The last time I ordered some books and had them delivered to my Thai address, I got slapped with a significant import duty by Thai customs. If I remember correctly it was 700Bt on an order worth less than 2,000Bt. Has anyone had a similar experience recently or is this one of those amazing Thailand luck-of-the-draw things?
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Has anyone ordered from Amazon.com lately?
Started by mauRICE, Feb 08 2009 01:17 PM
3 replies to this topic
#1
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Posted 08 February 2009 - 01:17 PM
"I was thought to be 'stuck up.' I wasn't. I was just sure of myself. This is and always has been an unforgivable quality to the unsure."
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Bette Davis
#2
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Posted 08 February 2009 - 05:11 PM
My experience with shipments of personal hygiene and medical items from the USA which come by Fed Ex is "hit and miss." A few years back, most arrived at your door without any customs duty or VAT tax. I have the feeling that the Thais weren't paying attention. But with orders that came from Amazon by international parcel post, I always got a pink slip in my mailbox, telling me I had to go to the Banglamung station in Pattaya and pay tax in order to take delivery.
In the past year, the Fed EX deliveries which come to my door are also being charged with both customs and VAT, which the Fed Ex driver collects. That almost never happened a few years ago. Since the FED EX package is sealed, I assume they calculate the amount due from the declaration form, which gives you some flexibility if you have a sender who low balls the package. In the old days, no one taxed books either. I'm not sure what happened to that exemption.
700 Baht tax on 2000 baht value seems a bit high, although I'm willing to bet that the delivery guy doesn't know any more than I do just how the charges were calculated. It's almost always cheaper to buy it in Thailand, even at a place like Villa Market, if you can get it, when you add the cost of shipping, customs and VAT - and that dreaded fuel surcharge.
In the past year, the Fed EX deliveries which come to my door are also being charged with both customs and VAT, which the Fed Ex driver collects. That almost never happened a few years ago. Since the FED EX package is sealed, I assume they calculate the amount due from the declaration form, which gives you some flexibility if you have a sender who low balls the package. In the old days, no one taxed books either. I'm not sure what happened to that exemption.
700 Baht tax on 2000 baht value seems a bit high, although I'm willing to bet that the delivery guy doesn't know any more than I do just how the charges were calculated. It's almost always cheaper to buy it in Thailand, even at a place like Villa Market, if you can get it, when you add the cost of shipping, customs and VAT - and that dreaded fuel surcharge.
#3
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Posted 10 February 2009 - 02:04 PM
The parcel companies like ups etc are getting into their own scam.
They now always collect tax duty when delivering a parcel, but do not provide any "official" documantation as to the duty to be paid, only forms printed by their company, and their is no proof available that the nmoney goes to Thai customs.
TIT
They now always collect tax duty when delivering a parcel, but do not provide any "official" documantation as to the duty to be paid, only forms printed by their company, and their is no proof available that the nmoney goes to Thai customs.
TIT
#4
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Posted 10 February 2009 - 02:20 PM
I send packages several times a year to some expat friends in Thailand by Fed Ex and I never could underdstand how anyone could charge or calculate customs on items when the packages were always delivered sealed and intact. I routinely label the packages as "used paperbooks " with a value of $5, making sure to include one cheap novel in the package. No one ever bothers to charge any duty or VAT.
