Customs Clearance
 

I've shipped my bike from Seattle to Bangkok and I'm starting to get worried about the huge expense as " > - Bht 9,000 customs formality /clearance".

They asked for an itemized list of the content of the bike and I sent them my packing list. I then just got another email from the steamship:
"
The shipping agent told us that the customs will consider these accessories as person effects. They are not a part of motorcycle.
So maybe additional cost for customs clearance is incurred
"
The clearance fee is already huge at almost $300 USD. Anyone have a clue what is meant? Are they charging me to import each item into Thailand?

Thanks!
dg in BKK

...suggestions and ideas?
 

ultimately it depends on how things were listed by the shipping company when your bike was crated. usually items in the crate with the bike ie panniers and their contents are considered part of the bike. however, once again, this does depend on how they were listed on the bill of laden (as far as I understand).

if you are traveling through Thailand on a tourist visa these 'items' that you listed will only be temporarily imported - like your bike.

when we arrived we showed them our carnet (we know you dont need one for Thailand but we had one still valid so we used it) they took our carnet and copied all of the details down on the official 'white paper'. nothing was said or asked about the panniers or bags we had in the crate. however, we arrived by air. but surely customs entry should be the same whether by air or sea?

I would say that you need to check your documentation from the shipping company fully (and re-check it!) just to see if things have been missed off? was the bike crated on the ship?

these charges do seem to be rather high. hope you get it sorted.
not too sure if we can be of any help! are you having a language problem too? do you have a local friend you can take with you if thats also the case?

sorry to hear about htis Dave.
anybody else out there got any suggestions?

You´re sending to Bangkok - by air or by sea?

I was warned 3 years ago not to ship anything by sea to BKK, because the seaport, whatever its name was, was corrupted. Do not know, if the situation still remains the same.

BKK Suvarnabhumi airport, however, was a breeze, took about 3 hours after arrival till the bike was back on the road. But we had a Thai-speaking friend with us, and I´d strongly recommend to do the same, if you can. Most of the papers will be bilingual, but it still helps to have an interpreter with you.

I can´t remember exactly, but think I payed handling fees in the region of 1000-2000 BHT, and nothing else. I also had the crate full of panniers & other stuff (all listed in the packing list) and there was no mention of extra costs for these.

Wow. Yeah, that isn't at all what they're trying to charge me. I wrote back and am trying to get them to review.

Do either of you by chance have any copies of the documents I can reference? If so, mind sending them to me at motodocs at gsomething dot com.

I've shipped by sea and have heard good things recently about the Bangkok sea port, but nothing about the port I'm using, Laem Shabang.

daveg,

Any updates to your shipping the bike into the Bangkok Port?

How did you make out with customs wanting duty on your personal belongings?

Wow.. Forgot about that one. I think it worked out OK. I ended up paying a total of $300USD which is pretty high compared to most other people, but par for the rest of my shipping experience from the USA via a RoRo with Frontier Forwarder (Houston - Freight Forwarders, Shipping Company, Ocean Freight, NVOCC, Break Bulk Cargo, International Shipping, Chartering, shipping from houston to, Delivery, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama) out of Houston. My forwarder was totally inexperienced and ended up charging me double his quote which I had to fight tooth and nail to get... oh and was 3 months LATE.

Anyway... sorry for the mini-rant.. on to your question...

I didnt end up paying duties on the personal goods nor did I have to import the bike. The 300$ I paid covered all paperwork on the Bangkok side, customs fees, forwarder on the Bangkok side (Wilhelmsen) AND they loaded up the bike on a tow truck with my pallet of person stuff and delivered it to my hotel.

I think without delivery, you could easily do it for $150, but I paid the extra money because I didnt want to hire a taxi to the port, get a hotel there to start early the next morning and navigate the customs offices there.

Thanks for the info Dave. That was a really bad deal with RORO.

Nice work with the RideAsia.net site.

I am thinking about trying to clear Customs myself at the airport. Renting a pickup truck and hauling bike/crate some place and re build it.

Thanks,
Jim

One tip for Bangkok riding, it is illegal for motorcycles to ride on the toll roads and I believe the highways in the city. You can ride on the highways outside of the city, but you absolutely will get pulled over and extorted for some baht if you ride on the toll roads.

If you do get pinched by BKK police, never pay more than 500 baht for a "fine". They'll take more, but it is my understanding locals pay about 150 baht and as farang you can expect to pay up to about 500. I only got stopped once for driving on a highway (not even a toll road!) and paid 500 or so...

^Yea and don't stop when the police wave at you unless you absolutely have too. Figure that they're just waving to say hello!
If you do get stopped don't forget to smile a lot.:D

Biggus,

There are loads of people the airport with trucks / pick ups that will load bike and crate onto them and drive you where you want to go. I paid 1800 Baht to have the bike loaded onto the truck, transported with me to the city centre and unloaded at the destination. I was happy enough with the pice, but I didn't negotiate hard, maybe you can get better.

Good travels

Chris