So I've just been looking at air freight from Bangkok to Kathmandu (and I know a few others are doing the same so I'll save you the hassle hopefully) and I have received the following quotes:

Kittima
TransAir Cargo
02-650 9030 ext: 312
kittima@transaircargo.com

Air freight charge: -
Thai Airways :Thb72.-/kg

Handling charge :Thb3,000.- per shipment
Transportation charge:Thb1,000.- per motorbike
DGR. charge :Thb 700.- per shipment
Wooden crate :Thb5,800.- per crate (apploximate)

Total = 27740 including a crate

NB. prepairing for the "dangerous goods" certificate takes 5-7 days and requires
- Your passport of photo page & imigration stamp page (when you came
Thailand.).
- The carnet de passage (if applicable)
- Simplified Customs Delcaration Form from import into Thailand ( white paper from customs)


Mr.Thira K.
Excel Transport Int'l Co., Ltd.-BKK
Tel. : (02) 2545370-8 ext. 322
email thira@exctrans.co.th
Airfreight Charges
1) Airfreight (by Thai Airways) THB57 + 2 (Crisis) + 8 (Fuel) = THB67.00 per kg.
2) Kathmandu Surcharges (charges by TG) = THB 1.00 per kg.
3) Dangerous Goods (charges by TG) = THB700.00 per shipment
Handling Charges
1) Local Handling Charges = THB3,500.00 + Vat 7 % per shipment
(included : Customs Clearance at BKK, Terminal Charges, Awb. Fee, Services Charges)
2) Transportation Charges = THB1,500.00 + Vat 7 % per shipment
3) Packing Charges (Wooden Crate / Case) = ?

TOTAL = 27460 (not including a crate)

Remarks :
1) We would need approx. 10 days (excluded : Sat./Sunday) for the process of export Dangerous Goods (The Airlines declared ‘Motorcycle’ as Dangerous Goods under UN 3166 – Engines, Internal Combustion)
2) To get an approval from AOT (Airport Authority of Thailand) to export DGR shipment spend about 3-5 days is needed. (not include Saturday & Sunday)
3) Fuel Tank must be drained and battery must be disconnected
4) Document Requried :
- Your Passport Copy
- Import Declaration Form from Thai Customs while you entering Thailand.
5) We’ve to registered your name with Thai Customs to export the goods from Thailand (spend 1 day) per Customs Regulations.



It's also worth mentioning that because of the blockades in Dec 2008 security is quite tight and you need to give your self extra time to pass security, perform DG certificate and for customs clearance.

Hope this may help anyone else looking to ship from Bangkok to Kathmandu.

__________________
TurboCharger + Francois (our BMW R1200gs) '07
www.riding2up.net, blog.riding2up.net

Thanks Turbo, I just got the same quote from Kittima.

Sounds like Transaircargo have done it many times before.

But 5,800 Baht for a crate? Those things are usually a dime a dozen at freight yards - what about all the bikes that are coming into Bangkok???

Can anyone recommend another freight forwarder for an alternative (I'm sure TAC are the best - I just like to mind my $ and c...)

BTW, when are you planning to ship? I expect to arrive in Bangkok around the 20 March, and will be looking to get the hell out of dodge ASAP...

Cheers!

Rob

melbourne-london.blogspot.com

Hey, we're sending the bike on Thursday 12th and are leaving tomorrow 11th March 2009. The damage was a lot more then the above quote so be prepared for some extra costs from Kittima and TransAir Cargo.

We got stung heavily by TransAir Cargo today when we went to pay for the air freight to Kathmandu from Bangkok. Our quote from Kittima was incomplete so it seems.

Originally we were quoted 72baht per kilo plus charges for the air freight. Today we were told that because the volume was greater the weight was calculated per volume and this volume weight was 606kgs and not the actual weight of 390kgs when crated. Thai airways charges which ever is more expensive, actual weight or volume weight, for us it was volume weight.

The calculation is as follows:

Volume in cm3 (length x width x height)
_________________________________ = Volume weight in Kgs.
6000


our crate dimensions were 130 x 116 x 145 cm = 3634280 cm3 (or 3.63m3)

Divide this by 6000 = 606kg (NB Actual weight was 390kgs)

The cost is then 606kg x 72baht = 42,420.00 Baht


The other costs are as follows:
Handling Charge = 3000baht
Transport Charge = 1000baht
Dangerous Goods Cert = 700baht
Wooden Crate = 7962baht
Sundry Excess=200baht

Grand Total was 55 282Baht about 25000baht more than we expected!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I argued with Kittima but because this is determined by Thai airways is wasn't negotiable and we had to cough up the extra dough. Luckily I was able to get a cash advance on my Mastercard to pay for the damages!

NB. You can try to make the crate as small as possible but you do the calculation if the volume weight is more then you'll pay for that and not the actual weight.

NB2 We packed two panniers, two spare tyres and all parts and tools with the bike thats why its 390kgs when just the bike was 270kgs

NB3. TransAir offices are right next to Pleon Chit BTS (skyrail station) or you can catch the 511 aircon bus from the Democracy Monument near Khao San which will take you all the way. Just tell the bus driver (or ticket person) that you want to get off at the BTS station Pleon Chit.

NB4. We're now in serious savings mode.

NB5 We are in need of and there are still Nepal port fees to pay!

i've attached a few photos and as you can see there isn't much room to spare but perhaps if we took the front wheel off and the handle bars or crated two bikes together this would've helped, I don't know. The fact is you need to be there to measure and crate the bike, don't let the packing team do it, you must ensure it is measured correctly without excess room to save a few bucks!


Any way I'll be in touch and hope this helps... good luck with your shipments. Let us know if you have any questions.

__________________
TurboCharger + Francois (our BMW R1200gs) '07
www.riding2up.net, blog.riding2up.net

You'll find most airlines do it this way (with the exception of Motorcycle Express who just charged a flat rate of $1700 to fly my 1150Gs from Vancouver to Munich on a pallet (so much easier!)) I got my crate so small that it was only about 5kg difference between volume weight and actual weight. The shipper won't actually know the final charge until the bike has been crated up. For my DR650, I think I paid around $900 all in start to finish, plus the crate builders couldn't have got the crate any smaller. Probably because i was standing over them the whole time...

[quote=TurboCharger;232646]Today we were told that because the volume was greater the weight was calculated per volume and this volume weight was 606kgs and not the actual weight of 390kgs when crated. Thai airways charges which ever is more expensive, actual weight or volume weight, for us it was volume weight.[quote]

__________________
Mike


www.singapore-scotland.blogspot.com
www.argentina-alaska.blogspot.com
My little Vid: India/Pakistan

BMW R1150GS
Suzuki DR650 SE: Ride it like ya stole it. Oh, somebody just did...

So to close out this transport leg of our journey the following is a quick synopsis of what happened in Kathmandu and the expenses.

Armed with the Thai airways bill from TAC in Bangkok I went to the 1st floor of the passenger terminal building to the Thai Airways Cargo Office. They provided me with a delivery docket at no charge after a passport copy and signing a book. I then caught a taxi 5kms down the road to the Cargo terminal. Without the delivery docket we couldn't get into the cargo terminal.

At the terminal there are plenty of people willing to help with the paperwork that is all in Nepali. It is worth every rupee to have someone who knows what he is doing to act as your intermeditory or agent. This means he did the paperwork whilst I worried about getting the crated bike unpacked and pieced back together. The whole process took about 3hours from arriving at the passenger terminal to riding away.

I had to pay a storage fee of 336Rs which = USD$4 and there is a supposed handling fee as well of 2.5Rs per kilo. This would've been 975Rs but somehow my agent talked his way out of the fee. I decided this increased his cut considerably and paid him 500Rs once out of the terminal.

The only thing that was a bit slow was the paperwork all in Nepali so my advise is pay the cheap sum to get someone to do it for you and save your nerves.

All in all it cost only USD$10 to get my bike from Kathmandu Cargo Terinal.

__________________
TurboCharger + Francois (our BMW R1200gs) '07
www.riding2up.net, blog.riding2up.net

Anyone got any up to date information on air freight situation Kathmandu to Bangkok ?

__________________
Mark
http://chasingdreams2014.blogspot.co.uk/

I would be interested too ....

__________________
Round the world by bike. www.RTWbyBIKE.com

I've just finished the crating up my bike to go to Nepal on Tuesday. This comes up as a search result whenever I look for transaircargo too so I'll add my info here.

Here are the details for my shipment:

Crate dimensions:
100x200x114cm

Volume weight works out to 372.5kg, which is what the freight charge is based on, my bike and everything in the crate should come to less than 200kg.

Thai Airways Freight charge = 29800b
Handling = 3500b
Transport = 1000b (truck to the airport)
Dangerous goods certificate = 700b
Wooden case = 9000b
Fork lift fee = 500b

Total shipping cost: 44500b.

From what I've read elsewhere the crate is the only negotiable part with others paying about half of what I had. I knew this, but that was all handled over the phone and I didn't know it was going on at the time. Not much in the grand total anyway so I didn't push for it.

The best way to pack it would have been to use two crates, One for the bike with handlebars and front wheel removed (rear too if you can be bothered) and another smaller crate for panniers, wheel, miscellaneous gear. I would have been paying for far less air that way.

It took about a week from me sending documents to it being in a crate, it ships in a couple of days and I go the day after, I'll see it next time in Nepal.

I was also briefly talking to "Mister Ano", he said they are shipping about one motorbike a week now!

__________________
http://ryanbeales.blogspot.com/

I'll note that I did not have the experience TurboCharger did in Kathmandu.

Somehow managed to pick up a "helper" at the cargo offices when the taxi driver didn't know where to go, I had told him to go straight to the cargo terminal but the driver didn't understand. The helper told him where to go.

Then the helper recruited some others he knew at the actual cargo terminal too. At no point did they offer to tell me what it cost, I had to ask how much the storage fees might be (expecting 2000r) but they said 8000r, i laughed, expecting to see the receipts later.

All up it cost me 7500r to get the bike out (they held on to the little yellow slip to get out until i payed). They eventually showed me the receipts they had which added up to about 1700r for 4 days storage, but they wouldn't drop lower and hand me that bit of paper. And be warned, everyone who was standing around the bike will ask for money too. When I argued about the costs too they stopped speaking English, which they could do perfectly before.

Still not too much in the grand scheme of things, but way more than the actual costs.

What a horrible place

__________________
http://ryanbeales.blogspot.com/

A lot of what I read here for the Kathmandu end of things is not good.
This thread goes back a long way, but it does provide comment about a shipper based in Kath:-
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...kathmandu-2338

__________________
Dave