myself and the wife were discussing the possibilty of moving over to the north of thailand maybe chiang mai, we were wondering if anyone has experience of the shipping costs for containers (moving some items of furniture and possessions) from the uk to thailand,any info would be appreciated, thanks,
neill

Hi neill

In November 2005, we shipped all our worldly goods using Maersk Sealand. They would only deal with us direct after I put forward a company name, they won't deal with individuals.

Maersk Sealand handled everything up to Laem Chabang. A company called Micro Logistics took over from there to Khon Kaen.

We prepared and packed everything and loaded the 20' container ourselves outside our house in Liverpool. They gave us 3 hours to load; it took half that time thanks to a few guys from the local pub. On arrival at our house in Khon Kaen, we slipped a few baht to our estate security guards who unloaded it for us in no time at all.

Total cost, door-to-door, Liverpool to Khon Kaen came to just under £1200. This included 'coffee money' to Thai customs who, 'coincidentally', didn't even open the container. All such matters were handled by Micro Logistics on our behalf; we EMS'd our passports to them and faxed a carefully edited, general list of contents, they did the rest.

Hope this helps.

Regards

quote:

Total cost, door-to-door, Liverpool to Khon Kaen came to just under £1200.

We were quoted nearly twice that to move the equivalent of a Luton transit van load (12 Cubic meters) 22 miles from Switzerland to France Rip off europe.

Ash

quote:

a carefully edited, general list of contents

Any hints about "careful editing"?

thanks Maokaang for information our interest. How long did it take door to door arrive in thailand. From your reply . Did you meet your container at bangkok? Do you think it's good idea to do the same .

yes can some one shed some light on the time it takes to get to thailand please as i m sure many members would be intrested

quote:

Any hints about "careful editing"?

We gave Micro Logistics an honest list of what was in the container. They told us what to take off the list. Can't say any more than that.

quote:

How long did it take door to door arrive in thailand.

Our shipment met problems at sea, storms etc., so was delayed, but I think around 5 weeks is normal depending on the shipping schedules.

quote:

Did you meet your container at bangkok?

It arrived at Laem Chabang not Bangkok, but no, Micro Logistics dealt with all of that for us, we just EMS'd our passports to them for Customs to inspect - basically to verify we had previously resided in the UK and were emigrating to Thailand. We never saw the container until it arrived safely at our house in Khon Kaen.

As an addition to the above, here is a document from Thai Customs detailing the requirements for the import of Personal Goods and Household Effects:

http://www.customs.go.th/Customs-Eng/OpenFile.jsp?docId=A00040

Thanks for the link, Paul.
So,although I wouldn't bother with the fridge and the telly, and leaving aside non-dutiable personal items (which I'm glad includes books) I would be looking at a few sticks of furniture that I'm quite attached to, some (low value) pictures, tools that I've accumulated over 40 years, and a myriad of bits and pieces that it seems a shame to throw away, maybe even my old pushbike.
Do they accept a low valuation reflecting the depreciation, and is the duty punitive?

I shipped my stuff when I moved to LOS and you need to be aware that you will be paying something when you get there. The Thai agent took care of it for me and I only ended up declaring a stereo and everything else we told them was books and clothes. I think I paid 2300 baht and the cost for the a 1/4 of a container was £750

quote:

Do they accept a low valuation reflecting the depreciation, and is the duty punitive?

We never paid any duty as such, just 'coffee money'. No duty was charged as we were emigrating to Thailand and the list we gave them was all within the limits, furniture included. You can bring the fridge and the telly if you want, you just can't bring more than 1 of each household item; 2 of each if more than one person is emigrating. It seemed to us that push bikes were counted as personal effects rather than household effects as there wasn't a problem us listing all four; 2 adult, 2 children.

Pretty well everything in your house can come with you. Aside from the obvious illegal stuff, the only other exclusions are for goods you'd need a permit for anyway; food, plants, motor vehicles, etc.

OK, we forgot to write down 5 computers, 3 DVD players, 3 TVs, 3 stereos, food, etc., etc., etc.

Ash,

The price you were quoted seems madly high for 22 miles!

Having said that, most containers going to Thailand are empty, and so one might expect prices to be even lower if you shop around. It may well be that the main costs are once you arrive in Thailand.

Ian

Ian
The price was madly high but we are here now and most things came in 2 transit loads and only cost a lot of sweat.

Last week was not the best as my car died on Wednesday (cylinder head gasket) followed by 2 out of 3 computers which died at the weekend so I am no having to install everything again on a vista machine and have ordered a new Mac for the weekend.

Otherwise with my son developing gastro enteritis on the moving day and me having flu its been fantastic and now we have to get daeng a carte de sejour , oh joy and rapture.

My new motor arrives on Thursday and as I just lost my parking at work because we are now too close I am getting a motorbike later this week.

It all adds to the fun
ash

Ash

quote:

Last week was not the best as my car died on Wednesday (cylinder head gasket) followed by 2 out of 3 computers which died at the weekend so I am no having to install everything again on a vista machine and have ordered a new Mac for the weekend.

Otherwise with my son developing gastro enteritis on the moving day and me having flu its been fantastic and now we have to get daeng a carte de sejour , oh joy and rapture.

Thats nowt, mate. Iang and I split up (again) last week. This time it looks like its for good - but I said that last time. Also, the people repairing my pc under warranty went into liquidation, and so I've got to get it back from them somehow. Aint life great?

Ian