Taking Your Apple Thunderbolt Display to Thailand?

[DUS]

Good morning!

I am currently planning to move to Thailand within the next 3 months. I will "travel lightly", meaning I won´t bring any furniture etc with me. However, I want to keep some of my electronics (from radios, to laptops and an Mac mini etc). As such, I would love to get your opinion on one question that´s bugging me right now.

Would you ship your 27" Apple Thunderbolt display from the UK to TH or sell it over here and buy a new display when over there in BKK?

Currently, the displays are trending at around 400 quid on ebay. Sending the parcel over to TH would cost at least 100 pounds. Not sure if I would need to pay tax/duty, which would then come on top. So we are talking about 500+ quid that I would "save" by selling it over here and not posting it to Thailand. A new Thunderbolt display at an Apple shop costs just shy of 900, on Amazon.co.uk it can be bought for 799 but I haven´t yet looked into the pricing structure in Thailand. Wouldn´t expect major price differences.

2 questions actually:

a/ Would I have to pay duty/tax on bringing this into TH?

b/ Would you personally ship the display or buy something new once you´ve settled in in BKK?

Thanks for sharing your personal opinion with me on that!

Cheers

DUS

[mikebike]

You may have to pay duty, depending on the visa type you are arriving on. If you have a tourist visa you will probably have to pay. If non-immigrant maybe not.

I use a 42" Panasonic TV with my Mac mini here. Cost about 15,000 baht (300 British pounds).

[mikebike]

http://www.apple.com/th-en/shop/product/MC914ZP/B/apple-thunderbolt-display-27-inch

[samuijimmy]

It's hard to say about the duty, I got nailed some for various things, but it's hard to fight it..

I brought over my IMac which they nailed me for, I cannot remember how much now....it was almost 8 years ago! Mixed in a trunk and sent air freight.

Just make sure you have tracking on it if you decide to bring....and send by post...

[CharlieH]

Dont give yourself the stress and hassle and full of "may be".

Sell it, get something when here.

[DUS]

Thanks to all of you who´ve replied! Great feedback!

Cheers!

DUS

[bearpolar]

You can get a korean 27" for 200$ usd on ebay, 1 day shipping

get rid of that overpriced crap, they don't sell easily in thailand,

[BudRight]

I disagree with the other posters. I brought a PC and monitor with me from abroad, then took it with me when I left. No duty.

What matters is if the goods are new or second hand, not what kind of visa you're on.

...and if you want to avoid stress and hassle entirely, don't move to Thailand. There's plenty of it.

[rasg]

I have the same display and I would say, if you have the original box, ship it! Without the original box, probably not. Make the box look a little bit tatty on the outside if it's not already to show it's secondhand. It might fit in an 27 inch iMac box.

The hub aspect of the TB display is one of the best things about the display. I wouldn't want to be without them and I'm not sure you will find the same hub type facilities on a different brand. I bought mine in 2012 and I had a problem with one of the connections. The Ethernet stopped working. No Applecare and Apple repaired it FOC.

I would carry it as extra luggage on the plane. It's only 11 kg and in the box you can carry it like any other bag.

[DUS]

I would carry it as extra luggage on the plane. It's only 11 kg and in the box you can carry it like any other bag.

Wow, you think the display would survive it being sent as hold luggage on a plane? But then again, it wouldn´t be treated more gently if sent by courier, so ...

Hmmmmmm....

[rasg]

I couldn’t find the box for mine and it survived a trip from Emsworth to Windsor to Stormfront. I had to walk a loooong way with it from the car park which wasn't close at all. I wrapped it in a blanket as it was raining too. In its box I don't think it would be a problem in the hold.

The amount I have seen being carried as extra luggage to Thailand, watching families at check in of five or six people with mountains of luggage, including golf clubs and some huge boxes. I wouldn’t see it as an issue. I would wrap it so the Apple logo couldn’t be seen on the box though. A magnet for anybody who likes to take things that don't belong to them.

11 or 12 kilos can’t cost that much. Hmmm. I'm wondering if my big bag would take the size of the display. I have a nest of three and the big bag is pretty big.

[dddave]

Airlines have gotten used to handling large, flat-screen TV's and monitors. Every time I'm at the airport here I see dozens going into "Oversized Baggage"

Just make sure to pack it well using bubble wrap and extra protection on the corners. Also, something puncture resistant (such as hardboard) over the screen.

My guess is it will actually be safer as checked baggage than sending it via post or express.

[CWMcMurray]

You may have to pay duty, depending on the visa type you are arriving on. If you have a tourist visa you will probably have to pay. If non-immigrant maybe not.

I use a 42" Panasonic TV with my Mac mini here. Cost about 15,000 baht (300 British pounds).

Agree, doesn't seem worth the cost ...

You can easily buy a large screen TV for much cheaper

If you want to use it as screen for any Apple devices, more cost effective way would be to buy Apple TV and link with AirPlay

[PomRakBKK]

You can get a korean 27" for 200$ usd on ebay, 1 day shipping

get rid of that overpriced crap, they don't sell easily in thailand,

Apple products sell faster than you can post them in Bangkok.

Mac2hand.com is one example.

[FracturedRabbit]

You may have to pay duty, depending on the visa type you are arriving on. If you have a tourist visa you will probably have to pay. If non-immigrant maybe not.

I use a 42" Panasonic TV with my Mac mini here. Cost about 15,000 baht (300 British pounds).

Agree, doesn't seem worth the cost ...

You can easily buy a large screen TV for much cheaper

If you want to use it as screen for any Apple devices, more cost effective way would be to buy Apple TV and link with AirPlay

There is a huge difference between the quality of an Apple display compared to a TV.

[bearpolar]

You may have to pay duty, depending on the visa type you are arriving on. If you have a tourist visa you will probably have to pay. If non-immigrant maybe not.

I use a 42" Panasonic TV with my Mac mini here. Cost about 15,000 baht (300 British pounds).

Agree, doesn't seem worth the cost ...

You can easily buy a large screen TV for much cheaper

If you want to use it as screen for any Apple devices, more cost effective way would be to buy Apple TV and link with AirPlay

There is a huge difference between the quality of an Apple display compared to a TV.

but theres no difference between a 1000$ apple display and a 200$ non-hipster branded monitor

[DUS]

In a "worst case scenario", how much duty would I have to pay on the display?

[rasg]

In your shoes I would check how much but from what I have read as it's not new there is no duty to pay.

[BudRight]

You may have to pay duty, depending on the visa type you are arriving on. If you have a tourist visa you will probably have to pay. If non-immigrant maybe not.

I use a 42" Panasonic TV with my Mac mini here. Cost about 15,000 baht (300 British pounds).

Agree, doesn't seem worth the cost ...

You can easily buy a large screen TV for much cheaper

If you want to use it as screen for any Apple devices, more cost effective way would be to buy Apple TV and link with AirPlay

There is a huge difference between the quality of an Apple display compared to a TV.

but theres no difference between a 1000$ apple display and a 200$ non-hipster branded monitor

There is at least an $800 difference, even according to you.

[bearpolar]

If you want to use it as screen for any Apple devices, more cost effective way would be to buy Apple TV and link with AirPlay

There is a huge difference between the quality of an Apple display compared to a TV.

but theres no difference between a 1000$ apple display and a 200$ non-hipster branded monitor

There is at least an $800 difference, even according to you.

The "overly intelligent" tax

[FracturedRabbit]

You may have to pay duty, depending on the visa type you are arriving on. If you have a tourist visa you will probably have to pay. If non-immigrant maybe not.

I use a 42" Panasonic TV with my Mac mini here. Cost about 15,000 baht (300 British pounds).

Agree, doesn't seem worth the cost ...

You can easily buy a large screen TV for much cheaper

If you want to use it as screen for any Apple devices, more cost effective way would be to buy Apple TV and link with AirPlay

There is a huge difference between the quality of an Apple display compared to a TV.

but theres no difference between a 1000$ apple display and a 200$ non-hipster branded monitor

There is a massive difference between a $200 monitor and a $1000 monitor; whether made by Apple or anyone else. Apple and other quality displays have ips panels or similar which provide a consistent colour image even if you change your viewing angle; very important if you work with graphics. The Apple monitors had an industry reputation for high resolution and accurate colour handling; and in its heyday was cheaper than alternatives from competitors such as Dell and HP.

Nowadays, Apple seem to have lost interest in the monitor market and Dell in particular have some great displays; but not for $200! And connecting to a TV? Forget it if you want to do graphic work on your computer.

[rasg]

Not forgetting the hub that is built into the Apple display.

[mikebike]

Not true - many examples of effective graphics work done on less than top-of-the-line, calibrated, monitors, TVs, and laptops. How did designers get by from the early days of DTP in the mid 80's until the early 2000s? Were all those designs and layouts compromised by the monitor? Elitist bs.

[PomRakBKK]

Sell it in your home country and buy a DELL P2715Q 27" ULTRA HD 4K LED MONITOR - so much better than the thunderbolt display and slightly cheaper as well.

Real retina resolution, not glossy like the TBD, Dell quality.

[bearpolar]

Sell it in your home country and buy a DELL P2715Q 27" ULTRA HD 4K LED MONITOR - so much better than the thunderbolt display and slightly cheaper as well.

Real retina resolution, not glossy like the TBD, Dell quality.

but but but it wont match his apple backpack, his apple beard, his apple thick framed glasses and his apple ipad, ipad mini and the large one..

[rasg]

Not true - many examples of effective graphics work done on less than top-of-the-line, calibrated, monitors, TVs, and laptops. How did designers get by from the early days of DTP in the mid 80's until the early 2000s? Were all those designs and layouts compromised by the monitor? Elitist bs.

Back in the mid 80's and onwards most colour printing was done conventionally. Image colours, density etc were tweaked by the repro house or the printers. Those designs etc were not compromised by the monitor because things were fixed after the designer had done his or her job.

[mikebike]

Not true - many examples of effective graphics work done on less than top-of-the-line, calibrated, monitors, TVs, and laptops. How did designers get by from the early days of DTP in the mid 80's until the early 2000s? Were all those designs and layouts compromised by the monitor? Elitist bs.

Back in the mid 80's and onwards most colour printing was done conventionally. Image colours, density etc were tweaked by the repro house or the printers. Those designs etc were not compromised by the monitor because things were fixed after the designer had done his or her job.

Occasionally true for early ('85 and earlier) high-end output but even by '87 imagesetters were the norm and no competent designer was going to relinquish control to the plate burners! What came off the press had better be a clone of the proofs and seps!

Even today high-res monitors are no real improvement for those working in low-res design like screen printing, newspapers or low-end web design which generally require outputs of 100dpi or less.

Personally, I believe, the only print-graphic technicians to benefit from ultra-high quality monitors are those who work in colour-correction and retouching suites in near black-out rooms.

[rasg]

Occasionally true for early ('85 and earlier) high-end output but even by '87 imagesetters were the norm and no competent designer was going to relinquish control to the plate burners! What came off the press had better be a clone of the proofs and seps!

Even today high-res monitors are no real improvement for those working in low-res design like screen printing, newspapers or low-end web design which generally require outputs of 100dpi or less.

Personally, I believe, the only print-graphic technicians to benefit from ultra-high quality monitors are those who work in colour-correction and retouching suites in near black-out rooms.

I worked in the industry for 15 years and we just allowed the designers and other creatives to come and oversee to make sure they got the colour they wanted. We were one of the first direct to plate printers in the UK.

An HD TV just doesn't cut it as a computer screen. Maybe 4K does but I don't know. The big benefit of the Thunderbolt display is the hub. I have mine bolted to the chart table on the boat but I still calibrate it with a spider every month or so to keep the colours roughly where they should be. Apart from the glossy display it’s a very good screen. And well worth taking to Thailand.

[DUS]

I should have known that a straightforward question about shipment and tax/duty for an used Apple Display would result in a fruitless discussion and tirades from the anti Apple Brigade. LOL....

But, seriously, thanks to most of you who have posted relevant info and feedback on my original question! Even though I still don´t know what the maximum duty is the Thai authorities would impose "worst case".

[rasg]

I should have known that a straightforward question about shipment and tax/duty for an used Apple Display would result in a fruitless discussion and tirades from the anti Apple Brigade. LOL....

Yes it made me smile too and on a Thai forum. Who would have thought it?!

But, seriously, thanks to most of you who have posted relevant info and feedback on my original question! Even though I still don´t know what the maximum duty is the Thai authorities would impose "worst case".

Take a look here. It might answer your question.

http://www.dutycalculator.com/country-guides/Import-duty-taxes-when-importing-into-Thailand/

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