Declaring wine at customs

[SidJames]

I got spun at Swampy for the first time by customs on leaving the baggage hall with 4 bottles of table wine after they put my bags through an xray machine.

I've read a lot of news stories about 'new machines & cracking down' etc but they have the same machines that they also have & they mostly seem to profile locals & arabs as far as I've ever seen.

That being said there was a fair bit of tut tutting from the customs officials.

I offered to pay duty but that was refused & I was told that I would have to pay a big fine & the wine would go in the box.

They were put in a tray & I was made to put them into a box that they unlocked.

I was then told that I could go with no further mention of a fine, I choose not to remind them.

I also had some vacuum packed steaks with cooler gels packs & some nice olive oil.

All of this was ignored.

I would have thought that the meat would have been confiscated but also the oil for non payment of luxury tax.

Wondering if it's not an idea to just declare wine as I get it off a friend in trade at cost price.

 

[DipStick]

The fact is, you attempted to enter Thailand with four times your allowed limit of wines. The fact that you never declared them, and the possibility that you entered the green channel, and were caught out, you then become  a smuggler in the eyes of the Customs officials.

You were possibly very fortunate that they confiscated your bottles but not heavily fined you. 

I think your comments about in your experience they only targeted Arabs and Locals does indicate that you did know you were pushing your luck.

 

[CharlieH]

These days its always best to "DECLARE" anything anywhere you travel, as its much less hassle generally than being caught out and having the removal of goods you wanted.

[SidJames]

2 hours ago, DipStick said:

The fact is, you attempted to enter Thailand with four times your allowed limit of wines. The fact that you never declared them, and the possibility that you entered the green channel, and were caught out, you then become  a smuggler in the eyes of the Customs officials.

You were possibly very fortunate that they confiscated your bottles but not heavily fined you. 

I think your comments about in your experience they only targeted Arabs and Locals does indicate that you did know you were pushing your luck.

 

You're right of course, I have on occasion brought through the odd bottle or steak but over the years I have spent hours waiting at the baggage carousels at both BKK's for my luggage & I am only passing on what I have observed.

Most of the time I see the vast majority of european looking travelers pass without being stopped whilst Thai, arab or persian looking travellers have had their luggage scanned.

In the scheme of things the few bits that people like me bring in is negligible but I am wondering if other people have noticed an actual sea change of attitude or is it just more PR about 'cracking down'?

 

PS.

I also had 2 bottles of wine & a litre of cognac bought duty free with me which they said was ok & let me take them.

I've since checked the official allowance, it's one litre of wine or spirit allowable duty free.

 

Edited April 6, 2017 by SidJames

[DipStick]

41 minutes ago, SidJames said:

You're right of course, I have on occasion brought through the odd bottle or steak but over the years I have spent hours waiting at the baggage carousels at both BKK's for my luggage & I am only passing on what I have observed.

Most of the time I see the vast majority of european looking travelers pass without being stopped whilst Thai, arab or persian looking travellers have had their luggage scanned.

In the scheme of things the few bits that people like me bring in is negligible but I am wondering if other people have noticed an actual sea change of attitude or is it just more PR about 'cracking down'?

 

PS.

I also had 2 bottles of wine & a litre of cognac bought duty free with me which they said was ok & let me take them.

I've since checked the official allowance, it's one litre of wine or spirit allowable duty free.

 

Your PS does show a lack of consistancy by the Customs officers, or are they prepared to turn a blind eye when openly carrying, but draw the line at attempted "smuggling"

i recently read, but cannot remember where, that in the near future, all incoming hold baggage will be X rayed prior to ending up on the carousel.

this of course happens in a number of busy international airports and the Customs officials will know what's in bags long before you take them off the carousel. 

[chickenslegs]

As I understand it, you can not just declare excess alcohol upon arrival and pay the duty.

To import more than 1 litre of alcoholic drinks you need to obtain a licence/permit before you enter the country.

So, the customs officials didn't have the choice of letting you pay, even if they wanted to.

 

I'm pretty sure that the seized goods are donated to a good cause.

 

 

[JAFO]

Yes the limit is 1 liter as stated and known. Did you have all 4 bottles in 1 suitcase? 

[SidJames]

Yes

[richard_smith237]

You took your chance and were treated quite fairly... 

[JAFO]

19 hours ago, SidJames said:

Yes

 

That's how they nipped you.

[Langsuan Man]

On 4/6/2017 at 3:33 PM, chickenslegs said:

To import more than 1 litre of alcoholic drinks you need to obtain a licence/permit before you enter the country.

Has anyone here at Thai Visa ever tried to obtain a license / permit before entering the country ?

 

I would be more than happy to pay for the ability to bring in more than one liter of wine just so I don't have to drink the fruit wines imported and sold in the retail stores here  

[p_brownstone]

4 hours ago, Langsuan Man said:

Has anyone here at Thai Visa ever tried to obtain a license / permit before entering the country ?

 

I would be more than happy to pay for the ability to bring in more than one liter of wine just so I don't have to drink the fruit wines imported and sold in the retail stores here  

 

By "fruit wines" I guess you mean wines produced from ummmmm .... fruit .... such as grapes??

 

From my point of view there is absolutely no point in importing Wine for personal consumption (i.e. for non-commercial trade) into Thailand: There are many Companies now selling very good quality wine etc. here in Bangkok, admittedly at a premium price, but for me at least the convenience of having decent Wine / Port / Malt Whisky, whatever, delivered to my door far exceeds the hassle of trying to drag it though Customs myself with all the associated paperwork.

 

Patrick

[Langsuan Man]

There is a whole thread here at Thai Visa that takes the opposite view

The fruit that I am referring to is the fruit that is added to imported wine here to lower the duty

So basically your just expressing an opinion , not answering the question...Has anyone ever attempted to obtain the license or permit to legally import wine

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[topt]

3 hours ago, p_brownstone said:

 

By "fruit wines" I guess you mean wines produced from ummmmm .... fruit .... such as grapes??

 

From my point of view there is absolutely no point in importing Wine for personal consumption (i.e. for non-commercial trade) into Thailand: 

Quote

There are many Companies now selling very good quality wine etc. here in Bangkok, admittedly at a premium price,

but for me at least the convenience of having decent Wine / Port / Malt Whisky, whatever, delivered to my door far exceeds the hassle of trying to drag it though Customs myself with all the associated paperwork.

 

Patrick

The point is (and as LangsuanMan  intimates above) I don't think anyone who has tasted so called "fruit wines" would describe them as "very good wines...". IMHO some are drinkable but that is as far as I would go