Moving to Thailand. Shipping personal belongings duty free

[naksuthin]

I am married to a Thai citizen
We live in the US
We are planning on building a house in Thailand
My wife plans to go back and forth to Thailand to oversee the building process while I remain in the States.
When the house is finished in a year or two, we both plan to move to Thailand to retire.

The rule for shipping personal belongings to Thailand for Thai residents like my wife states:
Returning Thai residents who have been abroad for one year or longer, for the purposes other than touring are eligible to bring in household effects acquired abroad free of taxes and duties.

Question: If my wife is traveling back and forth to Thailand to oversee the building of the house, does that mean at some point she will have to return to the States and remain there for another full year before we can qualify for duty free shipping?

[len]

by naksuthin on Wed 16 Mar 2011 5:45 pm

I am married to a Thai citizen
We live in the US
We are planning on building a house in Thailand
My wife plans to go back and forth to Thailand to oversee the building process while I remain in the States.
When the house is finished in a year or two, we both plan to move to Thailand to retire.

The rule for shipping personal belongings to Thailand for Thai residents like my wife states:
Returning Thai residents who have been abroad for one year or longer, for the purposes other than touring are eligible to bring in household effects acquired abroad free of taxes and duties.

Question: If my wife is traveling back and forth to Thailand to oversee the building of the house, does that mean at some point she will have to return to the States and remain there for another full year before we can qualify for duty free shipping?

One suggestion mate! I would consult with a few different shipping agents in Thailand in advance and get an idea of what you’ll have to pay when your things arrive.

Don’t rely on the US shippers to make contacts for you or wait till things arrive in Thailand and not know who you'll be dealing with in Thailand.

My point is, when my things arrived in Thailand, some custom broker, or Thai shipping agent, I can’t remember, wanted 40,000 baht for duty, etc.

I was fortunate to be able to contact a foreigner working in the Thai shipping / moving industry who got my things in for 8000 baht.

[critical]

I think when the transfer of residence is applied for goods brought into Thailand, the person is required to stay atleast 3-6 months before s/he can leave again or so I've heard. Do check it with the customs department in Thailand once here.

As mentioned above, do inquire about the shipping agent for releasing the goods in advance. Also, which port it would be coming down to. When I had brought in a container with my personal belongings into Thailand, I was asked for 80,000.

[drake]

Building a modern house with part time supervision around here may be inviting a disaster.
It can be a real crap shoot with full time supervision as it is.
YMMV

To the question.
There shouldn't be an issue with your wife going back and forth every few months before declaring an "official move" but
you should check with the customs office as to what the actual permissible stay period is.
If you are coming in with a retirement/permanent visa you will have your own duty free import quota,
doubt if you will be bringing in 2 sets of pots and pans ?
Electronics/appliances, well, it's 220V/50Hz and PAL over here so you may ended up with a lot of new stuff...

Links to the customs office.

http://www.customs.go.th/Customs-Eng/Pe ... ersonalPer

http://www.customsclinic.org/index.php? ... 88&lang=en

BTW, check out the vehicle allowance section.
You might want to think about a couple of motorcycles now.
Cars, well, the steering wheel will be on the wrong side...

[chazthai]

Two comments based on personal experience:

When I moved here in 2007 I brought nothing with me but 2 suitcases; however, I shipped a piece of antique Thai ceramic that I purchased on a previous trip but did not want to carry. It was shipped by a large, reputable US company and I truthfully declared that it was an "Antique ceramic". Thai officials would not release this piece to me until I paid the equivalent of about $150 in duty, even though this was personal property that was obviously being returned to its country of origin, not being exported! I paid just to conclude the matter, as I was too inexperienced in this country to know how to dispute the issue.

Also, when I purchased a house here I rented a room nearby and personally stood in the house every day for 5 months, or amazingly inept and just plain stupid things would have happened. The workmen measured nothing, but drilled holes and sawed wood at random, and simply did not care or notice if something was installed off-center or crooked. After a time I realized that no matter how badly my house would have been built, it was light years ahead of the shacks in which they were living, so anything would have seemed acceptable to them. They had no proper tools to do most jobs, and even made their own paintbrushes! They were working as if this were the 17th century. And this is an upscale development!

So, be careful...

[bangbang]

Its been almost a year since you asked this and my curiosity is getting the best of me as usual. Is the house built? You guys moved in Thailand yet?