How easy is crossing the border from Malaysia with a truck full of household goods?

[hermespan]

With or without a retirement visa? I might apply, but won't unless it is necessary.

Have any of you made the move say from Penang to Rayong when you weren't working for some corporation that transferred everything?

I am a writer temporarily living in Malaysia. Expect to eventually make the move across the border and well beyond. Maybe ship all my stuff by train from Sadao.

I have a storeroom cum office here in Mallaca. No furniture to speak of. I'd like to maybe bring along an office chair. My desk if it isn't a problem. No bed. No food. No pets. No goods for sale. It's not a family with photo albums and safes. A modest amount. A very large van, a fraction in a one ton truck.

I would like to just load a simple canvass lorry with all my 13 plastic boxes of drawers (you've seen them at TESCO) and move to south-central Thailand. It took me what seemed million trips moving suitcases from Cambodia to Thailand. Don't want to repeat that ever again.

S.E. Asia is just my home base from which I travel.

I haven't yet looked into the cost for truck with driver. My concern here is simply Customs and Immigration. Do they care if you don't have residency when you arrive with a lot of goods? I have sojourned in Thailand for up to six months before, always getting my visa extended legally and it was all straightforward and easy. But that was arriving with a suitcase or two not a U-haul. And 10 years ago.

Do they go through your stuff with a fine tooth comb? I am not carrying contraband, I just would not rather spend ten hours having all my pots and pans and clothes and papers gone through. I am especially concerned about dutiable items like electronics. It would take me a week to itemize my stuff - but it would not be an impossible task. And I am the border guard's best friend. Besides being very polite and patient, everything is labeled and packed in see through bags. I am nothing if not organized. No receipts though.

Regarding saving money (a related issue), I once made another international move where I jettisoned almost everything. It wasted a lot of money and especially time starting from square one again. so, that modus operendi never again also

BTW, when I made a domestic move within Malaysia, the challenge was finding a *small* enough truck rather than a big enough one. The modest lorries that looked to be a perfect fit are used in local use businesses. I ended up hiring a 3 tonner 90% empty! A two hour one-way journey was USD85. I do not look forward to getting a price on an 8+ hour journey in Thailand.

[jinjin]

I can help you get thru Betong Customs here in Yala. But not sure about Sadao.

[hermespan]

I can help you get thru Betong Customs here in Yala. But not sure about Sadao.

Are you insinuating that it would/could be a problem otherwise?

Does Thailand still require 'tea money'? I thought that was a thing of the past.

This isn't Cambodia. Er, or is it?

Edited January 9, 2016 by hermespan

[Gulfsailor]

Officially you would need a customs broker to prepare the paperwork to export the stuff from Mslaysia and import into Thailand. Without the required docs, customs would simply not allow the goods to pass the border. That said, this is the official rule. Who knows what's possible if you show up at a quiet border with 10k Baht in your pocket and a 'friendly' customs guy on site...