I've spent a day looking through threads here and elsewhere to try and gather information on shipping personal effects/furniture out of Thailand to either the UK or Australia, by sea. This isn't for sending items by post etc, more for those who have decided they want a complete door to door service, to try and keep the topic focused. Many of these companies would also cover shipping in the opposite direction.

I'm Pattaya based, but most of the info here is relevant to Thailand as most are Bangkok based. There are of course lots of smaller local outfits, that will probably be cheaper and often adequate, but they're unlikely to give you the same service through to final destination. I've sent stuff from Chiang Mai to my London address many years ago, perfectly safely and without hassle using one of the many smaller companies. However, there is an advantage to using a company that handles shipment all the way, in that if there is any problem you just go to them, rather than being pushed from one company to another, neither of whom admits responsibility.

Here are the results so far, for anyone else who needs to find out the same thing, but have better things to do! If anyone wants to add further useful suggestions, good or bad experiences with any companies, recent shipping costs, or to correct any information below, it would be great. I've put the original source for some of the less commented upon companies.



Crown Relocations:

www.crownrelo.com/thailand

Crown Relocations
116/90-91 SSP Tower II, 24/F,
Na Ranong Road, Klongtoey, Bangkok, 10110

Tel: 02 249 0219
Fax: 02 249 9036
Email:

Have seen several good reports on this company, they have offices all over the world and I presume therefore handle everything to final destination.


AGS Four Winds:

www.agsfourwinds.com/e-branch.php?branch=133

AGS Four Winds International Moving Limited
55 Biohouse Building, 5th Floor, Soi Sukhumvit 39 (Prompong),
Kwaeng Klongton-Nua, Khet Wattana, Bangkok, 10110

Tel: 02 662 7880
Fax: 02 662 7881
E-mail:
This company has varied reports, some quite negative, others positive. They just handle the Thai end of things, so a lot depends upon the company at the other end. We received a quote from them a year or two back, when thinking of moving, and they weren't much different to Allied Pickfords.


Allied Pickfords:

http://th.alliedpickfords.com

Allied Thailand
50/808 Moo 3 Soi La Salle 34
Sukhumvit 105, Bangna, Bangkok, 10260
Tel: 02 361 3961
Fax: 02 361 3962/3

They have offices all over the world and handle everything themselves. From personal experience, knowing friends who have used them, they are efficient, pleasant and reliable.


United Relocations:

www.united-relo.com

United Relocations (Thailand) Co. Ltd
360/21-22 Moo-Ban Sri Krung,
Rama III Road, Yannawa
Bangkok 10120, Thailand

Tel: 02 285 3974/5
Mobile: 08 9665 2050
Fax: 02 285 3976
Email:

The Bangkok based office of this company is managed by Europeans.

( Source: www.thaivisa.com/forum/Moving-Costs-Australia-Thailand-t280476.html&p=2872588#entry2872588 )


In-Tend:

www.in-tend.net

In-Tend International Co., Ltd.
77 Tanakul Building, 2/F, Rm 205, Rama 9 Road,
Huaykwang, Huaykwang, Bangkok 10310
Tel: 02 246 7883/4
Fax: 02 246 7885

Highly recommended by a forum member.

( Source: www.thaivisa.com/forum/Moving-Costs-Australia-Thailand-t280476.html&view=findpost&p=2872768#entry2872768 )


Asian Tigers Transpo:

Asian Tigers Transpo International Ltd.
www.asiantigers-thailand.com/outbound_services.shtml

3388/74-77 Sirinrat Building, 21st Floor, Rama 4 Road,
Klongton, Klongtoey, Bangkok, 10110

Tel: 02 687 7888
Fax: 02 687 7999
E-mail:

This looks like an efficient company, has anyone any experience/knowledge of them?


Logo Trade:

www.logo-trade.com

I had seen a few posts on here recommending getting in touch with 'raro' a Thai Visa member, which I did. His company is Pattaya based and specialises in transportation around inner-Asia/Europe/Russia. They don't pack, the main business is freight forwarding, but they will be able to offer storage from September 2009. The website should be up and running properly shortly, so thought I'd include it.


V. Pack & Move:

www.vpackmove.com

V.Pack & Move (Bangkok) Co. Ltd.
90/1 Moo 4 Bangchalong, Bangplee,
Samutprakan, 10540

Tel: 02 750 9555 or 02 744 9600-8, not sure about the numbers

Recommended by one member, but the website is useless, so you'll have to phone and find out more. Anyone have any experience?

( Source: www.thaivisa.com/forum/Shipping-Europe-Pattaya-t246546.html&p=2567433#entry2567433 )


I Buy Asia:

www.ibuyasia.com

Tel/Fax: 038 730 422
Mobile: 0870 330 404
Skype: paulibuyasia
Email:

Pattaya expat run company.

( Source: www.thaivisa.com/forum/Shipping-Europe-Pattaya-t246546.html&p=2567857#entry2567857 )


Transpeed:

www.transpeed.biz/index_en.php

Transpeed Co. Ltd.
3360/6-8 Soi Manorom, Rama 4 Road, Klongton,
Klongtoey, Bangkok, 10110

Tel: 02 249 9001-10, ask for Beer who speaks English
Mobile: 081 614 8836
E-mail:

Recommended by one member, but from a while back, so maybe no longer valid. Another company that needs to sort out it's website and email gets returned as over quota!

( Source: www.thaivisa.com/forum/Int-l-Shipping-Company-Wanted-pers-t239426.html&p=2518916#entry2518916 )


Further possibilities:

http://moverworldwide.com/movers/Thailand/Thailand.htm

This link has a list of international moving companies, which includes Crown, AGS and Allied, so could be worth checking through the others.

This post has been edited by soundman: 2009-08-23 11:21:04

Patrick, thank you for this very informative post. Whilst I do not need the services of a removal company at the moment there will come a time when I have to return to Australia. Your sort of posting on TV makes joining it worthwhile. Appreciate your efforts!!

That is an incredible amount of fabulous information. And for me, the timing couldn't be much better.

Most appreciated, all my thanks to you, Patrick, for the investigation you've done!

I do believe this post and information should be pinned!

Thanks as well - very helpful.

Cheers from me too, may well be needing a shipping company soon.

That's the king of information I was just looking for! Many thanks for that very valuable post Patrickq!

Moved to SME/Transportation forum - where it won't get lost in a matter of hours!

Nice compilation Patrick, now let me try to solve a bit the confusion and misconception of the term "shipping".

When it comes to ship "personal effects". i.e. household goods, privately owned furniture etc, you would need someone to pack that stuff up. This is done by removals companies and most of the companies listed above are exactly this.

If you approach them for a commercial cargo shipment they would either turn that request down entirely or quote you a rice that makes it uninteresting for you. A removas conpany would usually hand over the cargo after packing to a Freight Forwarder to arrange the transport. For you, as a customer, this is hapening behind the scenes and you are under the impression that th Removals company has done it all by themselves. Bigger Movers, however, may have their own freight forwarding staff and handle this directly.

Then there are freight forwarders. A FF is a company that arranges transportation, usually worldwide. They usually do not have staff that can arrange packing, crating and the like but might be able to subcontract this. Just as they subcontract everything else: trucking, air- or seafreight and so on. You may ask why you would need a FF at all...well..like going on a vacation, you can arragne your plane ticket through the internet and look for a hotel at destination or you can go to a travel agent. As travel agents with hotels, FFs enjoy better rates with Shipping Lines than you, they do have contacts with trucking companies and can arrange this fast and efficient. They have an agent in the destination country that can look after your cargo when it arrives. Again, you can do all of the above by yourself but whether or not the effort is worthwhile is your decision.

If you want to pack your household items by yourself, you can approach a FF instead of a removals company as you may gat better rates there.

Freight forwarders again are split into various niche markets. There are FFs specialized in perishables (fresh fruits for instance), frozen food, automotive industry, oversized cargo and so on...All of them might be able to ship your personal household goods, though, but a company handling general cargo (i.e. not in a niche market) would be your best choice.

All the above is not to be confused with a parcel service such as FedEx, UPS etc. Those guys do an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT business and are specialized in consignments of less than say...40 to 50 kg.

For shipping commercial goods you would need a registered company as shipper to do so. Private people can be registered with Thai customs, but it is a rather painful process.

Summarizing:

If you pack yourself: go to a freight forwarder for the transport.
If you don't pack by yourself: Removals company.

If you want to ship commercial goods: freight forwarder.

One more word regarding quotations:

Any international transport typically consists of three parts: Local charges origin country, the sea- or airfreight, local charges destination country. Make sure that you do not compare apples with oranges. Are all surcharges quoted? How long are the quotes valid? Do you understand the nature of all those items quoted? Try not to get an "all in" quote as they are typically rounded up and have some fineprint attached ot it.

For any questions, send me a PM.

Has any member shipped a car between Thailand and Australia? I found an old classic that a mate in Oz would love to do up and was wondering if it would be a worth while exercise.

Shipping a car OUT of Thailand should be no problem.

Figured it would be easier than importing, now just need figures from someone who has already done.


(Yeah yeah, I know. But I'm a lazy bugger.)

Importing used vehicles is more or less impossible.

The figures from someone who has already done "it" are more or less useless as seafreight rates are permanently changing and whatever someone else paid three months ago is probably different from what you have to pay.

Best advise for anyone who wants to ship something is talk to a freight forwarder (or Removals Company or Parcel Service as explained above) and get a quote.

Raro, thanks for additional info you posted ref shipping, for some reason hadn't received email notification of recent postings, so haven't been on this topic. Thanks to others for words of appreciation, makes it worthwhile

I decided to submit quote requests to the majors (except AGS, as I knew they'd be comparable to Allied from the past), interesting to find they were all in the same ballpark, with some differences in detail. I'm inclined towards Allied, they have been by far the most efficient/professional in response, not to say that necessarily reflects their service, or that of the others.

I'm seriously considering using a Freight Forwarder, as suggested by Raro, will have to see if the price is much better - as the above quotes have been high!

Krading, suggest it would be worth your while starting topic on car export, as it's altogether something different to the shipping of personal household effects. I made some enquiries a year or two back and decided it wasn't worth it now, partly because of exchange rates, I believe that Australia is quite complex once vehicle arrives there. Allied quoted us before for shipment in a 20' container, so I guess that side of things is straightforward.

Shipping a car is indeed straight forward as long as it fits into the container (they usually do). Just get strapped down to prevent moving and that's it more or less. Moreover, if the car is functional, you can drive it straight to the port and save container haulage.

I used V. Pack and Move out of Chiang Mai for years. Contact Khun Pimpraphai in their Chiang Mai (Hang Dong Office. Never had a problem with anything. I used their BAngkok office a coule time only but also never had a problem with then either.

Not quite kosher, but I'm posting this in response to two different postings on two different boards. If the mods object, please shift it but ensure that one is kept somewhere:

Recommendations:

At this end, receiving into Bangkok and forwarding to my home on the Gulf, I used:

United Relocations:

www.united-relo.com

United Relocations (Thailand) Co. Ltd
360/21-22 Moo-Ban Sri Krung,
Rama III Road, Yannawa
Bangkok 10120, Thailand

Tel: 02 285 3974/5
Mobile: 08 9665 2050
Fax: 02 285 3976
Email: Stein Krakholm stein@united-relo.com


and had excellent service. Stein responded to my queries, answered very clearly and specifically, including information about beverage costs, which I very much appreciated.

Highly recommend him and his firm for receiving goods into Thailand. If I was shipping anywhere, I'd ask him to see if we could organize it.

Unfortunately, I did not have him and United Relocations on the shipping end. That was a ferkin' disaster, and I got ripped off!

So, with the positive for United Relocations, I'll also include a negative for a company called Euro Transport (aka Internic Services) out of Montreal, Toronto, etc. and particularly Florida, USA.

I prepaid an estimated amount - they charged me twice but immediately refunded one charge. However, I was stuck with the difference in buying and selling rates of US dollars! They did promise me an eventual refund for this, but it never happened.

I delivered my boxes to them and they were simply stacked on a pallet; I had measured it all but without appropriate stacking, they apparently remeasured and increased the volume by 40%. i.e. increased charges

Just a few days before my shipment was to arrive in Bangkok, and I had been crying for their Bill of Lading so it could be released here, they sent me another invoice, increasing the fee again.

Ever felt you're over a barrel with your naked butt stuck up in the air?

And they even had a "clause" in the payment authorization saying "I Will not dispute thes charges neither with my bank nor credit card company." (Yes, that's exactly what it said.)

And they'd tossed in an additional 5% "service" charge.

I definitely felt that I'd been serviced, in the bovine sense!

But what choice did I have. Until I authorized that payment, Stein here in Bangkok would be left looking at my pallet and unable to do anything.

So, I signed it. However, I added a small notation, that it was "Coerced." I had not signed it voluntarily!

I have been in contact with my credit card company, and the only thing they can credit me for is the unpaid refund. They say that the rest of it is a matter for the police, although they didn't specify which police - Thai, Canadian, Montreal, Interpol?

So, for the matter of about a hundred and a half dollars, my real recourse is to members of ThaiVisa, who move or know people who do. Take close note of that name: Euro Transport, Internic Services, and pass it around as one to avoid!


To finish on a positive note again, Stein Krakholm and United Relocations are highly recommended by me. If anyone wants further information, please don't hesitate to PM.