Shipping / duty

[LaraC]

Hope this is the right section.

Anyone had experience of shipping goods from overseas into Thailand?
I have 9 small boxes of personal items that i have had shipped from the UK.
All used items, nothing mechanical and nothing real value (apart from sentimental).
I paid for a door-to-door service, and the boxes have now arrived in Bangkok. I live outside of of Bangkok (enough of a distance to not want to make a trip into Bangkok)
I have a B visa (no work permit), and in order to (possibly) pay no import duty the company have asked me to EMS my original passport to Bangkok so they can show customs.
Is this normal...?
Whats the chances i will need to pay duty? (books, clothing, small niknaks )
If i do need to pay duty, will it be high?

THanks!

[crazykopite]

I had 50cubic feet 13 medium boxes arrive from uk in December got fed up of them being stored for 8 years at ridiculous money I have an extension of stay visa and only found put that with this type of visa I am only allowed books and clothes believe me I had a lot more than that my stuff included bose equipment water skis expensive kitchen ware and so on total cost was just over 3,000 baht plus 1,500 baht as I did not want to send my passport to bkk so instead I sent a photo copy my agent in bkk was fantastic cleared all my stuff and delivered to koh samui the cost of shipping the goods door to door from Cheshire to koh samui including insurance was £675 less than a years storage charges in the uk I had 4broken items which I couldn't bother claiming on.

[crazykopite]

I had 50cubic feet 13 medium boxes arrive from uk in December got fed up of them being stored for 8 years at ridiculous money I have an extension of stay visa and only found put that with this type of visa I am only allowed books and clothes believe me I had a lot more than that my stuff included bose equipment water skis expensive kitchen ware and so on total cost was just over 3,000 baht plus 1,500 baht as I did not want to send my passport to bkk so instead I sent a photo copy my agent in bkk was fantastic cleared all my stuff and delivered to koh samui the cost of shipping the goods door to door from Cheshire to koh samui including insurance was £675 less than a years storage charges in the uk I had 4broken items which I couldn't bother claiming on.

Sorry rambled on a bit my duty payable was in the region of 3,000 baht plus 1,500 as I did not want to send my original passport so I sent a copy of the visa page and my mugshot page .

The agent then provided there bank details so that I could pay the money into there account my boxes were not touched / opened by customs . Pm me if you need any other info

[p_brownstone]

Do NOT under any circumstances send your original Passport anywhere.

A Photocopy is enough for anything here - SHOW the Passport, OK, fine - but to send the original is not necessary and very risky.

Patrick

[LaraC]

I had 50cubic feet 13 medium boxes arrive from uk in December got fed up of them being stored for 8 years at ridiculous money I have an extension of stay visa and only found put that with this type of visa I am only allowed books and clothes believe me I had a lot more than that my stuff included bose equipment water skis expensive kitchen ware and so on total cost was just over 3,000 baht plus 1,500 baht as I did not want to send my passport to bkk so instead I sent a photo copy my agent in bkk was fantastic cleared all my stuff and delivered to koh samui the cost of shipping the goods door to door from Cheshire to koh samui including insurance was £675 less than a years storage charges in the uk I had 4broken items which I couldn't bother claiming on.

Thanks so much for the info!

Same situation as me. Been paying storage for years. Decided to take a risk and have everything boxed up and sent over. I dont mind paying out 3000 for duty, just heard some horror stories about excessive tax.

Did you have a work permit ? WHat visa were you on, if you dont mind me asking?

---------------

ALso..why should i not send my passport? :S

[LaraC]

Need more help on this please.

...i just realised that my B visa ended on the 15th of this month.

I was able to get 3 further months out of it, taking me to to April however.
BUT, does this mean i no longer have a visa..as in, for my goods that are no in Bangkok ???
Can someone please give advice, if they know because ill need to let the handlers know how best to proceed.

..ie, if i need to go urgenty and sort out a new visa first, or not.
THanks!

[Maestro]

Your visa, which was your permission to travel to Thailand, appears to have expired. The latest permission to stay you got on your last entry into Thailand remains valid until the date shown on the arrival stamp, which you say is until April. In other words, you need not worry, your presence in Thailand is perfectly legal at the moment and until the expiration of your current permission to stay.

See this link for additional information:

What does the visa expiration date mean?

[LaraC]

Oh ty Maestro. Couldn't shake that out of my head all night!! Relieved.

[ubonjoe]

A off topic post has been removed.

[Langsuan Man]

I had to send my passport to Bangkok before I could get my items out of the bonded warehouse. I too was reluctant, but the alternative was to go there myself, and since the handling agent was reliable i went ahead and EMS'ed it. I retrieved my passport when I met him to give him the cash to get my household goods released by customs without a receipt @ a 50% discount

[techyhippy]

I had 50cubic feet 13 medium boxes arrive from uk in December got fed up of them being stored for 8 years at ridiculous money I have an extension of stay visa and only found put that with this type of visa I am only allowed books and clothes believe me I had a lot more than that my stuff included bose equipment water skis expensive kitchen ware and so on total cost was just over 3,000 baht plus 1,500 baht as I did not want to send my passport to bkk so instead I sent a photo copy my agent in bkk was fantastic cleared all my stuff and delivered to koh samui the cost of shipping the goods door to door from Cheshire to koh samui including insurance was £675 less than a years storage charges in the uk I had 4broken items which I couldn't bother claiming on.

I am in a very similar boat and I am in your neighbourhood, on Koh Tao. Please can you share the contact details of the company you used and let me know if you happen to know whether there are any requirements regarding work permit and or type of visa (eg. is non immigrant a requirement). If you would rather not say here please please pm me as this is exactly what I have been looking for. thanks!

[Mario2008]

For duty free import you must have a work permit and be on a 1 year extension of stay, your first one to be exact! Only during the first year can you receive a duty free shipment As a work permit is required, you will need a non-immigrant visa.

If married to a Thai, she can import duty free if she return to Thailand after having llived abroad.

What you can duty free import are household effects (second hand), with things as a TV and computer in a reasonable amount.

All other things can of course be imported, but you pay duties over them. With a Thai agent they will negotiate a very favourable fee with customs.

[Jay Sata]

For duty free import you must have a work permit and be on a 1 year extension of stay, your first one to be exact! Only during the first year can you receive a duty free shipment As a work permit is required, you will need a non-immigrant visa.

If married to a Thai, she can import duty free if she return to Thailand after having llived abroad.

What you can duty free import are household effects (second hand), with things as a TV and comoputer in a reasonable amount.

All other things can of course be imported, but you pay duties over them. With a Thai agent they will negotiate a very favourable fee with customs.

My understanding is this also includes a car for a Thai who has lived overseas and has owned it for over a year?