SwimmingPoolsThailand web site

[SwimmingPoolsThailand]

Some of you will have noticed that our website is currently down and showing a '404' alert.

We would just like to reassure our hundreds of customers and thousands of enquirers that we are still very much in business.

Our online store has grown at such a phenominal rate that it has overtaken the capacity of our server. SwimmingPoolsThailand is Southeast Asia's 'Amazon' of pool supplies and equipment and although our warehouse capacicity has grown with the demand, our server can no longer cope with the thousands of photos, product descriptions, and online shopping technology required for our operation.

Our webmasters are in the process of urgently installing new server hardware in our racks at the Bangkok Data Centre and we hope to be back online as quickly as possible.

In the meantime we can of course be contacted at:

0800 893 646 HOTLINE English, French, German, Thai, and SMS messages (no voicemail). Enquiries about current orders. New orders by phone. Product and pool maintenance advice.

042 372 440 Central admin and answering machine. Pool construction office.

0423 72 441 Warehouse

042 372 442 Shipping office

042 372 443 Fax

Thank you for your comprehension and we apologise most sincerely for any inconvenience.

[IMHO]

Seeing as you mentioned Amazon, you should probably look at AWS

Dedicated hardware is always a problem - you either provision way too much of it and lose cost efficiency, or too little of it and lose customers - it's generally much better to use pay-by-the-hour cloud and scale it up/down as needed.

[SantiSuk]

Have to say that I assumed you had gone bust!

Glad to hear it aint so.

[IMHO]

Website still down? Is there at least somewhere one can view your range of products?

[SwimmingPoolsThailand]

The Thailand Online Swimming Pool Shop

by Swimming Pools Thailand Ltd

Our new online store goes live at 08:00 Monday 16 February.

For the vast majority of our existing clients it has been business as usual.

We would like to express our thanks for everyone's patience and we hope you will enjoy the improved shopping experience.

In the meantime we can of course still be contacted at:

0800 893 646 HOTLINE English, French, German, Thai, and SMS messages (no voicemail). Enquiries about current orders. New orders by phone. Product and pool maintenance advice.

042 372 440 Central admin and answering machine. Pool construction office.

0423 72 441 Warehouse

042 372 442 Shipping office

042 372 443 Fax

Thank you all again for your comprehension and we apologise once more most sincerely for any inconvenience.

Thanks also to ThaiVisa.com for all your support during this process.

[Anthony5]

Why is it that Salwater chlorinators are so ridiculous expensive in Thailand, something like 2.5 times the price they are in Australia for the same thing?

It can't be the import charges, since it is a null tariff, been there done that.

This is not exactly directed at the OP, since the prices are about the same in all Thailand pool shops, but probably he can give a reasonable answer.

[SwimmingPoolsThailand]

Why is it that Salwater chlorinators are so ridiculous expensive in Thailand, something like 2.5 times the price they are in Australia for the same thing?

It can't be the import charges, since it is a null tariff, been there done that.

This is not exactly directed at the OP, since the prices are about the same in all Thailand pool shops, but probably he can give a reasonable answer.

1. It is not a 'null' tariff, in fact the import duty on pool equipment is extremely high.

2. Manufacturers do not sell to export customers at prices any lower than they sell to their domestic wholesalers

3. No importers in Thailand will purchase the high minimum quantities required by manufacturers to qualify for additional discounts. When these discounts are available they are so low as to not worth taking into consideration.

4. CIF (export packing, shipping, and insurance). Long shipping distances.

5. Import duty

6. Customs clearance 'fee'

7. Customs clearance agent's fee

8. Domestic logistics to importer's warehouse

9. Importer's wholesale profit mark up

10. Distribution costs to pool shops / other regional distributors / online retailers

11. retailer's mark up, VAT

12. Some pool shops are greedy

13. Some pool equipment vendors/constructors sell cheap but then refuse to accept their retailer responsibilities for customer/product support

The prices are not the same. We have seen ,for example Zodiac TRi COMPACT model, on sale here in Thailand from as little as baht 28,000 which is a 'loss leader' to 98,000 which , as Anthony5 says, is ridiculous.

A point to consider: goods on shelves are not like cash in the bank - they do not earn interest. Chlorinators are an expensive commodity for any Thai company,whichever way you look at it. Chlorinators are not as fast moving in this market as people might be led to believe. if you have too many in stock, by the time you have sold them all they are already superceded by a later model.

SwimmingPoolsThailand

[Anthony5]

Why is it that Salwater chlorinators are so ridiculous expensive in Thailand, something like 2.5 times the price they are in Australia for the same thing?

It can't be the import charges, since it is a null tariff, been there done that.

This is not exactly directed at the OP, since the prices are about the same in all Thailand pool shops, but probably he can give a reasonable answer.

1. It is not a 'null' tariff, in fact the import duty on pool equipment is extremely high.

2. Manufacturers do not sell to export customers at prices any lower than they sell to their domestic wholesalers

3. No importers in Thailand will purchase the high minimum quantities required by manufacturers to qualify for additional discounts. When these discounts are available they are so low as to not worth taking into consideration.

4. CIF (export packing, shipping, and insurance). Long shipping distances.

5. Import duty

6. Customs clearance 'fee'

7. Customs clearance agent's fee

8. Domestic logistics to importer's warehouse

9. Importer's wholesale profit mark up

10. Distribution costs to pool shops / other regional distributors / online retailers

11. retailer's mark up, VAT

12. Some pool shops are greedy

13. Some pool equipment vendors/constructors sell cheap but then refuse to accept their retailer responsibilities for customer/product support

The prices are not the same. We have seen ,for example Zodiac TRi COMPACT model, on sale here in Thailand from as little as baht 28,000 which is a 'loss leader' to 98,000 which , as Anthony5 says, is ridiculous.

A point to consider: goods on shelves are not like cash in the bank - they do not earn interest. Chlorinators are an expensive commodity for any Thai company,whichever way you look at it. Chlorinators are not as fast moving in this market as people might be led to believe. if you have too many in stock, by the time you have sold them all they are already superceded by a later model.

SwimmingPoolsThailand

I didn't want to be rude, but if you prefer to call me a liar, I have left no other choice.

Included are the invoice, customs documents and TNT receipt for my Zodiac tri large with pH module, not a Zodiac compact. You will see clearly that on the invoices is written EXEMPT FROM DUTY, and that customs didn't charge me any duty. Maybe they don't know their job, and neither does TNT?

You will also notice that the total price for a complete Zodiac Tri Large pH, including transport, handling charge and VAT, is lower than a replacement chlorinator cell only on your site.

Indeed this item is sold in Thailand at 98.000 Baht, and cost me legally imported and all costs paid about 40.000 Baht.

Epools.pdfTnT document.pdfCustoms.pdf

Edited February 17, 2015 by Anthony5

[Chaichara]

Having recently purchased an expensive pool robot in Thailand after considerable shopping around, I have checked out the info in that post above by a pool company and found it to be correct in every way. There is indeed a customs tarif for pool supplies which a company importing by the 20' container load can hardly get around, plus all the other agency fees. Remember that clearing agents often work in cahoots with the customs especially at maritime shipping and inland container ports. It's nevertheless easy enough to get a small parcel sent by UPS, DHL, or TNT to a private address and avoid all those costs (I've done it myself), the customs officials hardly glance at such tiny shipments because for one thing there is no money to be made in big backhanders and checking every individual parcel on the manifest of an aircraft groupage container would take days.

A genuine pool retailer or wholesaler has to calculate how much gross he would need to add to the price he paid in order to cover his running costs and other taxes even before he makes a net profit and a living. End users buying stuff in Australian and bringing it back on the plane or buying online from Australia have none of those costs and retail sales and service are not their source of livelihood.

Finally, buying goods from a specialised genuine retailer, gets also his knowledge and service. Most Australian exporters of pool equipment will NOT provide warranty cover if the product was not bought from or distributed by their accredited local importer. Things like quality chlorinators and pool cleaning robots come with very long guarantees

On the cost of genuine replacement chlorinator cells, the same principles apply. There are [plenty of cheap 3rd party generic cells on the market for most brands of chlorinators - even on Amazon and eBay - but if you receive it and it doesn't work, or gives up the ghost after a short time, what exactly are you going to do?

PS: Zodiac pH LARGE is on sale in Thailand for prices ranging from Baht 71,900.00 (with possible additional discount) to Baht 102,600.00, including VAT.

Edited March 9, 2015 by Chaichara

[Anthony5]

Having recently purchased an expensive pool robot in Thailand after considerable shopping around, I have checked out the info in that post above by a pool company and found it to be correct in every way. There is indeed a customs tarif for pool supplies which a company importing by the 20' container load can hardly get around, plus all the other agency fees. Remember that clearing agents often work in cahoots with the customs especially at maritime shipping and inland container ports. It's nevertheless easy enough to get a small parcel sent by UPS, DHL, or TNT to a private address and avoid all those costs (I've done it myself), the customs officials hardly glance at such tiny shipments because for one thing there is no money to be made in big backhanders and checking every individual parcel on the manifest of an aircraft groupage container would take days.

A genuine pool retailer or wholesaler has to calculate how much gross he would need to add to the price he paid in order to cover his running costs and other taxes even before he makes a net profit and a living. End users buying stuff in Australian and bringing it back on the plane or buying online from Australia have none of those costs and retail sales and service are not their source of livelihood.

Finally, buying goods from a specialised genuine retailer, gets also his knowledge and service. Most Australian exporters of pool equipment will NOT provide warranty cover if the product was not bought from or distributed by their accredited local importer. Things like quality chlorinators and pool cleaning robots come with very long guarantees

On the cost of genuine replacement chlorinator cells, the same principles apply. There are [plenty of cheap 3rd party generic cells on the market for most brands of chlorinators - even on Amazon and eBay - but if you receive it and it doesn't work, or gives up the ghost after a short time, what exactly are you going to do?

PS: Zodiac pH LARGE is on sale in Thailand for prices ranging from Baht 71,900.00 (with possible additional discount) to Baht 102,600.00, including VAT.

There maybe import duties on pool supplies, there are definitely no import duties on saltwater chlorinators imported from Australia.

The invoice I posted are all official import, shipped by TNT and passed through Thai customs.

Do you think the customs let me of the hook. You will notice that it passed customs, and actually they called me because at first they didn't agree with the tariff code written on the invoice, but did after I explained.

Why do you think the the zodiac pH large priced at 71.900 Baht will get additional discount, when at another place it's priced at 102.000 Baht?

You have a link to the one for 71.900 Baht. You can PM if you don't want to post here.

Edited March 10, 2015 by Anthony5

[Chaichara]

If I remember rightly there are over a thousand different tarrif codes. The customs people really don't know what they are doing most of the time with small private packages. I once left a laptop in a hotel in Paris and the staff gracioulsly sent it to me by UPS. It took 48 hours to arrive then another 6 weeks of hassle to convince the customs that it was a used computer, and that no way was I going to pay Baht 15.000.00 duty on it. I got my way in the end but it took several visits to the airport. So much for express shipping. Needless to say, the UPS staff were also pretty clueless and they were trying to get me to offer the customs a Baht 6,000 backhander just to get the thing released and over and done with. It all boiled down to the fact that the hotel had declared it as a laptop computer, whereas if they had simply declared 'personal effects left in hotel' there would have been no hassle at all. I tried to convince the customs officials to take a look at it and see for themselves that it was second hand, and the reply was "Do you think we have nothing better to do than climb over mountains of miscellaneous packages in the UPS pen?"

Small private packages in groupage containers are never physically inspected - its very different from breaking open a 20' container in the port which might be stuffed full of pirate watches for example. It therefore depends much on what kind of declaration the sender put on the package, a chlorinator could be declared as 'home and garden' or' 'power tools' or 'domestic appliance'. Unless every thinkable item in the world has a dedicated customs code - and it doesn't' declarations are very often just guesswork, unless it's a manufacturer exporting thousands of the same product every day.

Pool supplies are traditionally expensive the world over, let's face it, unless you can build it yourself a pool is in the luxury goods market so if you can't afford the upkeep, you don't buy one. 17 years ago I paid over 1,000 Fr in France (that's about AUD 30.00} for a simple plastic lid for a Certikin (made in England) sand filter. That piece of injection moulded transparent plastic was worth all of a few cents to produce. The big profit therefore is being made by the manufacturers and every one down the line suffers. Those who are selling Zodiacs (or any other chlorinators) at extremely high prices are just being greedy, and most of them don 't even carry stock, simply ordering from the importer when a customer wants one. Those are the ones, BTW, who will find any excuse for not providing product support later on. Those who are offering the lowest prices are either the importers, or very near the top of the food chain and sell in sufficient volumes to keep their prices down. They are the ones who are accredited dealers and who are supported directly by the manufacturers and offer the end user some real support.

Only a handful of pool firms in Thailand have proper web sites, and as far as I can see only one operates a proper online store. You'll notice however that none of them publish the prices of some capital pool goods, so it's no good providing links, you'll just have to do what I do and phone around or go into pool shops pretending to be a potential buyer. In 2007 I was looking for a PoolRite SureChlor and a shop in pattaya wanted 45,000. I got the farang shopkeeper down to 32,000. (glad I didn't buy it with no spares available now. )

[Anthony5]

If I remember rightly there are over a thousand different tarrif codes. The customs people really don't know what they are doing most of the time with small private packages. I once left a laptop in a hotel in Paris and the staff gracioulsly sent it to me by UPS. It took 48 hours to arrive then another 6 weeks of hassle to convince the customs that it was a used computer, and that no way was I going to pay Baht 15.000.00 duty on it. I got my way in the end but it took several visits to the airport. So much for express shipping. Needless to say, the UPS staff were also pretty clueless and they were trying to get me to offer the customs a Baht 6,000 backhander just to get the thing released and over and done with. It all boiled down to the fact that the hotel had declared it as a laptop computer, whereas if they had simply declared 'personal effects left in hotel' there would have been no hassle at all. I tried to convince the customs officials to take a look at it and see for themselves that it was second hand, and the reply was "Do you think we have nothing better to do than climb over mountains of miscellaneous packages in the UPS pen?"

Small private packages in groupage containers are never physically inspected - its very different from breaking open a 20' container in the port which might be stuffed full of pirate watches for example. It therefore depends much on what kind of declaration the sender put on the package, a chlorinator could be declared as 'home and garden' or' 'power tools' or 'domestic appliance'. Unless every thinkable item in the world has a dedicated customs code - and it doesn't' declarations are very often just guesswork, unless it's a manufacturer exporting thousands of the same product every day.

Pool supplies are traditionally expensive the world over, let's face it, unless you can build it yourself a pool is in the luxury goods market so if you can't afford the upkeep, you don't buy one. 17 years ago I paid over 1,000 Fr in France (that's about AUD 30.00} for a simple plastic lid for a Certikin (made in England) sand filter. That piece of injection moulded transparent plastic was worth all of a few cents to produce. The big profit therefore is being made by the manufacturers and every one down the line suffers. Those who are selling Zodiacs (or any other chlorinators) at extremely high prices are just being greedy, and most of them don 't even carry stock, simply ordering from the importer when a customer wants one. Those are the ones, BTW, who will find any excuse for not providing product support later on. Those who are offering the lowest prices are either the importers, or very near the top of the food chain and sell in sufficient volumes to keep their prices down. They are the ones who are accredited dealers and who are supported directly by the manufacturers and offer the end user some real support.

Only a handful of pool firms in Thailand have proper web sites, and as far as I can see only one operates a proper online store. You'll notice however that none of them publish the prices of some capital pool goods, so it's no good providing links, you'll just have to do what I do and phone around or go into pool shops pretending to be a potential buyer. In 2007 I was looking for a PoolRite SureChlor and a shop in pattaya wanted 45,000. I got the farang shopkeeper down to 32,000. (glad I didn't buy it with no spares available now. )

Are you related to Swimming Pools Thailand ?

I posted the customs document, if you ever bothered to open it, and it clearly say Salt water chlorinator Zodiac Tri Large pH on the document issued by the Thai customs department, as well on ALL other documents.

I guess this proofs enough that the item was handled by the Thailand customs and that it was not imported as a spade or a wheel barrow.

So why would the Thailand customs department accept the tariff code and ZERO import duty for me but not for other companies?

A markup of more than 100% is simply theft in clear daylight.

Pool supplies are not expensive the world over. In South Africa for example that same Australian made Zodiac is far cheaper than in Australia itself.

You still failed to provide a link for the Zodiac Tri large pH available at 71.000 Baht including VAT.

Edited March 10, 2015 by Anthony5

[Valentine]

If I remember rightly there are over a thousand different tarrif codes. The customs people really don't know what they are doing most of the time with small private packages. I once left a laptop in a hotel in Paris and the staff gracioulsly sent it to me by UPS. It took 48 hours to arrive then another 6 weeks of hassle to convince the customs that it was a used computer, and that no way was I going to pay Baht 15.000.00 duty on it. I got my way in the end but it took several visits to the airport. So much for express shipping. Needless to say, the UPS staff were also pretty clueless and they were trying to get me to offer the customs a Baht 6,000 backhander just to get the thing released and over and done with. It all boiled down to the fact that the hotel had declared it as a laptop computer, whereas if they had simply declared 'personal effects left in hotel' there would have been no hassle at all. I tried to convince the customs officials to take a look at it and see for themselves that it was second hand, and the reply was "Do you think we have nothing better to do than climb over mountains of miscellaneous packages in the UPS pen?"

Small private packages in groupage containers are never physically inspected - its very different from breaking open a 20' container in the port which might be stuffed full of pirate watches for example. It therefore depends much on what kind of declaration the sender put on the package, a chlorinator could be declared as 'home and garden' or' 'power tools' or 'domestic appliance'. Unless every thinkable item in the world has a dedicated customs code - and it doesn't' declarations are very often just guesswork, unless it's a manufacturer exporting thousands of the same product every day.

Pool supplies are traditionally expensive the world over, let's face it, unless you can build it yourself a pool is in the luxury goods market so if you can't afford the upkeep, you don't buy one. 17 years ago I paid over 1,000 Fr in France (that's about AUD 30.00} for a simple plastic lid for a Certikin (made in England) sand filter. That piece of injection moulded transparent plastic was worth all of a few cents to produce. The big profit therefore is being made by the manufacturers and every one down the line suffers. Those who are selling Zodiacs (or any other chlorinators) at extremely high prices are just being greedy, and most of them don 't even carry stock, simply ordering from the importer when a customer wants one. Those are the ones, BTW, who will find any excuse for not providing product support later on. Those who are offering the lowest prices are either the importers, or very near the top of the food chain and sell in sufficient volumes to keep their prices down. They are the ones who are accredited dealers and who are supported directly by the manufacturers and offer the end user some real support.

Only a handful of pool firms in Thailand have proper web sites, and as far as I can see only one operates a proper online store. You'll notice however that none of them publish the prices of some capital pool goods, so it's no good providing links, you'll just have to do what I do and phone around or go into pool shops pretending to be a potential buyer. In 2007 I was looking for a PoolRite SureChlor and a shop in pattaya wanted 45,000. I got the farang shopkeeper down to 32,000. (glad I didn't buy it with no spares available now. )

Are you related to Swimming Pools Thailand ?

I posted the customs document, if you ever bothered to open it, and it clearly say Salt water chlorinator Zodiac Tri Large pH on the document issued by the Thai customs department, as well on ALL other documents.

I guess this proofs enough that the item was handled by the Thailand customs and that it was not imported as a spade or a wheel barrow.

So why would the Thailand customs department accept the tariff code and ZERO import duty for me but not for other companies?

A markup of more than 100% is simply theft in clear daylight.

Pool supplies are not expensive the world over. In South Africa for example that same Australian made Zodiac is far cheaper than in Australia itself.

You still failed to provide a link for the Zodiac Tri large pH available at 71.000 Baht including VAT.

Congratulations on getting a saltwater chlorinator for 40,000 Baht even though you now have no local company who will provide warranty coverage. I do suppose you realize companies have expenses like VAT, company tax, wages, social security payments, overheads, all of which greatly increase the landed cost price.

[IMHO]

What a thread!

I think everyone understands that the run a business, one must make a profit. However, on the other side of the argument, the consumer obviously looks for the best deal they can.

I think the problem is simply the price gap - if you were able to buy a SWG in TH for say 20% to 30% more than retail prices in AU, with local warranty coverage/support, that might be a pill you could swallow. However, double the price is really asking a lot of the consumer.

It's not the consumers fault the internet came along and made buying from overseas vendors quick, easy and cheap. It is a challenge for the local reseller though....

[Anthony5]

If I remember rightly there are over a thousand different tarrif codes. The customs people really don't know what they are doing most of the time with small private packages. I once left a laptop in a hotel in Paris and the staff gracioulsly sent it to me by UPS. It took 48 hours to arrive then another 6 weeks of hassle to convince the customs that it was a used computer, and that no way was I going to pay Baht 15.000.00 duty on it. I got my way in the end but it took several visits to the airport. So much for express shipping. Needless to say, the UPS staff were also pretty clueless and they were trying to get me to offer the customs a Baht 6,000 backhander just to get the thing released and over and done with. It all boiled down to the fact that the hotel had declared it as a laptop computer, whereas if they had simply declared 'personal effects left in hotel' there would have been no hassle at all. I tried to convince the customs officials to take a look at it and see for themselves that it was second hand, and the reply was "Do you think we have nothing better to do than climb over mountains of miscellaneous packages in the UPS pen?"

Small private packages in groupage containers are never physically inspected - its very different from breaking open a 20' container in the port which might be stuffed full of pirate watches for example. It therefore depends much on what kind of declaration the sender put on the package, a chlorinator could be declared as 'home and garden' or' 'power tools' or 'domestic appliance'. Unless every thinkable item in the world has a dedicated customs code - and it doesn't' declarations are very often just guesswork, unless it's a manufacturer exporting thousands of the same product every day.

Pool supplies are traditionally expensive the world over, let's face it, unless you can build it yourself a pool is in the luxury goods market so if you can't afford the upkeep, you don't buy one. 17 years ago I paid over 1,000 Fr in France (that's about AUD 30.00} for a simple plastic lid for a Certikin (made in England) sand filter. That piece of injection moulded transparent plastic was worth all of a few cents to produce. The big profit therefore is being made by the manufacturers and every one down the line suffers. Those who are selling Zodiacs (or any other chlorinators) at extremely high prices are just being greedy, and most of them don 't even carry stock, simply ordering from the importer when a customer wants one. Those are the ones, BTW, who will find any excuse for not providing product support later on. Those who are offering the lowest prices are either the importers, or very near the top of the food chain and sell in sufficient volumes to keep their prices down. They are the ones who are accredited dealers and who are supported directly by the manufacturers and offer the end user some real support.

Only a handful of pool firms in Thailand have proper web sites, and as far as I can see only one operates a proper online store. You'll notice however that none of them publish the prices of some capital pool goods, so it's no good providing links, you'll just have to do what I do and phone around or go into pool shops pretending to be a potential buyer. In 2007 I was looking for a PoolRite SureChlor and a shop in pattaya wanted 45,000. I got the farang shopkeeper down to 32,000. (glad I didn't buy it with no spares available now. )

Are you related to Swimming Pools Thailand ?

I posted the customs document, if you ever bothered to open it, and it clearly say Salt water chlorinator Zodiac Tri Large pH on the document issued by the Thai customs department, as well on ALL other documents.

I guess this proofs enough that the item was handled by the Thailand customs and that it was not imported as a spade or a wheel barrow.

So why would the Thailand customs department accept the tariff code and ZERO import duty for me but not for other companies?

A markup of more than 100% is simply theft in clear daylight.

Pool supplies are not expensive the world over. In South Africa for example that same Australian made Zodiac is far cheaper than in Australia itself.

You still failed to provide a link for the Zodiac Tri large pH available at 71.000 Baht including VAT.

Congratulations on getting a saltwater chlorinator for 40,000 Baht even though you now have no local company who will provide warranty coverage. I do suppose you realize companies have expenses like VAT, company tax, wages, social security payments, overheads, all of which greatly increase the landed cost price.

Don't the local companies get their warranty claims refunded by the manufacturer. Answer : YES

So where is the 100% mark up justified?

Now to answer your claim about warranty.

First of all, the warranty of 3 years has expired long time already without any issues, and if I would have had a problem I could have bought a complete second unit for spare parts and still save money.

[yankee99]

If I remember rightly there are over a thousand different tarrif codes. The customs people really don't know what they are doing most of the time with small private packages. I once left a laptop in a hotel in Paris and the staff gracioulsly sent it to me by UPS. It took 48 hours to arrive then another 6 weeks of hassle to convince the customs that it was a used computer, and that no way was I going to pay Baht 15.000.00 duty on it. I got my way in the end but it took several visits to the airport. So much for express shipping. Needless to say, the UPS staff were also pretty clueless and they were trying to get me to offer the customs a Baht 6,000 backhander just to get the thing released and over and done with. It all boiled down to the fact that the hotel had declared it as a laptop computer, whereas if they had simply declared 'personal effects left in hotel' there would have been no hassle at all. I tried to convince the customs officials to take a look at it and see for themselves that it was second hand, and the reply was "Do you think we have nothing better to do than climb over mountains of miscellaneous packages in the UPS pen?"

Small private packages in groupage containers are never physically inspected - its very different from breaking open a 20' container in the port which might be stuffed full of pirate watches for example. It therefore depends much on what kind of declaration the sender put on the package, a chlorinator could be declared as 'home and garden' or' 'power tools' or 'domestic appliance'. Unless every thinkable item in the world has a dedicated customs code - and it doesn't' declarations are very often just guesswork, unless it's a manufacturer exporting thousands of the same product every day.

Pool supplies are traditionally expensive the world over, let's face it, unless you can build it yourself a pool is in the luxury goods market so if you can't afford the upkeep, you don't buy one. 17 years ago I paid over 1,000 Fr in France (that's about AUD 30.00} for a simple plastic lid for a Certikin (made in England) sand filter. That piece of injection moulded transparent plastic was worth all of a few cents to produce. The big profit therefore is being made by the manufacturers and every one down the line suffers. Those who are selling Zodiacs (or any other chlorinators) at extremely high prices are just being greedy, and most of them don 't even carry stock, simply ordering from the importer when a customer wants one. Those are the ones, BTW, who will find any excuse for not providing product support later on. Those who are offering the lowest prices are either the importers, or very near the top of the food chain and sell in sufficient volumes to keep their prices down. They are the ones who are accredited dealers and who are supported directly by the manufacturers and offer the end user some real support.

Only a handful of pool firms in Thailand have proper web sites, and as far as I can see only one operates a proper online store. You'll notice however that none of them publish the prices of some capital pool goods, so it's no good providing links, you'll just have to do what I do and phone around or go into pool shops pretending to be a potential buyer. In 2007 I was looking for a PoolRite SureChlor and a shop in pattaya wanted 45,000. I got the farang shopkeeper down to 32,000. (glad I didn't buy it with no spares available now. )

Are you related to Swimming Pools Thailand ?

I posted the customs document, if you ever bothered to open it, and it clearly say Salt water chlorinator Zodiac Tri Large pH on the document issued by the Thai customs department, as well on ALL other documents.

I guess this proofs enough that the item was handled by the Thailand customs and that it was not imported as a spade or a wheel barrow.

So why would the Thailand customs department accept the tariff code and ZERO import duty for me but not for other companies?

A markup of more than 100% is simply theft in clear daylight.

Pool supplies are not expensive the world over. In South Africa for example that same Australian made Zodiac is far cheaper than in Australia itself.

You still failed to provide a link for the Zodiac Tri large pH available at 71.000 Baht including VAT.

Congratulations on getting a saltwater chlorinator for 40,000 Baht even though you now have no local company who will provide warranty coverage. I do suppose you realize companies have expenses like VAT, company tax, wages, social security payments, overheads, all of which greatly increase the landed cost price.

I thought the customer paid vat? Many things made in Australia and almost everything in china imported with proper documentation is tax free.

So what are the real expenses? The important ones would be operating expenses that are higher then where the items are sold for less. Not insurance, not staff, not taxes, not advertising and the list goes on. A container is cheap and port charges are about 10,000 plus local trucking which is based on distance.

[Crossy]

And there was I about to post a nice comment about my recent buying experience with SwimmingPoolsThailand now their website is up and functional.

Price was comparable with other local suppliers (OK more than overseas but you can't help duties etc.), items delivered promptly and in good condition.

You don't have to shop there, if you can get it overseas and sneak past any duty / tax then good luck, and good luck with the warranty too.

Did I use them because they are a forum sponsor? Probably.

[KamalaRider]

If I remember rightly there are over a thousand different tarrif codes. The customs people really don't know what they are doing most of the time with small private packages. I once left a laptop in a hotel in Paris and the staff gracioulsly sent it to me by UPS. It took 48 hours to arrive then another 6 weeks of hassle to convince the customs that it was a used computer, and that no way was I going to pay Baht 15.000.00 duty on it. I got my way in the end but it took several visits to the airport. So much for express shipping. Needless to say, the UPS staff were also pretty clueless and they were trying to get me to offer the customs a Baht 6,000 backhander just to get the thing released and over and done with. It all boiled down to the fact that the hotel had declared it as a laptop computer, whereas if they had simply declared 'personal effects left in hotel' there would have been no hassle at all. I tried to convince the customs officials to take a look at it and see for themselves that it was second hand, and the reply was "Do you think we have nothing better to do than climb over mountains of miscellaneous packages in the UPS pen?"

Small private packages in groupage containers are never physically inspected - its very different from breaking open a 20' container in the port which might be stuffed full of pirate watches for example. It therefore depends much on what kind of declaration the sender put on the package, a chlorinator could be declared as 'home and garden' or' 'power tools' or 'domestic appliance'. Unless every thinkable item in the world has a dedicated customs code - and it doesn't' declarations are very often just guesswork, unless it's a manufacturer exporting thousands of the same product every day.

Pool supplies are traditionally expensive the world over, let's face it, unless you can build it yourself a pool is in the luxury goods market so if you can't afford the upkeep, you don't buy one. 17 years ago I paid over 1,000 Fr in France (that's about AUD 30.00} for a simple plastic lid for a Certikin (made in England) sand filter. That piece of injection moulded transparent plastic was worth all of a few cents to produce. The big profit therefore is being made by the manufacturers and every one down the line suffers. Those who are selling Zodiacs (or any other chlorinators) at extremely high prices are just being greedy, and most of them don 't even carry stock, simply ordering from the importer when a customer wants one. Those are the ones, BTW, who will find any excuse for not providing product support later on. Those who are offering the lowest prices are either the importers, or very near the top of the food chain and sell in sufficient volumes to keep their prices down. They are the ones who are accredited dealers and who are supported directly by the manufacturers and offer the end user some real support.

Only a handful of pool firms in Thailand have proper web sites, and as far as I can see only one operates a proper online store. You'll notice however that none of them publish the prices of some capital pool goods, so it's no good providing links, you'll just have to do what I do and phone around or go into pool shops pretending to be a potential buyer. In 2007 I was looking for a PoolRite SureChlor and a shop in pattaya wanted 45,000. I got the farang shopkeeper down to 32,000. (glad I didn't buy it with no spares available now. )

Are you related to Swimming Pools Thailand ?

I posted the customs document, if you ever bothered to open it, and it clearly say Salt water chlorinator Zodiac Tri Large pH on the document issued by the Thai customs department, as well on ALL other documents.

I guess this proofs enough that the item was handled by the Thailand customs and that it was not imported as a spade or a wheel barrow.

So why would the Thailand customs department accept the tariff code and ZERO import duty for me but not for other companies?

A markup of more than 100% is simply theft in clear daylight.

Pool supplies are not expensive the world over. In South Africa for example that same Australian made Zodiac is far cheaper than in Australia itself.

You still failed to provide a link for the Zodiac Tri large pH available at 71.000 Baht including VAT.

Congratulations on getting a saltwater chlorinator for 40,000 Baht even though you now have no local company who will provide warranty coverage. I do suppose you realize companies have expenses like VAT, company tax, wages, social security payments, overheads, all of which greatly increase the landed cost price.

It still don't justify 4 times the price as from Australia or Europe. I built my own pool in Sweden for approx. 25 000 SEK = (when Thai baht was equal to 0.20 SEK) 125 000 THB. That was a couple of years ago though so I doubled up the sum I estimated to 250 000THB.

Included was pump, sand filter, tiles, cement, digger and dumper, sealing paint, larch wood deck all around.

Sure, it took me two whole summers to complete the bugger, but it was well worth the job.

Here in Thailand, labour is cheap enough, and to my knowledge, Australia and NZ has a bilateral trade agreement with ASEAN.

That itself should bring prices down from products made in Australia or NZ, shouldn't it?

Warranty don't mean s**t here, bought a new Canon camera a few years back, it broke down, still had to pay for repair. It just stopped working within the warranty period. Canon staff told me I had misused the camera, I took too many pictures. That's what they told me.

So when it comes to warranty from a global producer of anything, it doesn't mean anything when being in Thailand.

Edited April 11, 2015 by KamalaRider

[Chaichara]

It's always amazed me how much people just can't refrain from grossly exaggerating when they post on internet forums. That and of course the fact that they ostensibly don't read threads from the top.

Nothing, absolutely NOTHING is four times more expensisive than it is back home, not even wine, and the moral of the story, if anyone finds anything too expensive here in Thailand then they should be on the first plane back home.

As far as pool products are concerned, if they were purchased from a genuine accredited dealer the service is excellent - perhaps even better than in Australia. Now, if you bought something that fell of the back of a lorry or came unbtanded from China or from a back street one-shophouse wide 'pool dealer', chances are the first time anything goes wrond with a product you bought he doesn't want to know. Perhaps he smuggled it back from Oz on a plane too

[Anthony5]

It's always amazed me how much people just can't refrain from grossly exaggerating when they post on internet forums. That and of course the fact that they ostensibly don't read threads from the top.

Nothing, absolutely NOTHING is four times more expensisive than it is back home, not even wine, and the moral of the story, if anyone finds anything too expensive here in Thailand then they should be on the first plane back home.

As far as pool products are concerned, if they were purchased from a genuine accredited dealer the service is excellent - perhaps even better than in Australia. Now, if you bought something that fell of the back of a lorry or came unbtanded from China or from a back street one-shophouse wide 'pool dealer', chances are the first time anything goes wrond with a product you bought he doesn't want to know. Perhaps he smuggled it back from Oz on a plane too

Are you saying that the Zodiac chlorinator I ordered, and from which I posted the official import documents, fell of the truck and that Epools isn't an authorized Zodiac distributor?

What is your relation to swimmingpoolsthailand? Let me tell you. You're one and the same and for the record, swimmingpoolsthailand isn't authorized dealer for Zodiac.

Information I gathered from Zodiac Australia directly

Edited April 11, 2015 by Anthony5

[Anthony5]

It's always amazed me how much people just can't refrain from grossly exaggerating when they post on internet forums. That and of course the fact that they ostensibly don't read threads from the top.

Nothing, absolutely NOTHING is four times more expensisive than it is back home, not even wine, and the moral of the story, if anyone finds anything too expensive here in Thailand then they should be on the first plane back home.

As far as pool products are concerned, if they were purchased from a genuine accredited dealer the service is excellent - perhaps even better than in Australia. Now, if you bought something that fell of the back of a lorry or came unbtanded from China or from a back street one-shophouse wide 'pool dealer', chances are the first time anything goes wrond with a product you bought he doesn't want to know. Perhaps he smuggled it back from Oz on a plane too

if anyone finds anything too expensive here in Thailand then they should be on the first plane back home.

Why would we have to go back home because some foreigners try to rip off fellow foreigners in Thailand.

You can go straight to the Thai dealers, from which those foreigners buy there goods, and get a much better deal.

You will have noticed that another sponsor of this forum, who was also a foreigner and claimed many times that he couldn't keep up with the orders , has closed up shop already.

Wonder why?

Probably because foreigners in Thailand didn't agree with his inflated prices, however there are so many foreigners in Thailand that own a pool, so they must have got their equipment somewhere.