recent shipping Nepal - Thailand

[chica diabla]

Does anyone have recent information about shipping the bike from Nepal to Thailand?
We will be there in one or two months. And what about the ticket for yourself, do you need to book in advance?

thanx Els

[pepebayeta]

I did it some days ago. No problems at all. Even with a 30 days stamped on my carnet de passage which was already expired.

You should book some days in advance and pack everything two or three days before flying.

You just need the same documents to cross any border.
I did ti with a cargo company, eagle export, just beside kathmandu guest house in thamel. They managed everything, crate, documents, tickets, etc. I also heard about other companys.

In Bangkok you can do all the paperwork by yourself. It will take you several hours.

Good luck

[Bobduro]

Hi Els,

My wife and I shipped our bikes from Kathmandu to Bankok about a month ago. It's all pretty straight forward.

We used Suraj at Eagle Exports Suraj, (eagleexport98@yahoo.com tel: +977 1 4701022) as they were the cheapest by a margin and some friends had recently used them. He's based in the heart of Thamel which is where you'll probably end up staying. We contacted him by email before we arrive in KTM and met him once we got there. He and a carpenter came over to measure our bikes and then we started getting all the paperwork done.

Your own flight ticket is not included so you'll need to arrange that (Nepal airlines were the cheapest). I'd recommend booking your ticket first as passenger flights seem to fill up quickly and then just arrange for your bike to be shipped the day before your own flight so if there's a problem you're still in Nepal to sort it out and not stuck 2000km away!

Once the paperwork's done (takes a hour or so), you're done for the day. The next day you follow Suraj on his bike to the airport cargo centre, ride into the warehouse, wait for the carpenter, and then prep your bike (front wheel, handlebars, screen and front mud guard came off for us). Bring all bags and kit you don't want to carry your self down to stick in the crate (and a change of clothes so you can stick your riding gear on the box too) and you're pretty much done.

You'll be asked to disconnect the battery and empty the fuel tank. We actually didn't in the end, we had already run the tank on to the reserve, and they weren't checking. Infact one guy with us still had fuel in a jerry can so in return for filling 2 1.5ltr water bottles for the official we were allowed to divide the rest of his can betweeen our bikes.

Once we'd got our Carnets stamped we were done. It took about 5-6 hours for three bikes and was all very easy.

At the Bangkok end, you'd be well advised to get to the airport early as it's a full day. When you arrive at the area where Thai airways cargo (who you'll most likely use) and the customs offices are loads of guys will try to help you (they'll seem very official) saying you'll need their help (for a fee) with all the paperwork. You don't. Everyone at the airport (and in Thailand generally) is incredibly helpful. Just ask where you need to go next and they'll direct you. You'll spend the day walking around to different buildings and offices but it's all pretty straight forward. Once you're done, there's a petrol station about 1km away and it's just a case of getting back into Bangkok....

One piece of advice. Apply for a tourist visa at the Thai Embassy in KTM. Double entry 30/60 day ones are currently free. You can get a visa waiver single entry for 30 days on arrival at the airport but once in THailand, if you want to extend your visa you'll only get a 7 day extention (for 1900Bhat!) on your waiver , whereas if you have a tourist visa you get a 30 day extension for the same price. It's a pain as you'll get a customs form for your bike which says you have to get your bike out of the country before your visa runs out or pay a large fine (£4000 in our case!). The only way we were able to extend was by doing a visa run to Laos. Officials will told us this fine is only technically for people who sell their bikes and that the max we'd expect to pay if we overstayed would be about 1000 baht, but of course, they wouldn't put it in writing (how much you pay is at the discretion of the local customs chief) nad given that we'd had to sign our name on a document with a large fine being threatened, it wasn't a chance we were prepared to take!

I can't think of anything else really. They still drive on the correct side of the road (left) and if you've spent the last few months riding through central asia, like we had, you'll need to prepare yourself for a culture shock! Bangkok is like visiting the future! They have, good roads, reliable electricity and everything!!!!...

Get in touch with Suraj (say hi to him from James & Emily) and he'll answer any questions you might have. He's a lovely guy and will doing anything he can to help (he'll probably invite you dinner with his family at his house too!!)

If you need any more info, feel free to PM me.

Good luck!

[chica diabla]

Thanx for the very complementary information. I've contacted Eagles myself and got a quick response.
Both have fun on your trip and drive save

[saliadarunavuelta]

Hello,

I've used Suraj's services, very straightforward and simple procedure, great guy to talk to, extremely friendly and helpful.

[chica diabla]

Althought one of the guys above gave a very detailed description of the proces, I've also put our experiences and prices in the shipping database.

greetz Els

[Remco]

Hi Els, I could not find the shipping details, been surfing around. Can you share me your info? I actually became member on your weblog, but I could not find any area where I could leave a message!

I noticed you are in Thailand now, I am very interested to learn what you are going to do with Vietnam. If you ever get into vietnam (which I doubt), let me know: I live in Vietnam and I try to get out :-)!

Kind regards,
Remco (from amsterdam)

remcoinuk@hotmail.com