I am considering buying a new bed suite in Thailand. Any suggestions about where the best place to look would be? I will be going to Krabi,Bangkok and Chiang Mai. I have someone helping me with all the details of bringing it in to Aust but any suggestions for transporting and purchasing would be good. Thanks

transport is very expensive..

in CM, go to the long street of the workshops....several places there

in bkk, along sukhumvit rd there are several places on the even soi side...

be concerned about wood cracking once exposed to heat and a/c in the west...

Thanks. I will get an estimate before I leave Aust. The guy I talked to here thought that A$300 would do it but that just sounds too cheap to me. I will do a little research to see if there is any wood that is not affected by drying out and cracking. There are also customs and quarantine issues in Aust.

In Chiang Mai, go out to Bantawai and HangDong shops. You will see quite a bit of furniture there.

Cracking is a problem. DS bought diningroom and bedroom furniture in the area I've just named. His diningroom table has cracks at all four (rounded) corners. They are not obvious, but it is too bad it happens. See what you can find out about protecting the wood.

If you live in cool or cold climates in US many woods will crack no matter what they tell you. The sioftness of the wood even if treated causes it. The cost is a good deal more than you were told though inthe "right" places the workmanship is very good. Hong Dong (50+ minutes) out of CM is the furniture manufacturing capital of central annd northern Thailand. But please be aware of my comments about the wood.
The cost of shipping can be shipping can be costly and to lower the pice you can send by ship but expect 8-12 weeks for arrival and if lost in transit I would imagine it would be a tracking problem.
Buy from North carolina. with the US economy unfortunately where it is now you can stike a deal at probably 25% less than a year ago.

Thanks again. The A$300 that I was told was a guess at the shipping cost to Aust. I imagine that as with all furniture you can pay a little or a lot and that you get what you pay for in terms of quality.It certainly would not be worth bringing anything that was not good quality all the way to Aust. Does anyone know if any species of timber is less prone to cracking? We live in Melbourne which is a cooler part of Aust and we don't heat our bedroom in winter so the heating won't be a problem.

I know my brother had problems with bringing some wood furniture into Australia..nearly invisible signs of pest infestation were noticed at customs. I'm not sure if it was refused entry or they had to treat it...

If it wood, it may crack when it is moved from one climate to another. Changes in temperature and huimdity are what cause the cracking. If you live in a place that doesn't require central heat, you may have a better chance.

Certianly shipping to Australia will be less expensive than shipping to the US, but A$300 sounds low to me for a whole bedrooms set. The rule of thumb to the US is that the shipping will be the approximate cost of the furniture, effectively doubling the purchase price.

The idea seemed great but it is looking less and less pracical.I would have to find out if the timber had been treated before it was shipped or get it treated here.Very expensive. In a country where we don't speak the language it is just going to take up too much of our precious time. OHHH..Well.