FireDragonII

Hi all my travel friends!
this is my 3rd time to Thailand, and every time I'd gone in the past I dream about buying some Thai furniture to ship home (namely a dinning room table and chairs).
Has anyone done this? Is it worthwhile?
I know that the main issues would be local import tax... but how significant of an issue can that already be? (it would be obvious that I am not importing it to sell...)
I would really appreciate hearing from any of you if you'd had experience with that, and also - ANY RECOMMENDATIONS for a good place to buy beautiful teak furniture? (closer to wholesale the better!)

Thanks !!

~ FireDragon

filmwill

We've done this two years running and our favorite place, bar-none, is Crossroads of Asia in Chiang Mai--it's actually in Hang Dong, but the owner, Josh, is an Aussie expat and has quite an extensive and beautiful collection of Thai/Lao/Cambodian/Indian/Japanese/African/you- name-it furniture and artwork.

You usually pay a flat shipping charge by the crate...so filling it up usually tends to be the most economical option. The great thing about most shops in the area is that you can buy from a bunch and one (for instance, Crossroads) will pack and ship everything for you altogether.

Of course there's the standard taxes/customs/port/delivery charges...which can add up to be quite a bit. Pay special attention when you go over all shipping costs...and be prepared for little 'surprises' (a $10 charge here and there you didn't know about.)

This all said, I think it still is quite a bit cheaper purchasing there than buying the furniture here (at least for us in California.) Not to mention that the experience of purchasing something significant (like furniture) for your house and having it shipped halfway across the world from some exotic place is half the best part of the experience.

Some posters on here have had bad experiences (not one for us ever though) and some haven't enjoyed the less than exact nature of the total shipping costs, but I say go for it! Especially if you find something that speaks to you.

Good luck!

BradinBangkok

Because of the humidity in Thailand, the furniture has a higher water content. When you bring it home to the States it will crack as it dries out.

I have brought back furniture when I've had extra space in containers several times, and it all cracks. Even if they tell you it is Kiln dried.

The furniture is beautiful, it just can't handle our climate.

BradinBangkok

Will,
You must have high humidity where you are at. Or it could have to do with the cold dry winters in the Midwest?

As a last resort, the stuff can be repaired.

Cicerone

My concern would not be the import duty, it would be that the shipping costs could easily outweigh the savings you might get when buying in Thailand. I would figure on paying 50-60% of the cost of the item to ship it. So really, do a LOT of comparison shopping at home to make sure that, when you include shipping, insurance, and US customs duty, buying in Thailand <i>really</i> is a bargain for you. I think you probably could find a dining set just as cheaply in the US. From what I can see when I am in the US, finding Asian furniture in the US is so easy now, and most importantly stores in the US buy and ship in bulk, and so get better prices on both the purchasing and the shipping.

As noted above, if you live in a place with seasons, i.e., winter or a hot summer where you will have air conditioning on, your wood furniture will most likely dry out and develop cracks over time, and cracks could be major or in very visible places that ruin the look of the piece. Most of Asia is quite humid and the wood absorbs a lot of water, and when you move it to an environment which is not humid, it starts to dry out. I lived in Switzerland for a few years between postings to Hong Kong, and several of my antique pieces cracked quite badly my first winter in Zurich. Teak in particular seems susceptible. This is another reason to buy at home, as the pieces will have had some time to adjust and badly cracked pieces either won’t be for sale, or you can ask for a guarantee/return if the piece cracks within the first 12 months. (Some places in Asia will tell you they can “treat” the wood in a special room for a few weeks; I have not yet seen that this works well.) Unoke BradinBangkok’s experience, my cracked pieces could not be repaired, as that would mean replacing whole panels with new and otherwise unmatching wood which would ruin the look of the piece.

To the best of my understanding, the US customs duty would depends on the value of the item being shipped. I could not find any particular information on the rates at
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/va...send_to_us.xml, but that is my understanding. You could also try http://www.usitc.gov/tariff_affairs/tata_faqs.htm. According to the latter, the rates charged for commercial and personal importation are the same, but I did not make any attempt to wade through the actual tariff numbers. It appears that Thailand may have a tariff treaty with the US (or is part of GATT) and therefore you probably would get a preferential rate. Note that you may also owe state sales tax on the item in your home state, though how and when this would be collected I don’t know.

If you do ship, have the store you purchase from arrange it and insure it and always pay by credit card. Arranging commercial shipping yourself is generally more expensive and definitely more time consuming. Be very sure that shipping is to your door, and not to the nearest port or airport, or consider the time, trouble and possible extra cost of a port or airport pick up when tallying up shipping costs.

I have shipped from Thailand, but the shipment was to Hong Kong, which is a duty-free port and also the shipping costs are quite a bit less as the distance is not very far. I purchased some teak outdoor furniture from a shop in River City, I could look up the name if you wanted it, I have a receipt somewhere. But I would not bother to do it again. It was sort of an impulse purchase. If at the time I had looked a bit harder here, I would have found it just as cheaply here.

(As a final note, if you buy in the US, you may be able to buy teak which is certified to be from a sustained forest, rather than just clear cut, i.e., not replanted. There is more of a market for sustainable wood products in the US than there is in SE Asia, so stores here rarely seem either have any knowledge as to the source of their hardwood, nor display it as a selling point.)

FireDragonII

ooohhh... I think I should have mentioned that I wouldn't be shipping it to the USA! we live in Israel - Mid-East climate (which is hot much of the year), and you just CANNOT find the beautiful Thai furniture here. I would love to get a nice wooden table and chairs with woven accent... I have seen them in Thailand, as well as in hotels etc.

I wont be going up to Chiang Mai this trip - we were just there a year ago, and with monsoon season, figured we'd head south to Phuket. so I'd look for a place of purchase either in Phuket (which would most likely be more expensive!!) or Bangkok. Is there an "area" of furniture stores?

If I wasn't filling an entire container - is it silly to purchase? Would the stores be able to advise me on total costs or either air or sea shipping?
How would they include local shipping (to our door) - wouldnt we need to "release" it from customs here?

I am sure it would be cheaper to buy something local here, but I would love to have a unique dinning set...!

offwego

Do it. Just don't decide one year later to move to Southeast Asia and then pay to have it shipped back!

The only "surprise" for me came with having to pay a "fumigation charge" at port in the US, because it was imported wood. I never fully understood that.

I totally appreciate the feeling of filling your home with things collected from your travels. It makes you happy every day.

Marija

We ran into trouble when shipping from India. At the store the salesman indicated that they ship and insure. Sounded good. But we would have to pay the shipping charges separately to the "shipping people" who were right there in the store. Didn't seem like a big deal at the time. When the merchandise arrived seriously damaged and I tried to collect I ran into difficulties. The original seller absolved himself of all responsibility saying that we "picked up" the merchandise in good shape and delivered it to the shipper. The "we ship" lure was gone. That was enough to make the credit card company deny our claim against the merchant who had the money. The final "shipper" refused to deal with us claiming that insurance claims would have to be initiated by the India shipper, not the recipient. The India shipper and merchant refused to deal with us, except for the claim to the credit card company that we picked up the merchandise in good shape. After much wasted time I gave it up.

filmwill

Crazy. We're im LA (far from humid here) and have purchased various tables, carvings and dressers. None of them have ever cracked.

Lori, let the need for fumigation be a cautionary tale. I didn't understand the point of it either until one of the first pieces we bought (back in 06) wasn't fumigated enough/fumigated properly (they've stopped using that shiping agent, consequently) and the piece (a small one, thank god) ended up being infested with poweder-post beetles. Not fun, by any stretch of the imagination. Luckily, we were able to secure an almost complete refund from the insurance company. So, yes, heed the advice of others here and make sure it's insured--most "legit" places will have this with their shippers.

As far as it not being cheaper, I suppose it depends on where you get your furniture and what you're gtting, but trust me, for me, the price comparison has always been significantly more favorable. Imported Asian furniture may be easily found out here, but most of the quality of it is sub-par and it's always very much overpriced.

Sounds like you have your mind set on it...best of luck! Hopefully someone here can recommend a place in Bangkok. Do you research, as others have noted, so you know that you're getting a good price on whatever you end up buying.

rhkkmk

i have shipped an 8X10 rug from india via FedEX with arrival in 4 days and in perfect shape....shipping was included in the price of the rug...
we shipped a small table from laos and it took 3 months but arrived in perfect shape.

we have shipped boxes of stainless steel serving dishes from bkk twice....one 10 kilo box and one 25 kilo box for $95 and $185 dollars....both arrived about 5 days later via air shipments in perfect condition...

i too have been afraid of cracking of our one table but it has been fine for 4 years....we were told to treat it regularily with old english furniture polish....

for the cracking reason we have shied away from addtional purchases..

hawaiiantraveler

We have a coffee table and a dining table with chairs bought on two seperate visits and have no visible cracking but we do live in the tropics.

We also had to pay for the fumigation and the second table came in complete with a nest of spiders. What a pleasant surprise when I opened the crate and out popped a dozen or more little brown spiders. I think I got them all.....

Like filmwill we love our Thai furniture and the memories they bring back are priceless. Make sure you know what port is closest to you and be sure you explain to the shipper exactly where you want your furniture shipped to be it just the port or having a freight forwarder bring your crate from the port to your house or where ever. Good luck!

Aloha!

khunwilko

Imported woods can come with various creatures in them, but also they can be very susceptible to "alien" borers etc in their new country.

It is worth looking into the history of the furniture you buy.

Essentially Thailand is not a country that has a history of furniture-making - most is copied from Chinese or other cultures. Try finding chairs in Thai history – or any other S.E. Asian country outside China.

However it is the wood that is used that presents the most problems.

Where does it come from? - Sustainable forestry? - Not always. The destruction of rain-forest is a major concern in S. E. Asia, the habitat for animals such as Tiger and Orang-utan is being devoured by unscrupulous businesses who operate both in Thailand and Burma – much of the timber comes from Burma and is smuggled over the borders.
Govt. labelling of timber is so corrupt it is virtually worthless.

To make good furniture wood needs to be seasoned – So when buying consider if the pieces you are buying are made from seasoned timber. This can be done by industrial process or by natural means - both take time and money - frequently unseasoned timber is used to make this furniture - that is why changes in climate and borers etc can be a problem. Well seasoned timber travels well and is relatively un-affected by changes in climate.

As for “is it worth it” – it is unlikely that you will buy enough at a bulk price to warrant a good business deal, but there are plenty of other reasons to ship “souvenirs” home. Of course you can probably buy it at home to and that way you still have after-sales service.

Shipping – with the current recession if you want to buy enough, consider a 20ft container – you will find that it is barely more expensive than a crate! – Door to Door!

FireDragonII

Thanks guys....! I am not interested in Antiques, rather modern furniture. wood with perhaps woven accent.
wood is expensive in Israel as its a desert land.. so we'll see if I find something beautiful at a decent cost.
its more the "look" i want - something that would be unique here

shanek

If you use Tong for your K'buri trip she will more than likely include a "toilet" stop at the Royal Handicraft Centre. If you tell her that you are interested she will allocate a bit more time to this stop. They have some absolutely exquisite hand crafted furniture there, I saw a bar and dinning table that took my breath away, and I am sure they use "seasoned" timber.
It is unlikely to be the cheapest option but prices actually appeared reasonable and the quality was outstanding.

BradinBangkok

If you are in the desert I don't think Thai furniture will survive.

Kathie

The problems with wood cracking are due to low humidity, usually due to winter heating in cold climates. I don't know how the furniture will fare in the desert.

hawaiiantraveler

Yes shanek has it right, the Royal Thai Handicraft Center is the "toilet" stop that we purchased our tables from. You can buy off the floor or have them create an original for you which is what we did with our second purchase the dining table. The personalized items take about 6 months but are worth it. Funny, my wife fell in love with the bar like the one that shanek mentions and I know a few of you fodorites have heard her tell the story of what we are buying on our return to the land of smiles.

BTW the dining table with chairs cost somewhere around $190.00 US to ship from Bangkok to Honolulu, hardly a bank breaker. Remember to bargain aggressively as our tables starting price was around $3400.00 US which included shipping. I ended up paying $1800.00 all in......maybe could have gotten better but I was happy.

Aloha!

hawaiiantraveler

sidenote: the crates that RTH uses to ship their items are made by them on their premises according to the size of the product. They use their scrap wood to make the crates. My neighbor, who makes and sells small souvenir items out of wood in his garage, snatched up all of the wooden planks from the crate and was very happy to get them as he told me the crate was made partially out of teak wood scraps.

FireDragonII

wow, Thanks Shanek and Hawaii...! Where is the place located? closer to BKK or closer to K'buri? I tried arranging a K'buri trip with Tong, thoough she wasnt so responsive so I dropped it. We'll try to find a local cab to take us out to teh floating market and maybe Tiger Temple... would this "toilet stop" be on the way?

Hawaii - thanks for the indication of costs - will give me a better starting point. 1,800 USD is a lot in the local currency... maybe I'll have better bargaining success ;-)

Cheers!

khunwilko

I have shipped furniture all over the world - and to Israel several times - and I can assure you that if the wood is seasoned and the furniture well made, you will have little shrinkage or splitting problems. Your problems will occur with unseasoned timber and cheap veneers/ply etc, these "adjust" at different rates and cause buckling and splitting. You might also check with Israeli customs as to what timber certificates they require and the regs on any upholstery - e.g. vegetable matter and fire-resistance regulations.

Check the joinery too - if the joining is crude or substandard again the furniture will warp/split etc.

I have to say though that most of the stuff I've looked at seems poorly made and unseasoned timber. Some of the better quality stuff comes in from Burma or China