So, what does customs clearance involve? Nothing much, but the preparation and submission of various documents to allow exports and imports. Often you may be stopped from importing or exporting certain items to and from Thailand. This is why it is extremely important to be aware of the recent shipping regulations, mentioned below;
- Household goods can be imported duty-free, provided they have been owned for more than six months.
- One cargo by air and sea each are allowed duty-free.
- You can bring your household items to Thailand only when you have been staying there for 6 months from your arrival date.
- The items must be from the same country you are coming from.
- If you are staying lessen than a year, for all your items you will have to pay 20% import duty tax plus 7% VAT.
- Only one electrical item will be duty-free
- You must be present for customs clearance
To see the past examples, the majority of the people face issues when importing or exporting animals and motor vehicles. Next time you must carry these documents to ensure that the animal(s) and motor vehicle(s) makes through the customs;
- Import Permit that must include;
- Owner’s address
- Breed, sex, age, color and pet’s name
- Intended arrival date
- Copy of owner’s passport
- Pedigree (if available)
- Certificate of vaccination
- Health certificate
For Motor Vehicle(s)
- Import permit
- International Insurance Policy
- Vehicle registration
- Driver’s license from the country where the vehicle was exported
- Original Bill of Lading including chassis number, brand and model, engine number, cubic capacity and year of manufacture
Apart from these, you must equally be aware of the items that are prohibited to import and export in Thailand; else you may fall into legal soup. They are as follows;
- Firearms, explosives, ammunition and any type of replicas
- Radio equipment
- Medical equipment
- Pornography, subversive material/literature
- Gold and silver
- Drugs or illegal narcotics of any kind
- Counterfeit currency, bonds, coins or trademarked goods
- Restricted Items
- Goods with the Thai national flag
Restricted Items
- Plants (health certificate required)
- Tobacco (200 cigarettes are allowed duty-free)
- Alcohol (one liter of liquor is allowed duty-free)
- Works of art and antiques
- Appliances
- Foodstuff and commodities (require import license)
- Carpets
- Luxury items
- Stereo and video equipment
Now that you know all the legal nitty-gritty of Custom Clearance laws you may not face any problem further.
