Experiences Shipping to Thailand?

[M1Tanker]

I am planning on shipping my motorcycle to Thailand from Europe. I am currently getting cost estimates from one of the advertisers on this website.

Do any of you have any recommendations on shippers?

What are your experiences shipping air vs. sea?

How did you negotiate your way through the Thai customs?

Did you have any other issues getting your motorcycle on the road in Thailand?

[ta-rider]

Compared to renting one of those comon 125cc bikes there shipping will allways be way more expensive. Scooters in Thailand are available from 5$ per day. That was why i did not ship my bike so may be you would like to do the same: http://schoene-motorradreisen.de/?re...ailand_bangkok

[M1Tanker]

ta-rider,

I understand your comments and appreciate the link.

My questions still stand.

Thanks.

[pecha72]

Originally Posted by M1Tanker

I am planning on shipping my motorcycle to Thailand from Europe. I am currently getting cost estimates from one of the advertisers on this website.

Do any of you have any recommendations on shippers?

What are your experiences shipping air vs. sea?

How did you negotiate your way through the Thai customs?

Did you have any other issues getting your motorcycle on the road in Thailand?

Hi,

My personal experience is from a long time ago, but I´ll try anyway...

Recommendations on shippers?

Last year, my friend sent his bike by air using the company in Hamburg mentioned in this thread:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...-bangkok-79070

What are your experiences shipping air vs. sea?

Unless price difference is huge, I would go by air, and also note, that when you get quotes, check carefully, what they actually include. Especially when sending by seafreight, costs at the receiving end have brought bitter surprises to many (...and by then, you are actually quite close to what it would´ve cost by air, which is naturally a whole lot quicker, and airfreight is just overall better suited for sending small items like motorcycles).

How did you negotiate your way through the Thai customs?
Did you have any other issues getting your motorcycle on the road in Thailand?

My friend had a bit of a hard time at the customs, but this was probably because he was using an ATA carnet to bring his bike there. Thailand has their own temporary import procedure, so no carnet (ATA or Cpd) should be needed. I took my bike there by air in 2008, and generally it was quite easy at the Suvarnabhumi airport, took maybe 2-3 hours (I had someone with me, who spoke Thai, and this did speed up the process quite a bit). If my memory serves me well, my bike was given 30 days in Thailand, and if not re-exported within that time, pay (a lot of!) taxes & duties for permanent import. I heard there could be some workarounds for this, but I was on my way to Malaysia well before that 30-day limit, so I did not have to worry about that.

The bike should probably be insured for Thailand as well, and I did this, but the paperwork was actually handled by a friend, who lives there, so I don´t have the exact details, but it was quite cheap.

And as already suggested before, renting in Thailand is quite cheap, and a WHOLE LOT more hassle-free, shipping will always be some sort of PITA, even when pretty much everything goes to the plan. And if they don´t... well, it is easily a nightmare! So unless you plan to make a long trip across many countries in that region (or have another reasons, why you want to take your own bike there), it would definitely be something to consider.

[M1Tanker]

pecha72,

Thank you very much for posting your actual experiences. I do appreciate it.

I do understand the rental perspective.

I intend on going there on a O-A "Long Stay" visa, which is longer than a tourist visa. I'm still planning on bringing my motorcycle, a 2008 BMW R1200GS Adventure. Thus far, the process appears complicated but not impossible. It isn't going to be cheap but it may well be cheaper than a new motorcycle of the same type there.

[Lonerider]

You may have to do a full import of your motorbike if you are coming across on a long stay OA Visa.
I am assuming you have looked into it.
Have a look at this site, it is a bit of a minefield, but has some useful info

Customs English

Wayne

[M1Tanker]

Wayne,

Thanks for the link. I'm aware of the Thai Customs site and have gone through it numerous times. I have also gone through the calculations numerous times.

A Thai shipping company that I have been communicating with has indicated they will help with customs and registration. I say indicate because in my experience with different languages and cultures, there are sometimes miscommunications and misunderstandings. I hope that isn't the case here.

At this point, that company has stated that the process is as follows:
- First; Thai Department of Foriegn Trade (Ministry of Commerce). Obtain import permit, once this permit obtained then one can legally import a motorcycle to Thailand.
- Second; Thai Customs Department. After import clearance done they will issue Form 32.
- Third; Thai Transport Department. Use Form 32 for register motorcycle and ride legally in Thailand.

I do not expect this to be easy but at this point I don't see that it is impossible.

[pecha72]

" legally import a motorcycle to Thailand "

Do you mean to permanently import MC to Thailand?? This could cost very serious money, especially if it is an expensive bike, like a big GS.

I had on my temporary import paper a sum (in baht), that was the equivalent of about 25000 euros, to be payed in case I fail to re-export the MC within the given timeframe. The bike´s actual value (in my home country) was maybe 6-7 thousand euros at that time.

[M1Tanker]

pecha72,

I consider the "Permanent Import of Personal Vehicles" to be the most expensive case and I assume that is what I'll be required to do on a Type O-A "Long Stay" visa, even though the visa is for only one year and not permanent.

I have run the numbers several times and a Thai shipper who is apparently familiar with this customs process ran the numbers as well. The cost, if the customs officials use there own formulae, will not be inexpensive but considerably less expensive than buying a new GS there.

[RTWbyBIKE.com]

normally it turns out that you have have to tripple he estimations and you get the real money you have to pay in the end, specilly when given by any agent/brooker or however you wanne call them, just my 5 cent... anyhow good luck!

[M1Tanker]

RTWbyBIKE.com,

Thanks. This is going to be interesting.

[mattam]

Hello all,

Does anyone have any info about shipping by boat to Thailand and getting a temporary import of the bike? We would like to ship from LA to Bangkok. We have quotes for the shipment but of course there are always fees to pay to get the bike out of the port. We are curious if anyone knows about how much these are?

This is a bit of a different question from m1tankers' as he might have to "permanently" import his bike with his visa situation.

Thanks everyone!!

[Ryestones]

3 weeks ago we get our two bikes out of the BKK airport.
Customes is a lot of paperwork, it just takes time. In total we spent about 12 hours on the airport to get the bikes out, including asampling the bikes together.
Airport Custom is very friendly and helpful you can do it without an agent(there are waiting a lot to make some money). Total costs we had to pay at the airport was 96€ (handling fees) for both bikes.
Thai Customes said us normaly we need a Touristvisa to get the bikes out of the customs, we had an "visa on arrival", luckily they closed the eyes and we could go.

[M1Tanker]

Reystones,

Thank you for your post.

Which freight company did you use to get your motorcycles to Thailand?

How long do you plan on riding through Thailand?

Viel Erfolg!

[Ryestones]

we used cargo mongolia and send it with airkorea.
Not sure how long we will spend in Thailand.
We also want to go to Laos and Cambodia before we come back to Thailand and then going more south.