custom clearance in BKK

janhonda · Nov 4, 2005

hello everybody,
i got a question concerning custom clearence in BKK. on a round-the-world-trip i shipped the bike from calcutta and now it's expected to be here on the 18. this month. now the freight-forwarder in BKK told me they don't do the custom-clearence and that they don't know anyone who can do this (!?!) .
the question is, does anyone have some experience with bringing a bike out of customs in BKK, do i actually need a custom-broker (anyone knows one?) or is it easy enough doing it yourself?
bit confused here in bangkok,

bis spaeter, jan

nickpedleynz · Nov 21, 2005

This is of no help to you but you obviously cleared your bike and are riding around thailand judging from posts. How did you get you bike? , thinking of doing same within next year.
Thanks
Nick

DavidFL · Nov 21, 2005

Jan
Does not sound very good & I don’t have any recommendations on whom to try.
So have a crack at it yourself. It's a piece of cake yourself at the airport, but the port is a total nightmare & you'll get severely jerked round just trying to recover your bike & then not get ripped off with exorbitant fees.
Its probably too late for you, but if you take a look at
Link removed
and
https://www.gt-rider.com/bikes.html#BRINGINGYOUROWNBIKE
you will see that Rule # 1 is don’t ship your bike into Bangkok and expect to get it cleared.
Good luck with whatever you can work out & I sincerely hope you get your bike ok.
Once you've got it sorted out please make a report on this board so that everyone else can learn from your experience.

Davidfl
Keep The Power On

BobS · Nov 21, 2005

Jan

Go to Horizons Unlimited and do a search for Bangkok Customs.

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/

Under shipping, here is part of a first hand report from January, 2004 of the airport proceedure.

"The grand total for me and my 250kg bike ( the 250kg include crate and 10kg pallet that Thai cargo put it on later) was $704.

In Thailand the costs are minimal 1.24B per kilo + 200B delivery orderfee+ 250B cargo terminal fee+ VAT @ 7 per cent so forfor me a total of 813.20B

At the Airport, go straight to Thai cargo office thay give you paper work to take to customs, There will be plenty of Shipping agents eager to help, but you dont need them once you find the right desk at Customs ( its personnal effects imports or something like that).

Once the Thai customs documents have been completed( 1 hour approx)return to Thai cargo, Cashiers dept. this time,pay up (5 mins if there is no Backlog)

Then go to warehouse 3,present your paper work to Thai, who will process it through customs here another hour). At Least I think thats what was happening! and then you will be presented with your crate and porter with a crowbar. You can let him loose with it if you want, he helped me and was happy getting the rope the bike was tied down with.

Everyone was very helpful, even although I seemed to turn up at everyones desk as they were having lunch."

There are other reports, but they all say to ignore the agents and go to Customs Information and do it yourself.

Did not see much info listed if you used a ship.

Let us know how you make out.

BobS

"The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not and never persist in trying to set people right."

DavidFL · Nov 29, 2005

Jan
Heard that you are in Cambodia with your bike already - good work.
But how did you do it - any tips for other riders on what to do in a similar situation?

Davidfl
Keep The Power On

janhonda · Jan 3, 2006

hello everybody,
here my experiences with getting a bike into thailand. first i have to say that meanwhile i met 3 people who did the same and everybody paid a different fee, so this is how it worked for me.trying to make a loong story short :

the shipping company ignored me pretty much, didn't even tell me that my bike arrived from calcutta 6 days ago.nevertheless i had to pay them 2600 baht. this is: thc charge 420, cfs charge 460,status charge 210, d/o charge 850 and h/c charge 500. the other people paid pretty much the same, so i think it's ok although nobody could explain what these charges are, no english spoken and they told me they can not help me with the custom-clearance, so forget GLE logistics.

instead i called

TRANSPO international ltd.
134/28-32 soi athakravi 3
rama 4 road
klongtoey
bangkok 10110
tel.: (02)259-0117-20
mob.: 0156-76404 ; 0156-16404
fax.: (02) 258-5994
www.transpologistics.com
[email [email protected]][email protected][/email]

there is mrs. thitipa chevapark, really cool lady. she knows what to do and so i went to TPT-port with her, tried to keep up with her speed but soon gave up and ended up smoking cigarettes with the warehouse boys. she ran around for almost 2 hours, then i had to sign some papers and tried to get my carnet stamped wich caused a lot of confusion, so don't do this, it's not valid anyway. she used her female charm to always be first in the ques and everything in thai as well, so no need to be there all the time.
charges in the TPT-port were 63 baht for 6 days storage and 168 baht handling charge. mrs. chevapark asked 1000 baht for her help which included all the 'extras' for the customs and my transport to the harbour. definitely worth it, when i imagine myself alone in the custom-house, doable but you need a lot of time and strong nerves plus a thai dictionary.
a few baht and a lot of cigarettes for the guys who helped with the crate and brought a forklift to lift the bike to mount the front-wheel and that was it.
so 3 hours in the harbour plus around 4000 baht for everything. but as i said everybody i met paid a different price and it seems not really cheaper if you do it on your own. the lady was great and i strongly recommend her,and in the end the whole shipping was much cheaper than flying. you just need a lot of time but that's what i have...
good luck for your own customs-adventure,
bon voyage, jan

brat · Jan 3, 2006

Howdy Jan, any details for us about your trip, where you've been, where you're going, I take it you are on a Honda?
I'm looking at doing similar!
Regards
Chris

"growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional!"

daewoo · Jan 3, 2006

Jan,

Thanks for your post. I am sure that many people would be interested to read this, especially considering that the general information seems to discourage sea imports to BKK.

Brat,

Please let me know how you go with your imports. As posted earlier, my two friends and I would like to ride a bit further than Chiang Mai, and the difficulty getting a hire bike with plates and papers may make it easier to bring bikes with us from Australia.

Cheers,
Daewoo

brat · Jan 3, 2006

Daewoo, I'll be posting my progress here (been given a lot of help) and at Link removed when I get time to create the subdomain!

Cheers
Chris

"growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional!"

DavidFL · Jan 3, 2006

Jan
Thanks a million for that hot tip re clearing your bike through customs in Klong Toey port, Bangkok. You're the first person who has bothered to write it up for us. I don't doubt that you’ve done scores of bikers a real big favour - well done & thanks from all GT Rider board members!

Davidfl
Keep The Power On

janhonda · Jan 4, 2006

forgot to mention something...
when i imported the bike in PTP-harbour they gave me 1 month for the bike to stay in thailand, carnet not accepted.
when i came back to thailand from cambodia (koh kong/hat lek border) i tried my carnet again and this time they accepted. i got a different thai custom-paper not mentioning the duration i can leave the bike in thailand, so that means 6 months on the carnet.
i don't quiet understand the custom-policy here (amazing thailand) but that could be a good tip what to do if you don't want to export your bike every month...

glad i could help, bon voyage, jan

SilverhawkUSA · Jan 13, 2006

quote:

Corruption team targets Customs

BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra set up a team yesterday to investigate corruption, with the Customs Department singled out as the first target. Talking to business leaders at Government House, Mr Thaksin said the team led by Prommin Lertsuridej, his secretary-general, would reinforce anti-corruption mechanisms which alone were not effective enough in tackling deep-rooted graft in state agencies.

Government agencies should get their act together to prevent corruption instead of leaving it to the National Counter Corruption Commission, he said.

Many corruption complaints had been made about the Customs Department, which now had until September to streamline its work and ensure transparency.

A recent survey by University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce found almost 80% of exporters, importers and shipping firms had met bribery problems at the department with kickbacks being paid directly to officials overseeing shipments.

Mr Thaksin said the team would welcome information and tips from anyone.

--Bangkok Post 2006-01-12

Obviously the customs situation is no secret.

Dave Early

Ever notice that "What the Heck!" is usually the right answer?