Ordering Online - Custom Duties in Thailand.

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Updated February 2025

Our first experience with ordering online from Amazon, dates from many years ago :

We have been around in Thailand for a few years now. In the past we used to order quite regularly items from Amazon. Often movies or books that were not readily available in Thailand. Things have changed, books can be read online, movies can be streamed. Below is an example of the type of videos I used to purchase.

'A Touch of Frost'. Available online by Amazon and recommended. But not coming without import duties and extra value added tax in Thailand, increasing the price by about 40 %. This DVD was of course imported many years ago now.

 

There used to be a simple rule for many years (till end 2024) : If you order something online and the price was less than 1,500 Thai Baht, you were not supposed to pay import taxes or BTW for that matter. Even if the price of sent goods went above this amount, it happened quite regularly that the custom department let it pass, and you did not incur any additional costs. Of course, you could not rely on this to happen.

When the price exceeded 1,500 Baht, the goods were not delivered at your address, but you had to go to one of the larger post offices to collect them, after you paid your duties.

Over the last few years, online markets like Shopee and Lozada have changed import logistics substantially. Lots of good were imported, often from China, at cheap prices, making it difficult for Thai retailers to compete. Eventually, the Thai government changed the tax rules. The custom duties remained in place (they do change a bit from time to time), but a VAT tax from now on also applies to goods with a value of less than 1,500 Thai Baht.

Now, some well establiished internationally operating companies and online shops ( like Amazon and iHerb.com ) have changed their operations, and often make you pay estimated taxes and VAT while making a purchase. Amazon regularly overestimates, and then reimburses their clients later on, if the charges appear to be less than anticipated.

Now, smaller online retail outlets, liikely do not offer this services. What happens is you will need to collect your packages at a designated post office, and pay the customs taxes, and VAT there (and a 20 Baht handling fee!). It is of course a nuisance, if you start having to go regularly to a post office located aswy from your address. What is even worse : sometimes you need to go and get your package at a main mail/customs facility called Postal Customs Service Section, which is located at Soi 5 of Chaengwattana Road. If you have gone to Bangkok Immigration office, it is located a few hundred meters from there. Soi 5 is the first soi on the left when you turn into Chaengwattana Road from Vibhavadi-Rangsit road. If you come with the Pink line monorail, you have to walk a few hundred meters back from National Telecom station. THe Postal Costoms Service it located about 1 km from the entrance of the soi.

Picking up something there, well some days it is busy, other days you do not have to wait too long. Services can be peculiar. A few years ago, I went there to pick up some health supplements (from the USA). The custom officer could not find a suitable category in the extensive catalogue they use, and basicall asked me if he could declare it as vitamins, which suited me just fine.

We understand from talking to people, that it is sometimes possible to discuss the price or make an arrangement that results you paying less than the customs' catalogue requires. Likely, you will get your package, but not a receipt. Everybody will have to decide whether she/he wants to go that way.

 

The Customs Department is responsible for the collection of customs taxes and duties. The following other responsibilities are also listed on their website :

  • Collection of other import and export taxes on behalf of other government agencies such as value added tax (VAT), excise tax, and municipal tax;
  • Supervision of imports and exports to ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations;
  • Prevention and suppression of smuggling, tax and duty evasion including other Customs offences;
  • Promotion of manufacturing and export through tax measures; and
  • Facilitation of international trade.

How to find current tariff data for imports?

Go the Customs Department website ( www.customs.go.th )

Well, this has become a problem. In the past, we consulted the online published tariffs a few times. At present (2025) we do not seem to be able to access the 'custom tariffs catalogue' from the main website.

When doing a search, we could access this link, where you can look up a tariff if you know the tariff code of the article, or by giving a description of the imported item. You will see that when looking for a particular tariff, that many different rates may be listed. There often is a 'statutary tariff', and then many exceptions to the rule. We noticed that sometimes there is an official original tariff, and then in later years every country (or person) is exempted. According to various treaties, there often are many different tariffs for the same item listed. All in all, the database does not seem to be particularly useful for laypersons. It also make abuse easier. When they show you a particular tariff (among many others) for the item you imported, well, is it the correct one ?

Examples of Custom Tariffs, as we noticed them a few years go ( may have changed a little) :
Coffee 40%
Carpets 100%
Tableware, kitchenware, porcelain 80%
Nuclear Reactor (really, mentioned as such) 30%
Cars, Hearses and Prison Vans 200% (Ambulances 30%)
Pianos 40-50%
Paintings, Drawings and Pastels 60%
Tobacco 60%
Contact lenses 35%
SLR cameras 40%
Wrist-watches 40%
Most footwear (including leather shoes, and sport shoes) 100%
Vacuum Cleaners 80%
Shavers 40%
Microwave Ovens 40%
Headphones 60%
Washing Machines 30%
Refrigerators 60% (Asean only 5%)

We suggest you peruse this webpage (and the website) : https://www.moneymgmnt.com/tax/minimising-customs-duty-import-tax-thailand/
It gives a lot of information about customs and the taxes that have to be paid or not. You can also find a selection of goods, and the tariffs that are applied.