Buying pool equipment from Australia

[carlyai]

I have seen in some threads people have bought pool pumps etc from Australia and imported them into Thailand.

What are the pros and cons on doing this and how to get around 'under the table' import costs?

I will be building a pool at our house in Isaan this year and would like some (lots of) advice.

Presently I am in Melbourne and there is a pool and spar show on this weekend.

I would like to ask the reps about any pumps or equipment recommended by Thai visa pool owners.

[wayned]

IMHO the only way to get around "under the table" import cost on anything is to hire a reputable broker in Bangkok and have any shipment consigned directly to him. He should pay all port charges, duties, VAT and in-country shipping and bill you accordingly. I import farm equipment from the US and China. I've had a 40' container imported from the US and have just imported two shipments from China. ION the last import from china, the shipping ling agent tried to "double dip" the port costs which I had paid upfront. When I told him to contact my agent the extra charges magically went away. I'm currently having 1500 kilos shipped from the US ans the forwarder has already sent the paperwork to my agent for approval. PM me and I will send you the Name and contact. They are an international Company and have offices in Oz.

[Valentine]

Ensure the freight cost is not on the invoice for the equipment otherwise customs will include it when calculating import tax.

Astral (formerly Hurlcon) are good pumps.

Importing a pump means you will not have local back up in case of warranty issue.

[ChrisY1]

Carlyai,

I'm in Cha Am and bought all my equipment from a guy in Hua Hin

All Emaux...pump, chlorinator, filter (cartridge type), skimmer...everything. (I over sized all the equipment and the pool's working perfectly.....)

Delivery was about a week and prices, the cheapest in Thailand and 1/2 what is charged in Australia.

PM me if you want further details.

Incidently, he'll deliver Thailand wide.

[ChrisY1]

No need to import this equipment.....it's all available here.

I'm near Cha Am.....completed our pool 8 months ago using all Emaux gear...pump, chlorinator, filter, skimmer etc.

A dealer in Hua Hin......delivers all over Thailand and definately the cheapest in Thaland.

I oversized everything...have a 50k litre pool and used gear for a 70k litre pool........everything so far is working perfectly....never had a problem.

PM me and I'll forward his contact details

[Chuckles78]

Apparently there is no customs import duty on pool equipment.

See this post:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?/topic/793264-SwimmingPoolsThailand-web-site

[Khutan]

I had to replace a pump recently in Surin and I called the local pump guy who was able to get a replacement locally for a 1.5 hp pump, which I changed to 2hp so the customer would be happy for their own mistake..... The replacement cost 12k.

Nicely enough, the pump guy got the old pump rewound for 2k.

[asapbuilders]

Always make sure, however, that you read up on whomever you're buying from. It's tough to get into issues like this because solving it would require so much effort.

[SantiSuk]

Ensure the freight cost is not on the invoice for the equipment otherwise customs will include it when calculating import tax.

Astral (formerly Hurlcon) are good pumps.

Importing a pump means you will not have local back up in case of warranty issue.

I'm not going to comment on Astral Pool, given Thailand's ridiculous libel laws. I'll stick to facts.

I have Astral kit - pump, sand filter, chlorinator. Installed by a Bangkok 'pool specialist' 4 years ago, who used Astral kit from the Thailand distributor (Fluidra Thailand). May have been a licensed Fluidra installer, I don't know.

Astral is clearly an internationally recognised make. Spain is their origin - seem to be quite big in Europe, US and Australia (eg).

The sub-contractor installed the chlorinator wrongly. Took me a while to figure that out and the installer refused to return to Isaan to put it right (claimed that falang don't understand pools). Wrong installation was confirmed by Australian Astral technical people from my e-mail descriptions and pictures. To be fair Fludra Thailand then advised on an easy work around which saved me employing a local to re-wire.

My sand filter failed after 3 years. Fluidra maintained that there is only a one year guarantee in Thailand. It is clear from websites that US Astral offer 5 years (I have not checked Europe or Australia). Another Thai Visa member commented that Astral Pool filters often fail too early. Fluidra did give me a 20% ish discount on the replacement filter. Not clear why. One year may be a Thai thing generally. It would be uppermost in my mind when buying again.

The replacement filter was claimed to be like-for like. It looked it, but it sat 5mm lower than the original at the pipe connections level. Minor but unnecessary irritation and minor additional cost, solved by cutting up a couple of Tesco melamine kitchen cutting boards!

O-rings on the pump/filter inspection hatch seem to stretch. I am on my third! 650 baht a time - not a big issue, just mention it

My pump has worked fine. I did think it had failed a month ago (based on a misunderstanding of reporting by my BIL pool boy - chinese whispers through his wife and my wife - while I was away in Bangkok). I went to see Fluidra in Bangkok. They would supply a replacement (but it would take a month to get it from Spain) and/or recon the old one within 3 weeks. Again only a one year guarantee on a new unit. They have not followed up my quote request (maybe they lost my e-mail) but, as said, I don't now need a new or recon one

The chlorinator has worked fine.

If another Astral unit fails within the next couple of years my intention would be to replace everything with another make, if I can get a guarantee of longer than one year. I would hope to find a supplier I can trust who has good stock. I would ask about likely future ready availability of parts and what happens when things fail. Based on casual reading of this forum and elsewhere I would go for Hayward or Emaux. Swimming Pools Thailand appears to have a good range of pool equipment and have served me well on chemicals/testers. If the pump and chlorinator go on for a few more years I will probably stick with Astral. I would not self-import from another country.

Hope this is useful input. Happy to see factual comments by other Astral owners.

90cu.m overflow/reserve tank salt chlorinated concrete/tile in-ground pool in amphur Kantharalak. Sisaket. You or any prospective pool owner is welcome to come look/discuss.

Edited April 10, 2015 by SantiSuk

[carlyai]

Thanks for all the replys.

We are also building the pool in Isaan near Kuchinari.

I think I'm going to do it myself, with the help of members from this forum, and local labour.

Will be on the back burner until next year as some other projects seem to be taking preference.

[RonnyAnderson]

PoolShop is enough famous in Australia to provide pool equipment online. I have not a good experience of this but heard a lot about it so please check over it online before buying any product from here.

[Stekflit]

Just for your information: http://www.cppa-thailand.com/

for what concerns the maintenance and serious products.

They are on Lazada now.