Shipping Gear to Thailand

[hutterw]

Has anyone had experience shipping the scuba gear to Thailand? If yes, do you have recommendation or trusted resources to accomplish this task?

[FONT=&quot]My wife and I will be spending three weeks in Thailand and Cambodian this Christmas and several days at the end of the trip diving in the Similans. I would like to dive my own gear but do not want to carry it with me the entire trip. We are not staying in one location but making several four-day trips.[/FONT]

 

[hunter991]

I have a couple of great customers that live in Thailand. I have used UPS and fedex to ship their orders. The USPS has lost a couple of my orders and I won't ship with them anymore.

Brent

 

[stevenl]

I have done it, but would not recommend it.

Unless if you're very lucky, there will be taxes levied on the equipment, even if it is clearly used already and only for personal use. The amount of taxes depends on the customs officer and the mood he is in, but can be substantial.

 

[limbo]

hutterw,

As Stevenl already explained, Thai customs will try to hit you with taxes and although you'll eventually be able to get your equipment out of there without having to pay taxes, I'm not sure if that's how you want to spend a few days of your holidays, trying to get the equipment back.

 

[huskychemist]

I know it's not quite shipping of gear, but I just moved here from the states, and simply brought a bag full of my gear. (Normal warm-water stuff...BCD, Dive Tools, lights, dive skin, fins, pony bottle, etc.) When we left the baggage claim we were able to get through customs without declaring anything.

So you might consider bringing it with you on the plane... Just a thought.

Regardless, happy diving!

 

[Bubble Junky]

If you can get flights via Phuket, rather than Bangkok, you can leave it with the dive shop. You can then get cheap domestic flights to Bangkok, when you need to move around on your trips to Cambodia etc.

 

[Quero]

I just had two US customers ship their gear to me for exactly the same reason the OP gives. They used USPS Express Mail; it all came just fine in only a few days, but there were customs duties assessed at the post office. For a week's worth of diving, though, what they paid comes out to less than it would have cost to rent, and they had their own stuff.

 

[stevenl]

For a week's worth of diving, though, what they paid comes out to less than it would have cost to rent, and they had their own stuff.

Under 100 US$ including shipping and taxes? That makes shipping worth it.

 

[hutterw]

[FONT=&quot]Thanks for all of the help! It is greatly appreciated.[/FONT]

 

[Crowley]

Not to dampen the parade ground but we had an intern arrive here recently who shipped all their clothes in advance. It was only 4 small boxes - substantially less weight than 2 full sets of scuba gear (which they brought on the plane) and their clothes were held in customs until they paid the rather more substantial fee of £130 (British Pounds). So ya - it can be done, just do it very carefully and check your facts and fees before you do...

Cheers

C.