From Kathmandu, Nepal to Bangkok, Thailand - May, 2001

We flew 3 bikes from Kathmandu to Bangkok. Two Africa Twins and one XT 550. Everything went fine. The bikes were in the same plane as we were. But we told from the beginning that this is very important for us. We also checked directly at the Thai Cargo office if there is enough room on the same day. If there is more cargo than room in the plane then it is not guaranteed that the bikes are in the same flight. But this is not the mistake of the agent.

We were very happy with Eagle Eyes Export. Two days after us three BMW arrived without problems through the same agent.

Our bikes were charged by volumetric weight. To make the box smaller we took off the front wheel, the handlebar and one alu-box. The outside dimensions of the africa twin boxes were 44"H x 34"W x 81"L. The formula for the volumetric weight is VW=L*W*H/366. Our bike was 332kg by volume. The rate from Thai Cargo was 1.07 U$/kg. Then there is a crane charge of 0.1 U$/kg (332*1.17=388 US$). The carpenter was 4500 Rupees per box (=60 US$)and the agent 2000 Rupees per bike (=27 US$).The airticket with Thai Air is 220 U$ per person.

Our boxes were damaged when we picked them up in Bangkok. Nothing happened to the bikes or other contents. But this happened in Bangkok. They were undamaged when the aircraft was unloaded. We took our bikes through the customs in Bangkok by ourself. There are many agents in front of the building who wants to do the clearance for big amounts (up to 100 U$ per bike). Don't pay them. There are official agents available in the Custom Service Center for 350 Baht(=9U$). The custom claerance takes one day. Be there early in the morning. We put our bikes together in the storehouse. The staff there was helpfull.

Later...

In Thailand the Carnet de Passage is not valid. Every motor biker has to sign a re-exportation guaranty (white paper). It is a huge amount of 500'000.- Baht (=11'000.- US$). It's always this amount no matter how old or expensive your vehicle is. You have to pay this amount in cash if you don't export the bike within 30 days. So don't get your bike stolen in Thailand.

There is no fee to pay for "the white paper". The tricky thing at the custom clearance is that you sign a lot of papers which you don't know what they are good for. Everything is in thai and you lose the overview. This document at least is in thai and english but no one really tells you what it is about. I had an accident now and I have to wait for a new front fork from Europe. So I really needed to extend this form. They did it without any charge. I applied for 10 day and they gave me 30 days. All the officers are helpfull but the language problem is huge. If they once know what you want they really try to help you. Our officer first meant we want to re-export our bikes in his office and he has to pay us 500'000 Baht back. He asked if we want it in cash or a check. We should have said in cash and left the bike with him. But eventualy we could make our point.