not a problem at all. Shipping company apparently knew how to get through that. The container was never opened anywhere in between. I was there helping him to load in Florida and to unload in Korat.

Edited November 23, 2013 by Issanman

[buddhaland]

Your post made this shipping company sound like one to check out - but you don't say which company it was. Can you elaborate? Thanx!

[Issanman]

See next post.

Edited November 24, 2013 by Issanman

[Issanman]

Your post made this shipping company sound like one to check out - but you don't say which company it was. Can you elaborate? Thanx!

http://www.siaminternational.com/uscitizens.html

Took nearly two months as the shipment went out of Savannah, Georgia and made a few stops along the way, but well worth the cost in the end. They did ask for a couple of thousand baht from my friend once it got to Bangkok, which he somewhat reluctantly paid. The shipment was delivered to his house a couple of days after that with the now rusty lock and seal intact. I would not hesitate to pay that add-on fee if I were you. Enough said.

[buddhaland]

That is extremely helpful - many thanx!!

[Issanman]

That is extremely helpful - many thanx!!

You are very welcome. Please keep us updated on how it goes for you.