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    Hello
Forgive my ignorance on this topic I have
never declared anything upon entering
or leaving Thai.
For particular intruments such as Fender or Gibson
that some consider among the best quality the
prices are very high here. I'm assuming they charge
more for these because there was such high tariffs
bringing them into country??

If I buy a nice guitar here and take it home with me
do I need to declare it and pay extra to leave country
with it? I saw a list of categories with various % rates
but didn't see intruments among them
   

    -@scbrock

Why would you have to pay anything or even declare a guitar when leaving Thailand? It's like buying a laptop and bringing it with you while travelling. Bringing stuff here is another story.

Ok, that's encouraging.

Musical instruments are infamous for not getting

money back out of them unless they are collectible.

So if I can take it home and not try to sell it here

all the better

Thanks Leeds

    Ok, that's encouraging.
Musical instruments are infamous for not getting
money back out of them unless they are collectible.
So if I can take it home and not try to sell it here
all the better
Thanks Leeds
   

    -@scbrock

I assume from your profile that "home" means the USA. If that's the case you may have to pay import duty on the guitar when you enter the US unless you can prove that you've owned it for more than a year. See

"Household Effects & Personal Effects - Customs Duty Guidance

Household effects conditionally included are duty-free. These include such items as furniture, carpets, paintings, tableware, stereos, linens, and similar household furnishings; tools of the trade, professional books, implements, and instruments.

You may import household effects you acquired abroad duty-free if:

    You used them abroad for no less than one year.

    They are not intended for any other person or for sale."

@scbrock

Interesting, I am planning to do a similiar thing next year. I don't intend to take the guitar in and out of Thailand. It will stay in Thailand with me as long as I am staying in Thailand. I will take it out of Thailand with me should I ever end up leaving Thailand for good. I may have to pay G.S.T (15%) if I ever take said guitar back to New Zealand.

I'm interested. I intend to buy a proper Gibson Les Paul ( retirement present!). At the moment I am looking at purchasing it from CT Music in Bangkok. I bought an acoustic from them a couple of years ago. It is in storage at my nephew's place in Lat Yao ( near Nakhon Sawan) and I look forward to playing it this xmas when we visit.

Just on a personal interest note, and apologies to all dis-interested parties, what type of gutar are you looking at buying, and do you have a music store in mind?

Happy Guitar hunting!

Alf

    @scbrock
Interesting, I am planning to do a similiar thing next year. I don't intend to take the guitar in and out of Thailand. It will stay in Thailand with me as long as I am staying in Thailand. I will take it out of Thailand with me should I ever end up leaving Thailand for good. I may have to pay G.S.T (15%) if I ever take said guitar back to New Zealand.

I'm interested. I intend to buy a proper Gibson Les Paul ( retirement present!). At the moment I am looking at purchasing it from CT Music in Bangkok. I bought an acoustic from them a couple of years ago. It is in storage at my nephew's place in Lat Yao ( near Nakhon Sawan) and I look forward to playing it this xmas when we visit.

Just on a personal interest note, and apologies to all dis-interested parties, what type of gutar are you looking at buying, and do you have a music store in mind?

Alf
    -@alffvdh

I agree it's a safe bet the guitar will be in Thailand at least a year so not

sure about 15% but that is reasonable.

I like Gibsons very much but I stayed away from those and Fender as

it seems there are too many knockoffs and fakes but maybe you can

recognise those better than I and if purchasing at a reputable dealer

it would be far less a worry.

In Phuket I like going to a small store called MusicHub.

I am looking at an Ibanez RG370AHMZ Blue Moon Burst. It's used

I played it and liked it but the strings were so bad it was hard to

get a representative sound from it. There is a gentleman in Phang Nga

that has one for less but not sure I want to make the drive.

Anyway, happy strumming!

@Retiree

Having the instrument for more than a year shouldn't be

a problem. Not sure how it can be proven that it won't

be for sale but I guess that's more of an agreement.

Thanks for the info sir

        @scbrockInteresting, I am planning to do a similiar thing next year. I don't intend to take the guitar in and out of Thailand. It will stay in Thailand with me as long as I am staying in Thailand. I will take it out of Thailand with me should I ever end up leaving Thailand for good. I may have to pay G.S.T (15%) if I ever take said guitar back to New Zealand.I'm interested. I intend to buy a proper Gibson Les Paul ( retirement present!). At the moment I am looking at purchasing it from CT Music in Bangkok. I bought an acoustic from them a couple of years ago. It is in storage at my nephew's place in Lat Yao ( near Nakhon Sawan) and I look forward to playing it this xmas when we visit. Just on a personal interest note, and apologies to all dis-interested parties, what type of gutar are you looking at buying, and do you have a music store in mind?Alf    -@alffvdh

I agree it's a safe bet the guitar will be in Thailand at least a year so not
sure about 15% but that is reasonable.
I like Gibsons very much but I stayed away from those and Fender as
it seems there are too many knockoffs and fakes but maybe you can
recognise those better than I and if purchasing at a reputable dealer
it would be far less a worry.

In Phuket I like going to a small store called MusicHub.
I am looking at an Ibanez RG370AHMZ Blue Moon Burst. It's used
I played it and liked it but the strings were so bad it was hard to
get a representative sound from it. There is a gentleman in Phang Nga
that has one for less but not sure I want to make the drive.

Anyway, happy strumming!
   

    -@scbrock

You do know that your home country isn't New Zealand? That's what the 15% was about.

    @scbrock
Interesting, I am planning to do a similiar thing next year. I don't intend to take the guitar in and out of Thailand. It will stay in Thailand with me as long as I am staying in Thailand. I will take it out of Thailand with me should I ever end up leaving Thailand for good. I may have to pay G.S.T (15%) if I ever take said guitar back to New Zealand.

I'm interested. I intend to buy a proper Gibson Les Paul ( retirement present!). At the moment I am looking at purchasing it from CT Music in Bangkok. I bought an acoustic from them a couple of years ago. It is in storage at my nephew's place in Lat Yao ( near Nakhon Sawan) and I look forward to playing it this xmas when we visit.

Just on a personal interest note, and apologies to all dis-interested parties, what type of gutar are you looking at buying, and do you have a music store in mind?

Happy Guitar hunting!

Alf
   

    -@alffvdh

Just out of curiosity. Are you thinking about buying a brand new original Gibson Les Paul in Bangkok?

@Leeds forever!

I believe he mentioned CT Music in Bangkok. He

said he wanted to buy a proper Gibson Les Paul

    @Leeds forever!
I believe he mentioned CT Music in Bangkok. He
said he wanted to buy a proper Gibson Les Paul
   

    -@scbrock.

You must pay attention to what you read. He said he has to pay 15% if bringing the guitar to New Zealand. You do know that you can read his post again and again? Why would you have to pay anything when bringing a guitar back to the US after one year?

@Leeds forever!

I believe your question was "Are you thinking about buying

a brand new original Gibson Les Paul in Bangkok?"

And that was what I responded to ...

@Leeds forever!

Yes, I do intend to buy a "proper" Gibson. I have a cheap and cheerful knock-off SX here in NZ. Prices in Bangkok might look inflated to those from UK or USA, but the prices I have seen at CT Music are about the same as I would have to pay in NZ.

Alf

@scbrock

Ibanez sounds cool.

Yeah, I have been playing a Les Paul knock-off made by SX. I have replaced the electronics and it is okay to play. I don't know why exactly, but I have preferred the Les Paul over the Strat. I have promised myself a proper Les Paul as a retirement presento from me to me.

I guess there is some question over the autheticity of high-end guitars sold in Bangkok. CT Music appear to be a "reputable" business from what I can tell, and what I saw when I visited 4 years ago. One thing I will be doing is checking the serial number against the Gibson website. Not fool-proof I'm sure..... but not a bad start in protecting against being ripped off.

Maybe others (Leeds?) have some further advice for both of us regarding checking autheticity. I don't think I'm entirely naive, but I only know what I know.

All comments gratefully recieved and considered!

Alf

Just for shits and giggles......... wait..... there's more!

So, I am travelling to Thailand over the xmas break. Only staying for 3 weeks. Wife has family stuff to do.

As an experiment, I am bringing a Gretsch resonator guitar with me. It's about 8 years old, and I am running this experiment to see what Thai customs want to do about it. The guitar, whilst useful, isn't a high end guitar, and if Thai customs want to charge waaaaay too much they can have it ( impound it, whatever ).

I have a print-off from a music store in Bangkok, showing the details and the current asking price in Baht.

It will be very interesting to me to see what Thai customs want to charge me.

I call it an experiment because When I come over later in 2024 for "good" , I intend to bring my old Epiphone "Lucille". NO, NOT GIBSON!!!!!! It is a favourite cheaper guitar of mine, and if all goes well with the Gretsch I intend to follow suit with the Epiphone, noting that there are no gaurantees that Thai customs will apply exactly the same views upon the importation of the second guitar.

Is this a sane enough idea?

Thoughts?

Alf

@alffvdh

Interesting idea. I would like to hear how it turns out

as far as bringing an expendable guitar thru customs

to see their reaction.

Please keep us udated as that turns out



@scbrock

I will certainly post an update to this in the New Year.

Alf

@alffvdh

I would definitely like to hear how you make out

on this. The other question is how to wrap it or

box it up in such a way it doesn't get damaged.

If you have ever watched these guys throwing

the luggage around when loading and unloading

you know what I mean.

I have had brand new luggage get all banged up.

Maybe bubble wrap inside of a hard case. I know

this guitar isn't your favorite but for future ones

that are more valuable to you

Yeah.... that's also a concern. I have purchased hard-cases for my guitars. A bit of extra bubble-wrap will not go amiss.

Well.... life is full of risks, this is probably the least risky aspect of my probable move to retire in Thailand. I like my guitars, I am not by any means a good guitar player, more an enthusiastic learner who thinks he might have some spare time on his hands in the future. At the end of the day, they are only objects. Their loss would be felt, but not the end of the world.

We were talking earlier about tariffs and so on to bring

into country. I bought a fairly nice guitar recently and

this little chinese amp just isn't cutting it so I start looking

on Amazon and for a $200 amp they are wanting about

$100 in tariffs to ship into Thailand. So I will try to find

something here for a better amplifier.

Yesterday I went to a Yamaha instrument outlet. I really

like Yamaha products I have one of the small THR amps

it's supposed to be for acoustic but the electric sounds

really good thru it. BUt they had like nothing in this store

would have to order from Bangkok, Don't always like to

buy without trying first but this would at least avoid these

ridiculous import charges.

They are only instruments but may hold some sentimental

value or not.

Yes, I have plans for Amp and multi-effects pedal as well. Here in NZ I have a Fender Mustang modelling Amp, about 20w. Plenty for a small room practicing!

Once again CT Music have a range of Amps, the price being comparable to NZ prices. The Yamaha THR has a good reputation.

I have been spending quite a bit of time researching how to check for fake Gibsons. The serial number can not be relied on, as most people would agree. There are a number of checks that can be carried out on the actual guitar. Even then, if it's a very good fake it will be hard to tell. I guess the old adage that "if it looks too good to be true, it probably is..." is a good start. I'm going to sit down in my local store here in NZ and take a really detailed look at an example of what I am hoping to buy in Bangkok. There are some "tell-tale" signs to look for.

Seems a shame that the factory, be it Gibson, Fender, or whatever goes to all the trouble of serial numbering their instrucments, but then they don't keep a register of where they originally supplied the instrument to. Obviously, once the instrument is sold on through a retail outfit the tracking of serial numbers would become redundant, but the original details such as factory of origin, country exported to, retailer supplied to would give a good background.

They whinge about knock-offs cutting into their market, but don't set up a basic data base registering their products. Go figure!

Anyways, I am starting  towaffle and philosophise. I'll leave everyone in peace.

Alf

I have been able to track my fender strat guitar thru

website databases pretty much consistently but had

a more difficult time with Gibson. I called the factory

and wanted to verify a seriel number and they were

no help. I believe there reasoning is not to give

verification as it can be used by counterfitters to

give an authentic look to their knock-off.

China has made strides in their fakes from being

obviously not the real deal to looking pretty darn

close, I bought one recently that had the Custom

Shop logo and a beautiful paint job and the sound

or quality of the pickups has improved tremendously.

I still changed two of the pickups as I can't leave well

enough alone.

I would never resell as the real thing. That would be

wholly unethical. Several forums I have visited shy

away from pointing out the differences between the

fakes and real as they believe counterfeiters monitor

these sites and would use the info as to improve their

fake to make it harder to tell the difference.

I like your approach to go to a music store you have a

relationship with that their is a trust and you can have an

honest conversation about what to look for.

I think a good luthier would be invaluable in this area

@scbrock

hello there   just take it apart and put it in your hand luggage.   Cheers   ant

    @scbrock
hello there   just take it apart and put it in your hand luggage.   Cheers   ant
   

    -@Tone jennings

Take a guitar apart and put it in a carry on?

Really? Please tell how you take a guitar apart?

Yes I did do take my guitar in 2 partes

The body and the other part...

Put in bubble plástic and put it the suitcase

Arrived perfect

@Leeds forever!

the arm should have 4 big philips screws on the back. look on you tube  its very simple. just mark the screws for exact reassembly. The airline do have   luggage holdalls for long items  but can be a hassle if others have used.      Good luck

    Yes I did do take my guitar in 2 partes
The body and the other part...

Put in bubble plástic and put it the suitcase

Arrived perfect
   

    -@FERNANDO BLANCO

The question was about taking the guitar apart and put in a carry on,not a suitcase

I thought about removing the neck from the body. Really

not difficult to do but I bought a really nice guitar here

for a decent price. I think with used instruments there

is far less import tariffs. So it may not be necessary

Now I'm looking to get a good amp. I'm sold on Yamaha

THR amps but they are pricey. I visited two Yamaha outlets

in Phuket and they have almost nothing in the store it has to

be ordered from Bangkok.

Waiting for a good sale which I believe is around New Years

@Tone jennings

Potentially with a Fender, not doable with a Gibson (glued in neck).

So.... an update of sorts. I arrived in Bangkok Airport with my Gretsch. I didn't have anything to declare at customs. No one cared, they waved me through. No tax paid.

Well, it was half an hour after midnight. Perhaps that's why zero interest in the falang with a guitar.

Guitar is in good shape. Not a mark on the case.

I would call this experiment inconclusive. The guitar is worth about 13000 baht new. I struck customs at a good time. I wouldn't guarantee the same treatment if it was worth more, or it was at a different time of day.

Encouraging though.....

@alffvdh

Yes, many things in the Land of Smiles are about the time, the place and who is around.

    So.... an update of sorts. I arrived in Bangkok Airport with my Gretsch. I didn't have anything to declare at customs. No one cared, they waved me through. No tax paid.Well, it was half an hour after midnight. Perhaps that's why zero interest in the falang with a guitar.Guitar is in good shape. Not a mark on the case.I would call this experiment inconclusive. The guitar is worth about 13000 baht new. I struck customs at a good time. I wouldn't guarantee the same treatment if it was worth more, or it was at a different time of day.Encouraging though.....        -@alffvdh

I believe there was value in what you tried that the instrument can arrive without damage.

I would hope all handlers would be as careful. Do you envision yourself finding a band

over here or just want to keep playing?

In a related topic I ordered a Yamaha amp from ebay it was used and unfortunately not

all the settings work on it. Two of the amp simulators don't sound right. The crunch and

lead settings sound like a clean setting. Also, there wasn't a power cable or USB cable and

they advertised it as a tube amp and it's not it's solid state.

I had to pay about 25% import tax. I notified the seller about it and they said go ahead

and start the return process. The ad said the seller would pay for return shipping if needed.

I requested info from the seller as how to return this where to go, where to send etc

but so far they aren't responding.

My guess is they don't want to pay shipping on a unit that is defective so they don't want

it back. I asked them twice if they want it returned and they haven't replied. The amp is

useable if I get a USB cable I can access many more settings from software and work

around the two inop settings. It actually works pretty well right now just not fully functional.

I hope I have done my due diligence on returning it I sent a video on exactly what is wrong.

I should mention they fully refunded my money.

No, not looking to join a band, I don't  think I'd be good enough. I really only do it for my own enjoyment.

You  could always buy an effects pedal for the sound that is missing from your Amp. I routed a fuzz pedal trough to my Fender Mustang model long Amp recently because I couldn't quite get a big enough fuzz out of the Amp.

I don't usually use much in the way of effects, so I wouldn't consider myself to be expert!

Hopefully you will have plenty of time to practise here.

There is a bar that I played at with a young Thai gent

but he left and I was there a few weeks ago and the owner

asked if I would play. So, I've been practising for that. I have a

fair number of acoustic songs I can do but only a few

electric. Most Thai people aren't into hard rock. Have to be

fairly selective for those.

You are right you can get a pedal but I think I can get what

I need thru software and the Yamaha app

        Yes I did do take my guitar in 2 partes. The body and the other part...Put in bubble plástic and put it the suitcase. Arrived perfect        -@FERNANDO BLANCO

The question was about taking the guitar apart and put in a carry on,not a suitcase         -@Leeds forever!

Actually, I read the question(s) as...

Take a guitar apart and put it in a carry on? Really? Please tell how you take a guitar apart?       -@Leeds forever!

And most certainly there are such things as (Link)

But its a risk how they do with suitcase...

So this time I did bring it in a

Flightcase  of aluminium and wood...

I came with my wife and the suitcase of my.Wife was my guitar

And it was okey I didnt have to pay nothing... I hope you did understand me pay nothing...

But if you have to pay like extra suitcase its not cheap depending of the company...

Here is a link on this topic with many examples of bringing

instruments into Thailand. This is from about 1 1/2 years ago