Shipping to Thailand - What to expect at customs

[Captbonio]

Hello to you wise and wizened Forum gents,

I am moving to Thailand next year (yay!) and have started getting prices for the shipping of my household goods and belongings.

There are many companies (some who advertise on this site) who offer what seems to be a pretty decent service door to door, which is exactly what I want. Price wise from highest to lowest they are generally within a £1000 spread which is pretty much what I would have expected and have budgeted for.

However, there is a wealth of small print to wade through, and it is here where I have concerns, specifically what happens on arrival at port and customs. It seems that the shippers will take no responsibility for what happens there, which I suppose is to be expected, but I have read some stories where there are unnecessary delays and then resultant charges and taxes which are conjured out of nowhere.

Originally, I was planning to bring my car, but thanks to this forum and have canned that idea as it is so open to corruption and unpredictability. With my personal effects though I do not have the choice in the matter and they have to be shipped. I have no issue with the paperwork that I have to fill in and it will be done properly, honestly and as required.

My question then (finally) is, what can I expect to happen at customs so I can prepare for it ? I suppose best case is that it all goes through smoothly and it is delivery on time and intact. The worst case being.....I dont know, but presumably silly taxes and charges and big delays.

I might add, my wife is Thai and all will be shipped in her name as a returning national.

My previous questions have been answered on this Forum by some pretty smart people who have helped immeasurably, and I hope I can attract the same caliber of assistance on this one

Many thanks in advance.

[Langsuan Man]

Sorry but it is a crap shoot. Some people end up paying nothing, some a lot, and others a fortune. It is all dependent upon which customs agent is assigned to your shipment so you never know. I paid $1,000 for no receipt which would have been $2,000 with an official receipt. But since the shipping and clearance were part of my retirement package I was willing to take the chance

But you do have a leg up on others in that you have a Thai wife, who hopefully will satisfy the duty free requirements for returning Thais but if you read the customs regulations even that exception has a few gotchas

You will get numerous answers here at Thai Visa and all will insists that their story is the absolute truth and everyone else is lying..... good luck....and as Dirty Harry says: Are you feeling lucky today

[craigt3365]

A returning Thai wife is a huge plus. That will make things much easier. But as mentioned above, very well I might add, you never know. This is an excellent article to read:

http://www.aircargoworld-digital.com/aircargoworld/may_2013#pg32

[Captbonio]

Thanks Gents... I know its going to be a crap shoot. The reason I asked was to find the potential parameters that i might expect. With the car importing stories, i guess the worst case is you walk away from you car, only to see it go to auction....best case it you pay silly money for it, but it being worth it as compared with what you can get locally. With my stuff, I dont know if I could actually walk away from it, and if thats the case, I'm guessing that the more corrupt officials will be aware of that and have me over a barrel so to speak.

Thanks for your input and link.

[55Jay]

Did a Thai citizen returning shipment and we were nervous because we had all sorts of things in excess of the maximums allowed, kitchen and electronics in particular, and some high duty items like a treadmill. It was a full house move +.

As the shipment was all in my Mrs' name, she did all the jabbering back and forth with the female receiving agent in BKK (Santa Fe), we paid nothing extra and our stuff got delivered, no problems. It was a bit of an anti-climax compared to what I was mentally prepared for.

YMMV. Chok Dee.

[Captbonio]

Did a Thai citizen returning shipment and we were nervous because we had all sorts of things in excess of the maximums allowed, kitchen and electronics in particular, and some high duty items like a treadmill. It was a full house move +.

As the shipment was all in my Mrs' name, she did all the jabbering back and forth with the female receiving agent in BKK (Santa Fe), we paid nothing extra and our stuff got delivered, no problems. It was a bit of an anti-climax compared to what I was mentally prepared for.

YMMV. Chok Dee.

Thanks for that... i guess that really is the best case scenario....

Do you know if they checked everything, i.e. opening boxes etc, or just passed it through in its container unchecked ?

[55Jay]

Did a Thai citizen returning shipment and we were nervous because we had all sorts of things in excess of the maximums allowed, kitchen and electronics in particular, and some high duty items like a treadmill. It was a full house move +.

As the shipment was all in my Mrs' name, she did all the jabbering back and forth with the female receiving agent in BKK (Santa Fe), we paid nothing extra and our stuff got delivered, no problems. It was a bit of an anti-climax compared to what I was mentally prepared for.

YMMV. Chok Dee.

Thanks for that... i guess that really is the best case scenario....

Do you know if they checked everything, i.e. opening boxes etc, or just passed it through in its container unchecked ?

Indeed, all the feedback I got in advance, at least from those doing Thai citizen return sea container shipment, was about the same as what we experienced.

No, according to the Agent (accordingly to my wife), they just perused the packing list, which was about 8 or so pages.

Had they done a thorough inspection, we would of had some 'splainin to do. We had all sorts of stuff in there (nothing illegal mind) and a very creative packing list far as the item descriptions went. We rolled the dice, hoped for a "no open" inspection and it turned out alright in the end.

[Captbonio]

Did a Thai citizen returning shipment and we were nervous because we had all sorts of things in excess of the maximums allowed, kitchen and electronics in particular, and some high duty items like a treadmill. It was a full house move +.

As the shipment was all in my Mrs' name, she did all the jabbering back and forth with the female receiving agent in BKK (Santa Fe), we paid nothing extra and our stuff got delivered, no problems. It was a bit of an anti-climax compared to what I was mentally prepared for.

YMMV. Chok Dee.

Thanks for that... i guess that really is the best case scenario....

Do you know if they checked everything, i.e. opening boxes etc, or just passed it through in its container unchecked ?

Indeed, all the feedback I got in advance, at least from those doing Thai citizen return sea container shipment, was about the same as what we experienced.

No, according to the Agent (accordingly to my wife), they just perused the packing list, which was about 8 or so pages.

Had they done a thorough inspection, we would of had some 'splainin to do. We had all sorts of stuff in there (nothing illegal mind) and a very creative packing list far as the item descriptions went. We rolled the dice, hoped for a "no open" inspection and it turned out alright in the end.

gotcha. Thanks

Yeah the electrical items restriction was interesting...only 1 of each.. understandable if you were bringing in washing machines, but not realy applicable to bedside lamps etc...I guess one has to use a little immagination.

Thanks for the reply and feedback. Much appreciated.

[onthemoon]

Why not get it from the horse's mouth:

http://www.customs.go.th/wps/wcm/connect/custen/individuals/importing+used+or+secondhand+household+effects/importingusedsecondhandhouseholdeffects

Also, this government is very anti-corruption and close-eye payments may not be accepted any more. So, what worked fine last year, may not work this year.

I can recommend a company that is specialised in household removals and relocations. Please send me PM if interested.

[SoiBiker]

Pack light, buy new when you get here. We moved here with nothing more than our baggage allowance would allow. Everything else we got rid of or put into storage. Don't miss it.

[Captbonio]

Bingo.

[Tokay]

As it was said above, it's crap shoot. It's either going to be smooth and easy, or an expensive nightmare. They have actually held stuff hostage on us before, as well as people I know, and literally negotiate the price.

Criminals they are.

[Mike45]

Did a Thai citizen returning shipment and we were nervous because we had all sorts of things in excess of the maximums allowed, kitchen and electronics in particular, and some high duty items like a treadmill. It was a full house move +.

As the shipment was all in my Mrs' name, she did all the jabbering back and forth with the female receiving agent in BKK (Santa Fe), we paid nothing extra and our stuff got delivered, no problems. It was a bit of an anti-climax compared to what I was mentally prepared for.

YMMV. Chok Dee.

Did the same with my wife. Everything got through just fine. The shipper wanted it coming through a specific port that they knew they had contacts at. I was very relieved to get all our things there without a problem. I even got my company to pay for it! Edited September 25, 2014 by Mike45

[piusmann]

Just make sure that your wifes pp gets stamped at arrival airport. It cost me 5000bath for her to fly to bkk to get the stamp

Since customs cannot access immigration data. TIT

otherwise - no imortdjties on household goods if she has bee abroad more than 1 year.

Make sure she can proove with (old) pp

[crazykopite]

I paid 5,000 baht which included 1,500 baht fee as I did not want to send my passport up to Bangkok I sent a photocopy the total amount of goods was 50 cubic feet they did not open one box . I was very surprised only to pay this amount as I had read some horror stories on this site maybe I was a lucky one or maybe it was die to having a very good handling agent in Bangkok ? I had theses goods shipped from the UK in October 2013 less than a year ago hope this helps

[HullyGully]

I would recommend you prepare a packing list and priced invoice

In both case you should start by saying all goods are USED and your private possessions and over 2 years old, and logically keep the value down

Its important the goods are cleared without delay, as you may incur storage charges

I shipped a 20ft container here in 2003, and did not pay duty, however customs took some time to clear, I think they were looking for a fee

To expedite the receipt in Thailand, make sure have a copy / original documents along with the names / email / phone numbers of the shipping company agent in Thailand and that should include a Customs agents details

Generally speaking a sea shipment will take 30 - 45 days

[Utley]

Thai Customs = extortion. You are better off, IMHO, selling all your household goods and belongings and repurchasing new when you arrive in Thailand.

[razer]

Word of advice ... DO NOT GIVE YOUR PASSPORT TO THE AGENT.

Get a certified copy from your embassy.

My case - I was over charged 15,000 baht for services not requested or performed. I refused to pay. They refused to give me my passport. And this was a "reputable" Thai company.

I reported this to my embassy and got a new passport. After several threats and my refusal to pay they agreed to "give me a break" and forget about the charges.

[Estrada]

I suggest you use Allied Pickfords www.alliedpickfordsthailand.com of soi Lassalle Bangkok [email protected] 66 (0)2 361 3961. They very experienced and very trustworthy. They can answer all your questions and give you a door to door service to any destination here in Thailand. They are professional house movers and will pack and unpack all your possessions safely. It is a joint British/Thai operation.

[KhnomKhnom]

I will give information which does not directly relate to your Thai Wife returning goods question.

I employed Crown Relocaters company to pick up my household belongings in Florida and transport them by sea in a container to Bangkok and then deliver all the stuff to my Bangkok suburban house.

Crown had all my information and contents of numbered boxes. Crown did ALL my paperwork including Thailand customs. I paid a small customs fee for those guys to touch my paperwork, but I had NO duty to pay due to the rule in Thailand in 2005 that a foreign American can bring in one sea freight load of pure household items at no customs duty charge and one air freight same.

Crown was super great along the whole encounter and eliminated all my problems.

Today, I am dealing with FedEx to ship out a repair and get it back in and FedEx has caused me many problems and never solved my needs. UPS knew even less about this and DHL never answered their telephone.

It is 1930 in many parts of Thailand yet.

[hellstens]

I sell every thing I have home and move empty handed only a back pack , start all over from the ground, 10 years ago I never miss a thing :-)

More easy, when you move around the first 1-2 years, to find the right place to live.

[Suradit69]

Use a clearing agent. Give him a fairly detailed packing list and he'll need your passport. Describe everything as "used personal and household goods." The clearing agent can also arrange delivery to your home.

It really is a fairly painless and hassle-free experience, although I'm sure some people manage to turn it into something far worse. If you've read many threads on Thai Visa, you'll realize that many people manage to turn quite simple things into nightmares.

Originally, I was planning to bring my car, but thanks to this forum and have canned that idea as it is so open to corruption and unpredictability.

Why would your car be so open to corruption and unpredictability?

You haven't even arrived in Thailand and already you've joined the TV fraternity of Thai bashers I see. The pseudo-colonial mentality is alive and well.

Edited September 26, 2014 by Suradit69

[BradinAsia]

Based on my experience, if you use Fedex for shipping anything to or from Thailand you stand a

99.9% chance of having big problems with customs.

On my last attempt earlier this year, I had to abandon my shipment at customs bcoz the customs

tax was more than the value.

Have not had this problem with Express Mail or with any other shipper, only Fedex.

[sometimewoodworker]

I shipped 3 cubic metres with some very heavy cast Iron tools as part of the shipment. Once it got to Thailand it cost about 7,000 Bhat to clear customs and be delivered to near Udon Thani.

[meatboy]

I shipped 3 cubic metres with some very heavy cast Iron tools as part of the shipment. Once it got to Thailand it cost about 7,000 Bhat to clear customs and be delivered to near Udon Thani.

my wife returning after 20yrs.in the uk.shipped 3cubic mtrs.the shipping agent in bkk.cost 12,000bht.plus delivery to korat 6,000bht. total 18,000bht.we thought this was a big ripp off.till we read what some had paid for shipping door to door.

ours cost 240quid for the shipping =$360 or about 12,000bht.so door to door around 600quid.

dont forget op.the electric is different voltage.

[gopis108]

Hi Mate-I have done exactley the same thing last year and it was not a pleasant experience.First off as you say one would expect to not have to pay duty-after all the website says so that if one is married and you have been out of the country then duties are excused.

So off my goods went from Canada in a 40 ft.container so when I arrived in Thailand I went to see my old buddy at the clearing agencey and he wouldnt touch it.Hesaid you WILL HAVE TO PAY_no other way-no matter what the Govt.website says and he advised me to go to the Govt.customs aoffice myself which is what I did,and yes,they just keep coming up with another arguement and moving the goalposts-do you have a work permit etc.etc.so much non-sense so finally I realized the situation,as my friend at the agency said and I just asked them nicely to do the best they could for me under the circumstances.They took 1100 Dollars US for their services(???)and numerous other nickel and dime charges which had me running up and down for three hours.Finally the time came to go down to see the container clearing-they x-rayed the container and demanded it be opened because I had two old bicycles which my thai friend wanted and bicycles are not allowed.Then the demands for money to open the seal from the local mafia-I watched many Thais paying 20 Baht but of course they demanded I pay 200 Baht ,which I refused-eventualkly I gave then forty and they didnt cause much of a commotion.Fortunately I met one creepy guy at the customs documents and he led me through everything all the while trying to scam me out of more money for this and that.

So all told -if you can get it done door to door good on ya but I really have doubts about that,being a farang and all you are open game for all the scammers in Thailand-including the Government.Actually I regretted doing it but alas-hindsight is 20/20.

I had my forty ft.container delivered to Chiang mai and that was another $800 and they didnt have a yard so we had to offload on the main highway.What an ordeal,as are most things one tries to achieve in THailand.I have just recieved the license for my private tuk tuk-THREE YEARS after first applying and still they have no shame.

[NoshowJones]

Sorry but it is a crap shoot. Some people end up paying nothing, some a lot, and others a fortune. It is all dependent upon which customs agent is assigned to your shipment so you never know. I paid $1,000 for no receipt which would have been $2,000 with an official receipt. But since the shipping and clearance were part of my retirement package I was willing to take the chance

But you do have a leg up on others in that you have a Thai wife, who hopefully will satisfy the duty free requirements for returning Thais but if you read the customs regulations even that exception has a few gotchas

You will get numerous answers here at Thai Visa and all will insists that their story is the absolute truth and everyone else is lying..... good luck....and as Dirty Harry says: Are you feeling lucky today

To the OP. They make the print small because everything in it is to their advantage, and they don't want you to read it. They have as much small print as possible because they know that a lot of people won't take the trouble to read it all.

[Don Aleman]

" Personal things " there, in a very short while here will have you wondering why you spent a fortune and days of confusing paperwork to bring them. I left behind a wife, house, 2 cars 1 fat/frumpy mistress, 2 ungrateful offspring, 25 grand worth of furniture and, after an initial shock at not having my frige produce cold water/icecubes automaticaly and 10 rides on the back of motorbikes, forgot all about what I had because all those things required me to do something for them -- they, especially here, did nothing for me.

After 10 years I have my original carryon bag, 2 jeans, 3 shirts, underwear ?,and

nothing to clean/repair/change oil watch rust. Indeed " less is more " !

[EnglishJohn]

It truly is a crap shoot. I ordered stuff fairly regularly from China/Hong Kong. At first the charges were reasonable but I must have got on some list somewhere because their 'estimated value' was going up and up. The last package got charged 30% in tax and now I get it sent to the UK where I can claim VAT back.

I shudder to think what happens with containers etc where it is not so simple and hence the ingenious Thai brain can come up with many scams. If I was doing it, I would definitely try to find someone who knows the rules to accompany me (even if you have to pay them) Like someone else said here : Thailand is full of small, specific rules designed to cream a bit from the unwary. The first you hear of them is when it is too late.

[Captbonio]

Thai Customs = extortion. You are better off, IMHO, selling all your household goods and belongings and repurchasing new when you arrive in Thailand.

A few people have suggested the same, and I understand why. The problem is for me that I either have items that the cost of selling and rebuying is larger that the shipping cost, and that some of the items are family heirlooms which I dont want to part with...Judging from the shipping costs I have got, its worth it to ship.. the quesiton is how much the "hidden" costs are.... hence my thread.