Just got done by customs on my Christmas Care Package.

[bark]

2 hours ago, steven100 said:

Unfortunately it's the law on any importation of goods.

Same in any other country.

 

Just bad luck they chose your package.

Bad luck or Farang Bad luck ??

[NoshowJones]

16 hours ago, Johnniey said:

My mother has been sending packages here for over 30 years and I've never once had to pay customs anything.

 

She used to send all my kids comics and presents at least every month. Also, birthdays and Xmas. 

 

But, this year she has said it is too expensive to send stuff and is going to stop in the future.

I have been getting parcels from the UK, and a few times from America for the past 11 years, and only once had to pay anything (about900Bt).

I would estimate around 40 parcels over the years.

[mcfish]

One thing for sure it's still hit and miss and comes down to good luck and possibly the size and weight plays a a big part

Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk

[Johnniey]

8 minutes ago, mcfish said:

One thing for sure it's still hit and miss and comes down to good luck and possibly the size and weight plays a a big part

Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk
 

Also how you look!

[mcfish]

Also how you look!

No. As I just posted I got a phone through DHL a courier using my name and they didn't even open the package.

Luck plays a big part, they can't physically inspect every parcel, they would need a thousand men.

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[Enoon]

3 hours ago, Strange said:

 

Not in my country. Never in my life paid to import anything. Not once. 

 

If your country is the US no duty was payable on items valued less than $200, however as of 10th March 2016:

 

"UK-based parcel broker ParcelHero is predicting a “boom” for businesses shipping to the US, as a result of a change in US law which will raise the threshold at which duties and taxes are imposed on imports from $200 to $800."

 

Import duty & taxes when importing into the United States ...

"Duty and taxes are not charged if the FOB is up to USD 800."

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2016 by Enoon

[amjamj]

19 hours ago, Johnniey said:

My mother has been sending packages here for over 30 years and I've never once had to pay customs anything.

 

She used to send all my kids comics and presents at least every month. Also, birthdays and Xmas. 

 

But, this year she has said it is too expensive to send stuff and is going to stop in the future.

 

 

It's true that it's too expensive ! And you have been so lucky to never have to pay anything !

 

 

[dotpoom]

" Anybody else having to pay to collect your Xmas presents?"

Do you think you might possible be the only one in Thailand that had to pay?

 

[maxcorrigan]

20 hours ago, johng said:

even a Thai name and address written in Thai is not always safe. :-(

Not always but mostly, i got 6 teachest size boxes shipped out in my wife's Thai name all correctly and honestly itemised, and it did'nt cost a penny, had it been in my name, i am pretty sure i would have got stung by customs. plus the other benefit all phone correspondance etc. is done by her and in Thai.

[MaxiMaxi]

Yes it is random. Sometimes the stop it sometimes not. Same in Europe when comes out of EU.

But I saw in TV that the Canadians are unflexible. They check by x-ray each letter and package. Or they collect duties and vat or they catch drugs, plants or even living animals.

Then police goes catch them.

Here better to avoid cause they need money and will check more and more. Specialy a bottle of wine can be a big cost and trouble.

But Tops, VM, Max V, specialy V.M. at Prompong Sukhumvit has everithing

[misterphil]

6 hours ago, kwak250 said:

The same can be said for every county if you live there.

The only difference is you have to put up with living in America.

 

You took the words right out of my mouth lol

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

There are a couple of steps anyone wanting to receive imported packages into Thailand can take in order to avoid or minimize the assessment of customs duty and/or VAT:

 

--Have the sender use their local postal service's international airmail, as opposed to private couriers such as DHL and FedEx. Anything sent via the private couriers has a much higher (almost guaranteed) chance of getting assessed, and the resulting private courier package assessments are calculated in a more costly way.

 

--Keep the declared dollar value of any single package to lower amounts if possible, say not exceeding 1000 to 1500 baht. That too will greatly reduce the chances of getting assessed. (Even if it means sending multiple packages instead of one larger, higher value one).

 

--Using a Thai addressee may also help, as has been suggested above. But I've never used that approach, instead followed the two approaches I mentioned above, and almost always have my packages delivered here with absolutely no duty or VAT --  just sometimes and sometimes not a standard 7 baht small package delivery fee assessed haphazardly by Thai Post.

 

 

[dinsdale]

Touch wood I've never had a problem in 13 yrs. Just got my Chrissy pack, value around B2000. No worries.

[Maybole]

As I posted last week, my package to my grandweans was delivered in oly 8 days, intact, with no interference from customs and in spite of my forgetting to register it . The address was written in english and my son- in-laws name is Khan.

[dcnx]

10 hours ago, steven100 said:

Unfortunately it's the law on any importation of goods.

Same in any other country.

 

Just bad luck they chose your package.

 

There is the law and then there is the criminal organization of Thai customs.

 

Please show me other countries who will negotiate you fee, or pull random fees out of their a**, or tell your wife they will waive the fee if she goes to eat with them.

 

Our last two packages were the same items in 2 exact boxes. Everything about them were exactly alike, size, weight, contents, and description of goods. They had different tax fees of several hundred baht and not a single person would tell us why. 

 

Sometimes everything goes as planned. Sometimes they pull numbers out of their greedy a-holes. This is not how other countries do it.

 

There is a reason many shops and services won't ship to Thailand.

[mcfish]

 
There is the law and then there is the criminal organization of Thai customs.
 
Please show me other countries who will negotiate you fee, or pull random fees out of their a**, or tell your wife they will waive the fee if she goes to eat with them.
 
Our last two packages were the same items in 2 exact boxes. Everything about them were exactly alike, size, weight, contents, and description of goods. They had different tax fees of several hundred baht and not a single person would tell us why. 
 
Sometimes everything goes as planned. Sometimes they pull numbers out of their greedy a-holes. This is not how other countries do it.
 
There is a reason many shops and services won't ship to Thailand.

I think your being a bit harsh. Looking at the big picture it's overall cheaper than the west especially when you get get fined for no Helmut or drink driving or speeding and pay 10 dollars as opposed to many multiples in the west including loss of licence and job.

Just pay the few dollars on imports and stop crying

Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk

[joeyg]

10 hours ago, mania said:

 

After 4+ years we had enough & moved home to US

 

Gotta say since being home & ordering a lot of stuff I am always smiling

when the free delivery UPS truck pulls into the driveway

 

Being a hobby guy living in Thailand was rough

What I paid in taxes & duties for motorcycle performance parts imported & Helmet etc

was obscene

 

Now once again as you said......Free!!!

I don't understand?  Had enough of import duty?  Can you be a bit more specific? Overall I think the cost of living in Thailand is hard to beat.  Especially after 30 years in San Diego.  What were you fed up with exactly?

[dcnx]

6 minutes ago, mcfish said:

I think your being a bit harsh. Looking at the big picture it's overall cheaper than the west especially when you get get fined for no Helmut or drink driving or speeding and pay 10 dollars as opposed to many multiples in the west including loss of licence and job.

Just pay the few dollars on imports and stop crying

Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk
 

 

My comment was a reply about Thailand being like every other country for import duty, which it's not.

 

Otherwise, life is decent here. I wouldn't mind if road rules were enforced, but it is what it is. 

 

 

 

 

 

[DiDiChok]

I think that the OP didn't do too badly.  In the Thai family that I know there's a few who have big feet, and I'm talking UK size 13 which is continental 47.  So I ordered four pairs of trainers of the right size for them for delivery in the UK.  I thought it would make a nice present for them.

 

Then I sent the trainers from the UK to Thailand in two separate parcels of two pairs each (weight around 3 Kg each) for £32 per parcel.  The total value of the two pairs of trainers in each parcel was around £150 so totalling £300.  They were addressed in Thai and English to a Thai person to an address near Chiang Mai.  I couldn't combine everything into one parcel because of the way the items arrived in the UK.

 

When the parcels arrived in Thailand, I got quite a shock as only a pile of paperwork was sent to the destination address.  Payment of ฿2,737 was demanded on each parcel, making a whopping  ฿5,474 in all.  The official paperwork valued a parcel at ฿7,000 with import duty of ฿2,100 and VAT of ฿637 to reach the ฿2,737 figure.  Then someone had to go to the local office to collect the parcels and to pay up.  This extra £60 per parcel came as a bit of a shock and I have to say that I won't be sending anything this way in future!

 

So it looks like there's import duty of 30% and then VAT of 9% too that's got to be paid in Thailand on top of whatever you paid for the goods in the first place.  Rather an expensive set of presents!  :-(

[mcfish]

I think that the OP didn't do too badly.  In the Thai family that I know there's a few who have big feet, and I'm talking UK size 13 which is continental 47.  So I ordered four pairs of trainers of the right size for them for delivery in the UK.  I thought it would make a nice present for them.
 
Then I sent the trainers from the UK to Thailand in two separate parcels of two pairs each (weight around 3 Kg each) for £32 per parcel.  The total value of the two pairs of trainers in each parcel was around £150 so totalling £300.  They were addressed in Thai and English to a Thai person to an address near Chiang Mai.  I couldn't combine everything into one parcel because of the way the items arrived in the UK.
 
When the parcels arrived in Thailand, I got quite a shock as only a pile of paperwork was sent to the destination address.  Payment of ฿2,737 was demanded on each parcel, making a whopping  ฿5,474 in all.  The official paperwork valued a parcel at ฿7,000 with import duty of ฿2,100 and VAT of ฿637 to reach the ฿2,737 figure.  Then someone had to go to the local office to collect the parcels and to pay up.  This extra £60 per parcel came as a bit of a shock and I have to say that I won't be sending anything this way in future!
 
So it looks like there's import duty of 30% and then VAT of 9% too that's got to be paid in Thailand on top of whatever you paid for the goods in the first place.  Rather an expensive set of presents!  :-(

That sucks. Seems to be a huge fee on shoes and books for some reason

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[William C F Pierce]

On 19/12/2016 at 11:11 AM, i claudius said:

My daughter was saying this only the other day ,its getting beyond a joke , i notice the cards we recieved this xmas , cost more to post one than the 7 i sent from here .

I have started making my own design eCards using MS Publisher uploaded in emails. It costs me nothing and you can add recent photos for the family to appreciate.

[Poopa]

13 hours ago, DLang said:

Was addressed to a Thai.

 

Items were listed as 'chocolates and clothes.'

 

The stamp was 52 euros.  :D

 

 

 

In the OP it was only chocolates and crisps, which has now changed to clothes already, and since it carried a stamp I take it that is was send by post.

 

You don't mention from which country it was sent but for 52 Euros you can send A LOT, about 30kg if from the UK for example, but will probably about similar from other European countries.

 

So why not stop trolling and just say what the package contained and how many kg it weighted?

 

 

 

 

[KOZMO]

On 12/19/2016 at 7:34 PM, Suradit69 said:

 

I've found from past experience that they tend to be more easy-going on packages sent during the holiday season. I would say in general, regardless of the season, I only am charged duty on about 10 to 20% of things I receive.

 

I guess, as with all things, some farang like to see sinister conspiracies at work emanating largely from their over-active imaginations. Some people become curmudgeonly during the Christmas season while others carry on year 'round.  

 

Don't ever send any electronics over here !!!!   

[ericthai]

On 12/19/2016 at 6:02 AM, Johnniey said:

My mother has been sending packages here for over 30 years and I've never once had to pay customs anything.

 

She used to send all my kids comics and presents at least every month. Also, birthdays and Xmas. 

 

But, this year she has said it is too expensive to send stuff and is going to stop in the future.

In all the years here and packages sent to me from family I never had to pay. One time my mom sent some tea bags to make cold ice tea the customs guys said he should charge for that but was going to let it go. 

[amjamj]

11 hours ago, MaxiMaxi said:

Yes it is random. Sometimes the stop it sometimes not. Same in Europe when comes out of EU.

But I saw in TV that the Canadians are unflexible. They check by x-ray each letter and package. Or they collect duties and vat or they catch drugs, plants or even living animals.

Then police goes catch them.

Here better to avoid cause they need money and will check more and more. Specialy a bottle of wine can be a big cost and trouble.

But Tops, VM, Max V, specialy V.M. at Prompong Sukhumvit has everithing

 

 

Canada checks what they can just like any other country. Stop watching TV :-)

I send hundreds parcels yearly and never had one caught by the slaves.

But for sure delivery is slow because slaves are slow to work it seems.

 

 

 

[balo]

I order a lot of stuff from Ebay and other sites , never been asked for any fees to be paid at the post office. Maybe just lucky ? 

[jacko45k]

On 19/12/2016 at 1:30 PM, godblessemall said:

Tesco Lotus has big bars of Tesco dark or Milk (fruit & nuts) chocolate which i'm certain is Cadbury's rebadged for 65 Baht a bar... good value..... and I was lucky to find McVities chocolate digestives reduced in price too.

 

Yeah I got a solid block of those... they all stuck together!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

8 hours ago, DiDiChok said:

I think that the OP didn't do too badly.  In the Thai family that I know there's a few who have big feet, and I'm talking UK size 13 which is continental 47.  So I ordered four pairs of trainers of the right size for them for delivery in the UK.  I thought it would make a nice present for them.

 

Then I sent the trainers from the UK to Thailand in two separate parcels of two pairs each (weight around 3 Kg each) for £32 per parcel.  The total value of the two pairs of trainers in each parcel was around £150 so totalling £300.  They were addressed in Thai and English to a Thai person to an address near Chiang Mai.  I couldn't combine everything into one parcel because of the way the items arrived in the UK.

 

When the parcels arrived in Thailand, I got quite a shock as only a pile of paperwork was sent to the destination address.  Payment of ฿2,737 was demanded on each parcel, making a whopping  ฿5,474 in all.  The official paperwork valued a parcel at ฿7,000 with import duty of ฿2,100 and VAT of ฿637 to reach the ฿2,737 figure.  Then someone had to go to the local office to collect the parcels and to pay up.  This extra £60 per parcel came as a bit of a shock and I have to say that I won't be sending anything this way in future!

 

So it looks like there's import duty of 30% and then VAT of 9% too that's got to be paid in Thailand on top of whatever you paid for the goods in the first place.  Rather an expensive set of presents!  :-(

 

As might be expected, the duty rates on different items coming into Thailand vary WIDELY, with the highest rates seemingly keyed to domestic industries that the Thais want to shield from any competition.

 

Contrary to what one poster mentioned above, normal small electronics tend to have a pretty low rate when assessed, often just 7%. But at the other end of the spectrum, shoes sent into Thailand often seem to get flagged for duty, even when delivered by Thai Post.

 

And some of the highest duties I've ever been charged for anything shipped here have been for clothes, where the total duty and tax assessed ended up being a higher amount that the total real value of the clothes themselves. (That was back before I learned to never use FedEx or DHL for my incoming shipments...)

[DLang]

4 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Yeah I got a solid block of those... they all stuck together!

 

Haha.

 

The chocolate buttons are like a little wafer thin chocolate slab. :D Still good though. 

[riorobc023]

I have had DHL shipped to me numerous times and never have gotten taxed on anything , small or large packages. Why is that guys?

 

Due to the fact that the sender knows what he is doing, correct?

 

merry christmas everyone