Where is home? If I visit the old home, America, I take 3 large empty bags & a backpack of 2 days of clothes. There is no value to anything in Asia (made in China with no quality check oversight), just necessities which buy in America & then bring back here

Vegemite. You will have to settle for Marmite.

CHEESE! Yes. I never thought of that either even though I crave it all the time.

How much red wine can I get away with bringing back with me?

Definitely. Bring. Wine! Legally you are allowed to bring in 1 bottle of wine per traveller. My travel partner and I once packed 4 in our combined check in luggage ;-) As I'm sure you would agree the price of a decent bottle of wine out here can be extortionate! So it's worth the trouble of (carefully) packing a few good bottles. You could also carry on 1 x bottle wine per traveller if it's purchased and correctly sealed at a duty free shop. However, most duty free shops will let you purchase 2 x bottles of wine if your travel partner is present with you at the sales counter.

Just remember that the total limit allowed is only 1 x bottle of wine per traveller entering Thailand. So, if you do go for it and bring more of that beloved vino back you may have to give up a few bottles if customs check all your bags! Up to you, as they say here.

J Cloths

M&S underwear

and beyond that, democracy, freedom of speech and human rights would be nice if you can fit them in your bag.

Aside from the underwear I wonder if foreigners in your country have to travel abroad to find the rest.

This is probably the first time you've experienced being in a minority. Maybe you could bring back some insight .and perspective... although that would probably exceed your baggage limit.

Edited December 24, 201510 yr by Suradit69

Most cheeses freeze perfectly and can stay years in the freezer. Some might change texture a little but still ok. Has anyone ever been discovered by customs? If so what happened?

Maybe still OK for you -- not still OK for me.

Pointless response but nevertheless....Your loss

No it isn't -- once you freeze cheese the texture or 'mouth feel' is never the same. I bring back this as it travels well and buy other cheese I like at Makro. No loss.

Branston Pickle

Anyone who packs pickles into their luggage should do so with the threat of being hanged, drawn and quartered should their pickle jar break and saturate the luggage beneath theirs in the hold.

Pack those pickles properly!

Edit: Same goes for wine, beer and whiskey. More than once, I've had to empty and wash the contents of my luggage immediately upon arrival to get the stench of someone's great idea cleaned off before it's all ruined.

Edited December 24, 201510 yr by impulse

To those who question freezing cheese. I used to work in that industry. The big UK makers freeze Stilton from July to meet Christmas demand. Cheese does degrade slightly when frozen, but the effects are negligible.

A Hangover.

A Hangover.

And if you forget, Trans will lend you one of his.....

To those who question freezing cheese. I used to work in that industry. The big UK makers freeze Stilton from July to meet Christmas demand. Cheese does degrade slightly when frozen, but the effects are negligible.

So regardless of what they do with Stilton in UK, cheese does degrade slightly when frozen. Thanks -- I prefer, if I'm going to spend my money on cheese, to spend money on cheese that has not been frozen.

So if you buy refrigerated Stilton cheese around Christmas and then freeze it yourself, you may be freezing the cheese twice?

Edited December 24, 201510 yr by JLCrab

Branston Pickle

Anyone who packs pickles into their luggage should do so with the threat of being hanged, drawn and quartered should their pickle jar break and saturate the luggage beneath theirs in the hold.

Pack those pickles properly!

Edit: Same goes for wine, beer and whiskey. More than once, I've had to empty and wash the contents of my luggage immediately upon arrival to get the stench of someone's great idea cleaned off before it's all ruined.

They are made in "squeeeeeeeezable! plastic containers now

J Cloths

M&S underwear

and beyond that, democracy, freedom of speech and human rights would be nice if you can fit them in your bag.

Aside from the underwear I wonder if foreigners in your country have to travel abroad to find the rest.

This is probably the first time you've experienced being in a minority. Maybe you could bring back some insight .and perspective... although that would probably exceed your baggage limit.

Will your farang / TV member bashing ever end?

Most cheeses freeze perfectly and can stay years in the freezer. Some might change texture a little but still ok. Has anyone ever been discovered by customs? If so what happened?

Maybe still OK for you -- not still OK for me.

Pointless response but nevertheless....Your loss

No it isn't -- once you freeze cheese the texture or 'mouth feel' is never the same. I bring back this as it travels well and buy other cheese I like at Makro. No loss.

You claim to taste the difference between fresh cheese and cheese that was frozen.

OK I believe you, congratulations to your taste buds.

Next you shamelessly admit you eat "processed", "prepared" cheese products?

Sorry, you just lost all credibility when it comes to cheese.

What's a 'prepared cheese product'?

A "prepared" cheese product is melted cheese mixed with water and lots of salt.

Thanks to the water the producer can claim lower fat / calories.

Thanks to the salt the product will stay good for ever.

I read that some cheese connoisseurs really like this rubber imitation.

A frown.

I tried freezing cheese once but couldn't slice it anymore when thawed.

For grated cheese it should work though. But i would rather let it get moulded and cut off the mould. I eat very mature cheese though and that only gets salt on the outside.

Grated cheddar from the Makro is totally tasteless imo.

Edited December 24, 201510 yr by Thian

Cheeeeese but I'm not from UK

Vegemite. You will have to settle for Marmite.

As an American I can never see the reasons one would enjoy Vegemite. It can knock a buzzard off a shit wagon at 30 meters.

To those who question freezing cheese. I used to work in that industry. The big UK makers freeze Stilton from July to meet Christmas demand. Cheese does degrade slightly when frozen, but the effects are negligible.

Good article about freezing cheeses.

http://www.thekitchn.com/can-you-should-you-do-you-free-117893

Vegemite. You will have to settle for Marmite.

As an American I can never see the reasons one would enjoy Vegemite. It can knock a buzzard off a shit wagon at 30 meters.

As a Brit, I've never understood why anyone would want a weaker, watered-down version of Marmite.

Tea.

where do you get good teas here?

Tea.

where do you get good teas here?

I don't. I bring them back with me from home.

One can like like different types of cheeses for different reasons. Kraft Velveeta can sit in one's baggage at room temperature for 3 or 4 days travel time and not turn into a gooey mess. Makes great grilled cheeses sandwiches and Mexican type dishes. No more culinary credibility with a Brit? I'll survive.

Maple syrup, underwear and a big smile.

So it seems to me we need a boutique chain of mini shops, one in each major city center (Bangkok, Pattaya, Buriram, Surin, Sis Sa Ket, UBon, Udon, Chang Mai, etc etc etc)

We call them the FCF chain (Farang Comfort Foods) and they are stocked with all these nice things that we all want from home like cheese and Belgium choc etc.

I'm Aussie and when I lived in london they had a little shop that sold aussie food like bbq shapes and burger rings.

It was great in London, why can't we do that in the LOS???????????????

A full wheel of Edam cheese goes in my back pack for carry on and I fill my suitcase up with lightweight things I like Oxos, Gravy Granules, Galaxy Choc pound bars, I usually spend a good few hours looking on the shelves. I can get a lot of stuff weighing 25 kg. Sometimes I don't know what I want until I see it. A half day is often well spent. As I've got clothes in both countries my luggage is almost empty. Oh, Eu de toilette, mens or ladies half the price of Thailand. The really good thing you can bring back are fake Hublot, Breitling, Omega, Patek Philippe watches, advertise by people with Polish sounding names on FB. My friend bought a Hublot RRP 6,000 pounds for 30 quid and it's a cracker.

Edited December 24, 201510 yr by uptheos

So it seems to me we need a boutique chain of mini shops, one in each major city center (Bangkok, Pattaya, Buriram, Surin, Sis Sa Ket, UBon, Udon, Chang Mai, etc etc etc)

We call them the FCF chain (Farang Comfort Foods) and they are stocked with all these nice things that we all want from home like cheese and Belgium choc etc.

I'm Aussie and when I lived in london they had a little shop that sold aussie food like bbq shapes and burger rings.

It was great in London, why can't we do that in the LOS???????????????

You mean like Villa Market? Or Gourmet Market? Or Tops? Or Foodland?

Yeah, someone should do that. There's clearly a gap in the market.

It appears that the two items that are mostly brought back to Thailand are Cheese and Underwear. There really has to be a joke in there somewhere.

Edited December 25, 201510 yr by Guy360

English tea, proper cheese, few boxes of cereal, couple of packs of underwear and a Bosch hedge trimmer.