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Buying a Kindle in Thailand

MarkAndrewSmith

By MarkAndrewSmith
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MarkAndrewSmith Apprentice Member

MarkAndrewSmith

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I lived in Thailand for about two years but last month headed to Saudi Arabia for teaching. The problem is that there are no bookstores where I am here and I'm thinking about buying a Kindle. My coworker who lives in Thailand as well tells me there's a huge import tax on them if I buy one in Thailand while I return for two weeks on Holiday.

Has anyone here on the Thai Visa forums picked one up in Thailand and are they that much more expensive?

Best,

Mark

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FiftyTwo Gold Member

FiftyTwo

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^^ The reading experience on any tab is not the same s the original Kindle.

I have a Kindle keyboard version, it sits in a drawer gathering dust while my Samsung Tab 10" is in my hand all the time.

I agree Kindle is best reading screen, but if you want to use wifi, internet, email, take and view photos, listen to music ...... as well as read books, tablet wins.

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giddyup Diamond Member

giddyup

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A tablet is a poor substitute for either a Nook or a Kindle, not only is a tablet harder on the eyes, the battery needs recharging almost every day if you do a lot of reading. I charge my Nook about once every 3 weeks and I read a lot. I have never seen a Nook or a Kindle for sale in Thailand, I've bought 3 Nooks from Ebay, no tax paid on any of them.

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MarkAndrewSmith Apprentice Member

MarkAndrewSmith

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I looked online and it says that they sell them in B2K, but that they're twice the price as in the US.

The link to the other forum topic is about buying them on Amazon and shipping to Thailand but I'm just back for about two weeks and not sure if that would work well.

I have an ipad in Saudi Arabia but I hate reading on it, and it's murder on the eyes. So I'd prefer to get the Kindle.

I may just give in and pay double for it in Thailand, because the alternative is no reading, and I feel myself already getting dumber here after about 2 and a half months. It may be a small extra price to pay for my sanity.

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danphuket Senior Member

danphuket

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I bought kindle paperwhite online through amazon. Delivered to Phuket in time. Paid approximately 50 dollars extra, but the product is worth every cent. There is a nice feature of converting any word file to kindle format. That opened up for me a good way to read a lot of books for free on the device.

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phitsanulokjohn Silver Member

phitsanulokjohn

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If you have a Uk or US ebay account,or know of someone there who does,look on there as there are literally hundreds for sale at the right price, and have it sent over marked as gift in the customs declaration.That's what i did and am very pleased with my kindle,plus it's more than just an e-book reader.I also purchased 11,000 e-books on ebay for a mere 3 pounds.The kindle has a capacity to hold 3,500 books,what a great little device,not to mention all the space you'll save.

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Suradit69 Diamond Member

Suradit69

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This CM thread details the process. Seems best way is direct from Amazon to pick up the worldwide warranty, tax not much of an issue. You won't save buying direct here.

I bought a Kindle directly from Amazon in the US. Your payment to Amazon covers shipping and customs duty, so there's nothing more to pay. Amazon will tell you what the total charge is before you complete the transaction. As I recall, I got a small refund to my credit card because the duty was less than estimated.

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maoro Explorer Member

maoro

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You can order from Amazon in the States.

You will have it within a few days, or at least I have on a couple of ocassions.

No big duty, a little bit though, in fact Amazon charged what they thought and actually gave me a unexpected refund when the import charges were less that they expected.

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puyaidon Advanced Member

puyaidon

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I just bought a new Kindle Paperwhite with built in light and have been highly satisfied with it. It was pre-ordered and released on 15 Nov, shipped that day, and received at my house on the 19th. All customs and shipping were paid by Amazon (included in the order). It was automatically registered to me and it even downloaded the books I had on my Kindle for PC account with Amazon. Total order at today's exchange rate is 8,500 baht.

I checked the prices here and you really don't save that much. Have read that they have the units but not in stock so you might have to wait if ordered here in Thailand.

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MoonShadow Senior Member

MoonShadow

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I just bought a new Kindle Paperwhite with built in light and have been highly satisfied with it. It was pre-ordered and released on 15 Nov, shipped that day, and received at my house on the 19th. All customs and shipping were paid by Amazon (included in the order). It was automatically registered to me and it even downloaded the books I had on my Kindle for PC account with Amazon. Total order at today's exchange rate is 8,500 baht.

I checked the prices here and you really don't save that much. Have read that they have the units but not in stock so you might have to wait if ordered here in Thailand.

Why don'y you get it shipped to Saudi or are the duties high there too......

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giddyup Diamond Member

giddyup

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I already have a KINDLE but my wife would like to down load Thai books also. She does a lot of reading and our flat is full of her books.

Any websites which do this? Thai language books? Don`t think Amazon are here.

I have yet to find any sites that have a comprehensive range of Thai books. My Thai partner loves reading and I'm continuously buying her Thai translation of English best sellers at 300 baht and up a book. I have around 1000 e books that I've downloaded free, be good to be able to do it with Thai books.

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Costas2008 Ruby Member

Costas2008

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nanai man, on 17 Dec 2013 - 11:49, said:

I already have a KINDLE but my wife would like to down load Thai books also. She does a lot of reading and our flat is full of her books.

Any websites which do this? Thai language books? Don`t think Amazon are here.

She must be one of a kind!!!!!!!!

Congratulations for choosing her to be your wife.....has she got a sister?????

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tuky Diamond Member

tuky

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The thing that annoys me most about the kindle is being told to turn it off during take off and landing when you fly.

You cant turn it off as such, only put it to sleep (or so it seems).

So effectively you are just putting it in the seatback in front of you. It is those times that I wish I still had a paper book :)

life is tough.

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chrisinth Ruby Member

chrisinth

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I looked online and it says that they sell them in B2K, but that they're twice the price as in the US.

The link to the other forum topic is about buying them on Amazon and shipping to Thailand but I'm just back for about two weeks and not sure if that would work well.

I have an ipad in Saudi Arabia but I hate reading on it, and it's murder on the eyes. So I'd prefer to get the Kindle.

I may just give in and pay double for it in Thailand, because the alternative is no reading, and I feel myself already getting dumber here after about 2 and a half months. It may be a small extra price to pay for my sanity.

As a thought, have you had a look (or inquired) around the duty free shops coming out of Saudi?

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ataloss Advanced Member

ataloss

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I already have a KINDLE but my wife would like to down load Thai books also. She does a lot of reading and our flat is full of her books.

Any websites which do this? Thai language books? Don`t think Amazon are here.

I have yet to find any sites that have a comprehensive range of Thai books. My Thai partner loves reading and I'm continuously buying her Thai translation of English best sellers at 300 baht and up a book. I have around 1000 e books that I've downloaded free, be good to be able to do it with Thai books.

Try here:

http://www.ebooks.in.th/

May have to use calibre or similar program to convert to a specific device.

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sniffdog Gold Member

sniffdog

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Posted (edited)

Official Kindle shop is at B2S stores. I know that Central Chidlom in Bangkok (7th floor) has Kindle, Nook, Sony readers, in all flavours.

They start at about 3k baht, depending on the model. I've bought mine there a good year ago and had no issues with it. It was new, sealed product.

Correct. I saw them recently at B2S in Central World.

Edited by sniffdog
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partington Gold Member

partington

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I just bought a new Kindle Paperwhite with built in light and have been highly satisfied with it. It was pre-ordered and released on 15 Nov, shipped that day, and received at my house on the 19th. All customs and shipping were paid by Amazon (included in the order). It was automatically registered to me and it even downloaded the books I had on my Kindle for PC account with Amazon. Total order at today's exchange rate is 8,500 baht.

I checked the prices here and you really don't save that much. Have read that they have the units but not in stock so you might have to wait if ordered here in Thailand.

AS everyone is reporting Kindles are available at many branches of B2S within Central Malls: I've personally seen them at Central World Chitlom BTS, the B2S in the mall next to Ploenchit BTS, and the one at Central at Praram 9 MRT station.

I bought mine last year at Central Chit Lom, for 5500B, a Kindle 4, the most basic model. No ordering is involved, just walk in, pick it up and buy it. Once you factor in the cost of shipping, tax, plus possible delay, and the inconvenience of having it delivered to a Thai address when you're only in the country for a short time, this seems an acceptably cheap and convenient way of doing it.

I love it, it's now my most treasured possession. I like it mostly because it's not a tablet - I wanted something without any functions except to download, store and display books. It does this amazingly well, and it's a pleasure to read on it.

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DMC1 Silver Member

DMC1

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^ Exactly. For reading experience you can't beat a proper e-reader. Gentle on the eyes, super lightweight & amazing battery life (3-4 weeks on my Kindle).

To the OP - just go to B2S and get one, so you might pay B1000 over the odds but it's well worth it.

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