Thai Customs to crack down online shops that sell smuggled designer items

[Chonburiram]

Nice to see that Thai customs do something to protect the country's fake/copy industries!

[spermwhale]

Thai customs is already one of the most corrupt organizations in the Thai government. They should crack down instead on corrupt customs officers. When I moved here in 2003 I had a bunch of personal effects shipped over from the US and as I was at the port to claim my belongings, they shunted me up to deal with a high-ranking officer (I believe he was anyway) and he proceeds to tell me his daughter is studying in college in the US and then he pulls out a photo album of this mansion that he was building for his family as a vacation place in the Kao Yai area.

And I"m thinking ..."How does a customs officers end up with enough money to build a pad like that?"

Fortunately I had to pay nothing to get my stuff.

[Thai at Heart]

And now obviously the policy would be to not share your flight details.

I once asked a friend doing this business where she got a lot of merchandise.

Thai airways stewardesses are great mules for handbags and other designer bits and bobs.

[FredNL]

This story really makes me laugh.

Just take a look what they are selling at:

• Chatuchak Market
• MBK
• Pratunam
• Chinatown
• and everywhere else in Thailand what isn't a genuine store.

They better do a giant crackdown on these mentioned above. Or would they kick some high heels, by doing this?

[belg]

555

bring in FAKE goods INTO thailand ?????

[darrendsd]

what about the mountains of this stuff on sale in markets here? then there is all the software piracy, film and music copies, the fake watches, fake football shirts, fake pens, fake headphones etc, the list is endless and the amounts enormous. The online stuff is the tip of the ice berg.

Did you read and understand the article? The article is not about fake gear it is about genuine gear that is smuggled into to the country without the tax being paid

[darrendsd]

Some of the responses to this article on here just shows the below average intelligence of some Thai Visa posters who are saying it is about fake gear

It has nothing to do with fake gear being brought into the country, can I suggest that those who think it is either read the article again or get somebody with a higher IQ to read it for them and then explain what it is really about

Edited July 4, 2014 by darrendsd

[Thai at Heart]

I am told these creeps at customs pay as much as 5 million baht, to secure a mid level position. That reflects the fortunes that are being made with those positions. So, if they are cracking down, it is a bit like the war on drugs in the US. The crackdown is simply a reflection of the frustration over their inability to make money on that industry. Get real. Be men. Do your jobs. Try being a service to the nation, instead of sucking it's blood. Customs is really nothing more than a vampire agency, the way it is currently set up. Not sure how much actual tax goes into the government coffers. Would be interesting to see a breakdown of how much is kept as personal fortune vs. how much is actually collected by the state.

Thailand is desperately trying to drag itself into the 21st century trade wise. They put up barriers to this and barriers to that almost just to facilitate corruption. If there wasn't any ludicrous luxury duty on a louis vuiotton handbag firstly people wouldn't smuggle them and sales of them woudl go up, thus making up a lot of the shortfall created by removing the duty in the first place.

[spidermike007]

I am told these creeps at customs pay as much as 5 million baht, to secure a mid level position. That reflects the fortunes that are being made with those positions. So, if they are cracking down, it is a bit like the war on drugs in the US. The crackdown is simply a reflection of the frustration over their inability to make money on that industry. Get real. Be men. Do your jobs. Try being a service to the nation, instead of sucking it's blood. Customs is really nothing more than a vampire agency, the way it is currently set up. Not sure how much actual tax goes into the government coffers. Would be interesting to see a breakdown of how much is kept as personal fortune vs. how much is actually collected by the state.

Thailand is desperately trying to drag itself into the 21st century trade wise. They put up barriers to this and barriers to that almost just to facilitate corruption. If there wasn't any ludicrous luxury duty on a louis vuiotton handbag firstly people wouldn't smuggle them and sales of them woudl go up, thus making up a lot of the shortfall created by removing the duty in the first place.

Correct. You have a lot of people creating these policies, and are not qualified to sell shoes, or vacuum cleaners. So, not a lot of thought is out into these hair brained policies. Same with the wine industry. If one fabulously corrupt senator has not accepted millions of baht from the thai wine lobby (imagine such a thing?) Thailand would be the SE Asian leader in the industry, in terms of sales, wine events, tastings, etc. They would have perhaps a 20 or 30 billion dollar a year industry, and they would be collecting a reasonable duty of say 100%, instead of the 460% duty currently in place, which makes it the highest wine duty in the free world? And instead you have a tiny industry, and lot of people people drinking swill. Bottles I see for $4 in California, are on wine lists in nice restaurants here for $45! Shame on Dr. Frogs! So, what do we have? Policies written by men so ignorant, so devoid of wisdom, so dumb, it boggles the average mind.

Spidermike

Chaiyaphum, Thailand

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[thaicookingchef]

Is it a new trend ? 1 bullshiiit a day ? This disneyland place is more and more funny everyday <3

[Evolare]

what about the mountains of this stuff on sale in markets here? then there is all the software piracy, film and music copies, the fake watches, fake football shirts, fake pens, fake headphones etc, the list is endless and the amounts enormous. The online stuff is the tip of the ice berg.

I think this is not about fake products. This is about original stuff. Like handbags for 40.000 THB which costs some significant % lesser in China and Hong Kong.

40.000 thb that's almost in the lower end of the luxury stuff even when looking at handbags...only small purses starts at that...then go up to 500-600.000 thb if you look at the high end hermes bags for instance. I mean a highgrade copy can go for as high as 10.000thb

[Evolare]

I am told these creeps at customs pay as much as 5 million baht, to secure a mid level position. That reflects the fortunes that are being made with those positions. So, if they are cracking down, it is a bit like the war on drugs in the US. The crackdown is simply a reflection of the frustration over their inability to make money on that industry. Get real. Be men. Do your jobs. Try being a service to the nation, instead of sucking it's blood. Customs is really nothing more than a vampire agency, the way it is currently set up. Not sure how much actual tax goes into the government coffers. Would be interesting to see a breakdown of how much is kept as personal fortune vs. how much is actually collected by the state.

Thailand is desperately trying to drag itself into the 21st century trade wise. They put up barriers to this and barriers to that almost just to facilitate corruption. If there wasn't any ludicrous luxury duty on a louis vuiotton handbag firstly people wouldn't smuggle them and sales of them woudl go up, thus making up a lot of the shortfall created by removing the duty in the first place.

Correct. You have a lot of people creating these policies, and are not qualified to sell shoes, or vacuum cleaners. So, not a lot of thought is out into these hair brained policies. Same with the wine industry. If one fabulously corrupt senator has not accepted millions of baht from the thai wine lobby (imagine such a thing?) Thailand would be the SE Asian leader in the industry, in terms of sales, wine events, tastings, etc. They would have perhaps a 20 or 30 billion dollar a year industry, and they would be collecting a reasonable duty of say 100%, instead of the 460% duty currently in place, which makes it the highest wine duty in the free world? And instead you have a tiny industry, and lot of people people drinking swill. Bottles I see for $4 in California, are on wine lists in nice restaurants here for $45! Shame on Dr. Frogs! So, what do we have? Policies written by men so ignorant, so devoid of wisdom, so dumb, it boggles the average mind.

Spidermike

Chaiyaphum, Thailand

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

not that I'm an expert but according to thai customs website the duty for wine is 80% not 460% where did you get that number from?

[gemini81]

Nice to see that Thai customs do something to protect the country's fake/copy industries!

And protect from visitors wanted to enjoy Thailand for what its worth. Get real customs clowns, start with the markets. Or don't you have the BALLS?! Face to face with big shots running those black market places...

[spidermike007]

I am told these creeps at customs pay as much as 5 million baht, to secure a mid level position. That reflects the fortunes that are being made with those positions. So, if they are cracking down, it is a bit like the war on drugs in the US. The crackdown is simply a reflection of the frustration over their inability to make money on that industry. Get real. Be men. Do your jobs. Try being a service to the nation, instead of sucking it's blood. Customs is really nothing more than a vampire agency, the way it is currently set up. Not sure how much actual tax goes into the government coffers. Would be interesting to see a breakdown of how much is kept as personal fortune vs. how much is actually collected by the state.

Thailand is desperately trying to drag itself into the 21st century trade wise. They put up barriers to this and barriers to that almost just to facilitate corruption. If there wasn't any ludicrous luxury duty on a louis vuiotton handbag firstly people wouldn't smuggle them and sales of them woudl go up, thus making up a lot of the shortfall created by removing the duty in the first place.

Correct. You have a lot of people creating these policies, and are not qualified to sell shoes, or vacuum cleaners. So, not a lot of thought is out into these hair brained policies. Same with the wine industry. If one fabulously corrupt senator has not accepted millions of baht from the thai wine lobby (imagine such a thing?) Thailand would be the SE Asian leader in the industry, in terms of sales, wine events, tastings, etc. They would have perhaps a 20 or 30 billion dollar a year industry, and they would be collecting a reasonable duty of say 100%, instead of the 460% duty currently in place, which makes it the highest wine duty in the free world? And instead you have a tiny industry, and lot of people people drinking swill. Bottles I see for $4 in California, are on wine lists in nice restaurants here for $45! Shame on Dr. Frogs! So, what do we have? Policies written by men so ignorant, so devoid of wisdom, so dumb, it boggles the average mind.

Spidermike

Chaiyaphum, Thailand

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

not that I'm an expert but according to thai customs website the duty for wine is 80% not 460% where did you get that number from?[/quote

People in the wine industry, I believe favored nations like Australia have lower tariffs. Look at the wine prices. A bottle I pay $25 for in LA, is $125 here. Retail.

Spidermike

Chaiyaphum, Thailand

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[spidermike007]

I am told these creeps at customs pay as much as 5 million baht, to secure a mid level position. That reflects the fortunes that are being made with those positions. So, if they are cracking down, it is a bit like the war on drugs in the US. The crackdown is simply a reflection of the frustration over their inability to make money on that industry. Get real. Be men. Do your jobs. Try being a service to the nation, instead of sucking it's blood. Customs is really nothing more than a vampire agency, the way it is currently set up. Not sure how much actual tax goes into the government coffers. Would be interesting to see a breakdown of how much is kept as personal fortune vs. how much is actually collected by the state.

Thailand is desperately trying to drag itself into the 21st century trade wise. They put up barriers to this and barriers to that almost just to facilitate corruption. If there wasn't any ludicrous luxury duty on a louis vuiotton handbag firstly people wouldn't smuggle them and sales of them woudl go up, thus making up a lot of the shortfall created by removing the duty in the first place.

Correct. You have a lot of people creating these policies, and are not qualified to sell shoes, or vacuum cleaners. So, not a lot of thought is out into these hair brained policies. Same with the wine industry. If one fabulously corrupt senator has not accepted millions of baht from the thai wine lobby (imagine such a thing?) Thailand would be the SE Asian leader in the industry, in terms of sales, wine events, tastings, etc. They would have perhaps a 20 or 30 billion dollar a year industry, and they would be collecting a reasonable duty of say 100%, instead of the 460% duty currently in place, which makes it the highest wine duty in the free world? And instead you have a tiny industry, and lot of people people drinking swill. Bottles I see for $4 in California, are on wine lists in nice restaurants here for $45! Shame on Dr. Frogs! So, what do we have? Policies written by men so ignorant, so devoid of wisdom, so dumb, it boggles the average mind.

Spidermike

Chaiyaphum, Thailand

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

not that I'm an expert but according to thai customs website the duty for wine is 80% not 460% where did you get that number from?

Got this from a US govt. website:

Duties on imported consumer-ready food products typically range between 30 percent and 50 percent, Thailand being the highest among Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, with some as high as 90 percent. Tariffs on meats, fresh fruits (including citrus fruit and table grapes) and vegetables, fresh cheese, and pulses (e.g., dry peas, lentils, and chickpeas) are similarly high, even for products for which there is little domestic production. Frozen french fries, for example, are not produced in Thailand, yet face a 30 percent tariff. Tariffs on apples are at 10 percent, while duties on pears and cherries range from 30 percent to 40 percent. U.S. fruit growers believe they could export to Thailand up to $15 million more each year if these tariffs were reduced. U.S. exports of wine face a total tax of nearly 400 percent when import duties, excise taxes, and other surcharges are calculated.

Spidermike

Chaiyaphum, Thailand

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[gemini81]

what about the mountains of this stuff on sale in markets here? then there is all the software piracy, film and music copies, the fake watches, fake football shirts, fake pens, fake headphones etc, the list is endless and the amounts enormous. The online stuff is the tip of the ice berg.

Did you read and understand the article? The article is not about fake gear it is about genuine gear that is smuggled into to the country without the tax being paid

As a result of their ludicrous policies creating a bigger black market with astronomical tax rates, they deserve all the headache they created by ridiculous taxes on imports and a lack of interest from investors/retailers/importers. Yet frickin' rice farmers don't pay a single baht in personal income tax! That is what is so silly.

They should first crack down on more farce policies that led to the way things are. Jack up the taxes, people will find ways around it. Like all the smuggled beer Laos for sale along the border inside Thailand when you're in Nong Khai or even Udon.... (better to buy it there, for instance than get raped by appalling import duties, VAT, sin tax charges and high profit margins!...I can see why people do it...) They ought to re-think their policies, or better yet, start thinking for the first time. Follow model examples of how developed countries handle things..or would they just totally mentally trainwreck? haha/

[spidermike007]

Tax is 390.46%, OUCH!

A CIF Invoice Value of Imported Wine $100.00
B Tariff (Import Duty): A x 54% $ 54.00
C Excise Tax Paid: Excise Tax Rate x (CIF
value+import duty+excise tax paid+municipal
tax) or 1.7647059(A+
$271.76
D Municipal tax: C x 10% $ 27.17
E Health tax: C x 2% $ 5.44
F Value Added Tax: (A+B+C+D+E) x 7% $ 32.09
G Total Cost: (A+B+C+D+E+F) $490.46
Effective Duty and Tax Burden 390.46%

I believe this information is fairly hidden as my guess is that the relevant authorities find this information to be deeply embarrassing. It is simply not reasonable behavior on the part of a rational government, and essentially constitutes sabotage of the wine industry here in Thailand. If the local wine was good, that would be another thing altogether. But as we all know, that is not the case. So, why sabotage the ability to bring in great wine, and create a vibrant industry? Foolhardyness? Yes. Ignorance? Yes. Silliness?. Yes. Churlishness? Yes. Wisdom? No. Ambition? No. Intelligence? No.

[JohnThailandJohn]

Great news!

Now what about all the road fatalities?

What do you suggest custom officials do to address this?

I don't expect custom officials to do anything.

I would; however, like to see a story about how 'someone' is doing something about all the deaths on the road.

A group of people sat around discussing how they can deter someone from buying a bag in Paris for someone else seems all too trivial. (It puts things into perspective)

If only a group of people could apply this same effort in a discussion into how they could lower the road fatalities, and stories like these wouldn't be mocked.

That's merely my point.

Feel free to ask what this has to do with custom officials again.

Plenty of stories about of posted about curbing road deaths and they are mocked too. To come on to a thread that has absolutely nothing to do with road deaths and officials that have absolutely nothing to do with road deaths is not just off topic but makes no sense unless you believe every government agency should shut down and stop working to lesson floods, drug abuse, rising prices .... and solely focus on road deaths. Your comment doesn't make any sense in this thread and the fact that you cannot understand this tells me you should do less judging of others.

Here is a link to ten pages of road safety related stories for you to mock ... http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?s=e2aa058ef69de4e2993e9ff5297465e7&app=googlecse#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=road At least your comments would be on topic in one of these

Edited July 4, 2014 by JohnThailandJohn

[Jaggg88]

what about the mountains of this stuff on sale in markets here? then there is all the software piracy, film and music copies, the fake watches, fake football shirts, fake pens, fake headphones etc, the list is endless and the amounts enormous. The online stuff is the tip of the ice berg.

I think this is not about fake products. This is about original stuff. Like handbags for 40.000 THB which costs some significant % lesser in China and Hong Kong.

You are correct - this is a common scheme where you pay someone to fly to abroad and purchase the real luxury goods and avoid import duty/luxury taxes which are punitive in Thailand

[Thai at Heart]

A lot of recent activity like this is about collecting more income via taxes.

They're going after people who bought cars valued at more then 3 million baht and houses > 40 million to see if their declared income matches their spending habits.

Next they're going after people buying stuff abroad worth more then 10,000 baht to make sure they cough up custom duties.

Now they're going after small-time luxury good import tax evaders.

Soon they'll being taxing us based on much we crap out in the toilets. The more you crap the more you consume perhaps?

Its a no-brainer that most of Thailand's tax income is lost to corrupt politicians and government officials. Customs is number 1 on the list.

God knows how much, 30%, 40% 50%?

Okay I know the government needs more money to pay off farmers but following Pareto's law you'd get 80% results just by targeting 20% of corrupt practices.

The amount of tax evasion in this country would fund 3 small banana rep[ublics.

[FredNL]

Even the Peter Vella red wine you have in Thailand is FAKE !!!

But this is completely legal because the wine from California was made and bottled in Thailand !!

[paddyjenkins]

How about just charging fair import taxes and fees instead? And how about it if the rest of the world decided to give Thailand a taste of its own medicine by slapping 100% or so taxes on Thai goods?

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[rkidlad]

Great news!

Now what about all the road fatalities?

What do you suggest custom officials do to address this?

I don't expect custom officials to do anything.

I would; however, like to see a story about how 'someone' is doing something about all the deaths on the road.

A group of people sat around discussing how they can deter someone from buying a bag in Paris for someone else seems all too trivial. (It puts things into perspective)

If only a group of people could apply this same effort in a discussion into how they could lower the road fatalities, and stories like these wouldn't be mocked.

That's merely my point.

Feel free to ask what this has to do with custom officials again.

Plenty of stories about of posted about curbing road deaths and they are mocked too. To come on to a thread that has absolutely nothing to do with road deaths and officials that have absolutely nothing to do with road deaths is not just off topic but makes no sense unless you believe every government agency should shut down and stop working to lesson floods, drug abuse, rising prices .... and solely focus on road deaths. Your comment doesn't make any sense in this thread and the fact that you cannot understand this tells me you should do less judging of others.

Here is a link to ten pages of road safety related stories for you to mock ... http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?s=e2aa058ef69de4e2993e9ff5297465e7&app=googlecse#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=road At least your comments would be on topic in one of these

Yes, it makes no sense.........to you.

[thaicookingchef]

Even the Peter Vella red wine you have in Thailand is FAKE !!!

But this is completely legal because the wine from California was made and bottled in Thailand !!

Are you sure it's fake ?