Entering Thailand with gifts : luxury bags, wine, food? Custom?

[Jaggg88]

Thanks a lot everyone for all your answers!

--- About wine and food:

I don't drink alcool and I obviously cannot pick or recommend anything myself. So considering all you said, I will stick with the sweet "umeshu" (plum alcholo) I bought in Japan, 1 liter, and that's it.

About food: I might bring good (brand) biscuits or sweets (for ex. macarons as someone suggested).

--- About Vuitton bags: I will try to make things a bit more clear.

My wife is working at Vuitton. She can get a good discount for some items, and a VERY good discount (employee price) for some other items. She is NOT joining me for this trip, I will travel alone.

I will be welcomed for free in my friends home. Considering that she really wants to get *real* Vuitton bags, and we can save her a lot of money, we decided to help her for that (as a kind of "payment" for giving me a roof to sleep under ). She will transfer me money, I will buy bags, and get them to her.

She wants 2 bags : a big and a small one. The small one cannot fit in the big one.

Totally they are worth a bit less than 2000 euros.

--> So far my idea was : bags are cheaper than 2500€ (100.000 bahts) and import should be free as they are "personal items" (until given, that is).

But it does not seems that custom will agree with this.

--> I was thinking of just "hiding" them as there are no serious controls. But apparently there are. And 2000€ of bags might lead to something like a 8000€ penalty if i'm correct, and confiscated bags... I'd rather avoid that...

--> Latest idea : use the big bag as MY own bag (more or less unisex, I just might look a bit... well... feminine). Carry my plane tickets inside, camera, etc. Put the small bag in my cabine suitcase (but this one kinda looks womanish) and stuff it with personal items : smartphone, books, whatever. And if asked, just answer that it is for later use.

I would just carry the box in my checked-in "big" suitcase and use them as containers for tee-shirts, underwear, etc.

PROBLEM : mrfaroukh answer reads "you must declare if you have any luxury bags or watches and pay duty on them even if they are for personal use. So if your bring them and not declare at the immigration and go through green channel, and if you are stopped then the goods might be confiscated and penalty must be paid. May be more"

Meaning that EVEN my latest option might not save me from paying duties and taxes. The big bag will be in plain view because it will be "mine", carried on my shoulder. The other one will be "used", but tidied up in my cabine suitcase, and that might not be enough to save me from paying something, either.

Though, I find it weird: with this rule any wealthy person entering the country would have to pay a lot of taxes...no?

i can't imagine that is the case...

Your opinion, advice?

First of all you need to know that there is a luxury tax on designer bags in Thailand, so they're much cheaper elsewhere and there is a thriving business with people flying to Singapore/HK etc and smuggling back new bags. The customs officers are looking for this traffic so you are taking a big risk trying to smuggle these 2 expensive bags.

If you insist on bringing these bags I would suggest you send the boxes, tags and dust bags via normal post and just bring the bags, so they don't look like new bags.

Edited September 16, 2014 by Jaggg88

[vatefsly]

Haha OK, I was reassured and your message is worrying, I don't know what to think now O_O

I'll keep checking and see if I can find better solution or if I stick to my plan (carry one bag as mine, and tell the other one is gift, if I am asked, and in any case be naive, innocent and polite huhu).

[Apiwan2]

So the bottom line is.

Put it in your carry on bag.

Go through the green channel and hope for the best.

1 bag for a Xmas present .

Shouldn'tbe a problem .

Should it ?

[new2here]

My personal experience as of late -- say in the last quarter or so - is that I see more inspections, be that X-ray as well as physical open searches, than I have in the past.

I can't put a numerical value on this, but I go to Narita about 3 to 4 times a month and often take weekend trips to Singapore, and when I return, I've seen what I call a stepped up inspection rate of both green and red channel passenger, as well as crew.

[smokie36]

Do you think my eight boxes of sugar puffs, twenty packs of dairy milk chocolate and a haggis will make it through unscathed?

[Ricardo]

Do you think my eight boxes of sugar puffs, twenty packs of dairy milk chocolate and a haggis will make it through unscathed?

The haggis should saunter-through the Green-channel on its own, pretending not to be following or associated with you, and thus leaving more space for Irn-Bru !

I'm reminded of the story, a man walks through the Green-channel at Customs, leading an elephant which has a slice-of-bread in each ear, when challenged by the Customs-officer he replies, "What do You care, what filling I put in my sandwich ?" The oldies are the goodies !