Thai Post Office Shipping to UK

[chiang mai]

Has anyone used EMS to ship personal possessions from Thailand to the UK, if yes, did it work well and how long did it take?

Also, how is the UK Customs side of things managed from the shippers perspective, presumably the shipper completes a UK declaration in Thailand?

Any inputs to this will be gratefully received, I'm looking to ship not large amounts of clothing and personal effects, nothing new.

[cmsally]

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/post/sending.htm

You should have no problems if marking as personal belongings returning to UK

However UK customs have a reputation for being a bit OTT

Mark value as low as poss - like really low. You might want to cover yourself by including another inventory in the box saying these are your personal possessions and not for sale or receipt by another party. I think it would help if you sent to yourself so name of sender and receiver the same.

Never had problems sending to the UK with EMS although it can take up to 5 days which is longer than they tell you. I have also used Air mail and SAL - never a problem.

Registered air mail is trackable in some countries but not the UK which is a pain - but nothing has ever been lost - fingers crossed! EMS should be trackable the whole way even for the UK!

The only problem you might run into is that the forms don't (from what I can remember ) have a choice of "returning personal belongings". In which case choose "other" and mark it clearly "personal belongings" adding "returning home" if you have space.

Keep value way down as big numbers excite the officials and anything over 270 GBP might entail extra paperwork.

Just remember that big numbers and descriptions that could be something dodgy get the officials excited.

[chiang mai]

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/post/sending.htm

You should have no problems if marking as personal belongings returning to UK

However UK customs have a reputation for being a bit OTT

Mark value as low as poss - like really low. You might want to cover yourself by including another inventory in the box saying these are your personal possessions and not for sale or receipt by another party. I think it would help if you sent to yourself so name of sender and receiver the same.

Never had problems sending to the UK with EMS although it can take up to 5 days which is longer than they tell you. I have also used Air mail and SAL - never a problem.

Registered air mail is trackable in some countries but not the UK which is a pain - but nothing has ever been lost - fingers crossed! EMS should be trackable the whole way even for the UK!

The only problem you might run into is that the forms don't (from what I can remember ) have a choice of "returning personal belongings". In which case choose "other" and mark it clearly "personal belongings" adding "returning home" if you have space.

Keep value way down as big numbers excite the officials and anything over 270 GBP might entail extra paperwork.

Just remember that big numbers and descriptions that could be something dodgy get the officials excited.

Thanks for that Sally, I've just finished reading pretty much the same thing on the Customs web site. Any idea if the required Customs declaration is the form C3 or CN23, their cyclically linked web sites are a nightmare.

[cmsally]

All goods arriving in the UK from outside the EU by post must have a Customs Declaration fixed to the package. The declaration, completed by the sender, should be one of the following:

• a CN22 - for goods and gifts up to £270
• a CN23 - for goods and gifts over £270
• a Parcelforce Worldwide Despatch pack (incorporating a CN23)

You can get the above from any Post Office in the UK or abroad.

The declaration should include:

• a description of the goods
• their value
• whether they are gifts, commercial or personal items

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

If you're receiving personal items belonging to you, you'll be asked on delivery to complete form C3 'Bringing your personal belongings to the United Kingdom from outside the European Union' - to confirm that you are the owner of the goods.

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

Looks like C3 is something you might be asked to sign on delivery so its done in the UK not here.

You would want to be filling out a C22 with value under 270 GBP.

No point in C23 > 270 GBP if they are personal belongings.

C22 is a small green piece of paper that you can stick to the box

Normally they don't give these out with EMS (maybe the EMS form is also a C22 - just check on the form)

Its poss that the EMS form is the equivalent of the Parcelforce despatch pack - not sure

[i claudius]

Just sent some stuff to the UK ,stupidly i put a value of 310 pounds on it ,tax and vat 71 pounds to pay , when it was paid at the other end the lady taking the money said to my sister "tell him next time to lie ," make the value as small as possible .

ps delivery was very good ,tracked all the way on their website and took about 8 days.