Buying a TV from Bangkok - Step by Step Guide

I'm typing this out at 3 AM, just after landing from Bangkok and coming home & starting up the TV because it's all fresh in my mind :)

Model: Sony 42 Inch W Series KDL-42W674A. I originally wanted the W800, but they didn't have it in stock. Figured I wouldn't get another shot at getting the TV so cheap, so settled for the non-3D W670 series.

Shop of choice: Indra Sound, Indra Square Mall, Pratunam, Bangkok. Contrary to what was being said about this shop, this shop seemed quite legit to me. First of all this is not some sleazy dealer in a back-alley. This is a huge 'Vijay Sales/ Sony Mony' type dealer out there. He has two properties - one showcasing multi-vendor TVs on the ground floor and another exclusive Sony showroom inside on the first floor. As many people have mentioned, he does speak fluent Hindi! And he really sells TVs by the dozen! In the 35-40 minutes we were there in his shop, he must have sold around a dozen! BTW he does not issue a 'Kaccha' bill. It's a genuine receipt.

Cost: THB 19500 + THB 390 because I paid by credit card = Total THB: 19890

The shopkeeper issues a proper invoice along-with a smart-card which has your passport details loaded into it. The smart-card is for VAT refund. The invoice clearly mentions the VAT amount.

BTW there are other non-electronic (non smart-card) vat-refund forms as well. Some vendors use those.


The VAT refund amount was THB 1275 as per his bill.

At the Bangkok airport:

Enter the Suvarnabhoomi airport through gate no. 4. Just inside there's a VAT refund for tourists material inspection counter. You need to go into that office and show the smart-card and your passport. They will check out the material and make an electronic entry against the smart-card that the material is duly inspected. If you are using the non-smart card VAT refund form, then instead of electronically tagging it, they will stamp it.

Proceed for check-in as usual.

Now Jet Airways charges for overweight (if you exceed) + the 1000 THB TV handling charges. They DO NOT check for over-sized baggage - simply because the folks at the check-in counter don't have a way to measure the dimensions of the TV (they can measure only the weight). In my case I was not exceeding the permissible weight, so they didn't charge me anything above the 1000 THB. The counter folks will put the baggage and fragile tags on the TV and tell you to take it to another 'over-sized baggage screening' counter. There they will scan the TV and take it in for loading to the aircraft. Then you pay the 1000 THB at another dedicated Jet Airways check-in counter, show the receipt at your original Jet Airways check-in counter, and they will issue the boarding pass.

After passing through passport control, look for the VAT refund for tourists office. Go there and show them the smart-card. They will check the system, and refund the amount (deducting 100 THB as their service charges) in cash on the spot. I got 1175 THB as VAT refund.

At the Mumbai airport:

This is where I found the most ambiguity. The customs folks' singular focus seems to be to extract as much money as they can. Rules are bent/ twisted to their liking.

Here's what happened:

1) Seeing a 42 inch TV, I was instructed to go to the red-channel counter.
2) An official there checked my passport.
3) They have a TV price list. They disregard the BKK prices completely. They go by the price-list, deduct 30% and consider 70% as the price of the TV. Out of that they will then deduct the 35000 Duty-Free allowance and charge duty accordingly.
4) They had the 2012 Sony price list with all the HX models. They didnt have the pricing for the W series models yet. So they arbitrarily took the price my TV as 56000 INR ( :clapping: ) (The actual Indian MRP I think is 67000 INR). 70% of that comes to 39200 INR. Deducting 35000 from that, the taxable cost of the TV came out to be just 4.2K INR. The duty amount was Rs. 1779, all white and with bill.
5) They scanned the baggage and found a couple of cameras. I'd have had to haggle on about these as well, but I had anticipated that. So I had declared all those (including my laptop and cellphone with serial numbers) on my way out. I showed them that form, so that chapter was not opened.
6) I paid the duty and was out.

Considering everything, I paid INR 41200 for a KDL-42W674A!

Now here's the caveats. The rule says that you should be out of the country for more than 4 days. In my case, that was technically true if you consider the Indian customs inward and outward stamps, but if you'd check the flight timings I was actually in Bangkok for less than 72 hours. It appeared as 4 days due to time-zone differences and flight timings etc. Now the customs official I dealt with didn't get into flight timings etc. and I went through. But another customs official flatly refused to give any duty free allowance to a friend of mine with me (also with another identical TV). They told him, they'd consider the flight departure times and those should be 4 days apart. They also told him that the liquor he'd got counts against the 35000 limit, which I'm pretty sure is wrong. I carried in liquor with the TV without hitting that particular rule. This is what I mean when I say they twist facts around to their advantage. So my two cents while dealing with customs: Bring Electronics if you're indisputably out of the country for more than 3 days. And, don't carry in any other dutiable stuff - don't give them room to twist rules around.


Cheers!


I got the same model (sony KDL-42W674A ) yesterday, without warranty, after proper checkup from a shop in delhi for 44k.
It is not gaffar market, its a wholesale shop near sarai rohilla called rimpy-electronics, kind of rude guy but rates seem to be good.
It works like a charm. Connected it to internet & updated its software too today.
Thanks!
 
i am visiting Bangkok this month end, for 5 days with family and friends, planning to buy an Led TV 42 or 46 inch. this thread has very useful info , thanks to tanmay for taking the pains of giving all those details . what will be the savings on purchase of 42 or 46 inch Led TV at current prices. Which make and model is the best choice in terms of price and performance. i also want to buy a home theater and tab if there are any considerable savings. excess baggage and customs limit may not be an issue as i am in a group and can be split among the group accordingly. i prefer to have an international warranty and is there chance of damage during transit. i am from Hyderabad. please advice accordingly.iam not particular with make and model of the led TV. thanks in advance and best regards
 
i am visiting Bangkok this month end, for 5 days with family and friends, planning to buy an Led TV 42 or 46 inch. this thread has very useful info , thanks to tanmay for taking the pains of giving all those details . what will be the savings on purchase of 42 or 46 inch Led TV at current prices. Which make and model is the best choice in terms of price and performance. i also want to buy a home theater and tab if there are any considerable savings. excess baggage and customs limit may not be an issue as i am in a group and can be split among the group accordingly. i prefer to have an international warranty and is there chance of damage during transit. i am from Hyderabad. please advice accordingly.iam not particular with make and model of the led TV. thanks in advance and best regards

I saved 25k flat! For features etc. pls chk websites and prices and decide. U can check the Thai websites (.co.th) as well.

Regarding clubbing between people, remember it doesnt work like baggage. If u have 5 items and 5 ppl then segregate the purchases themselves ie right from the shop itself get separate bills for separate items on different peoples names. If u get a single bill for say 2 lakh and ask them to split across 5 people it doesn't work like that.

Secondly if u r using connecting flights, chk the free baggage allowance on all segments... often the international flight will have higher baggage allowance but u ll end up paying thru the nose for the connecting dom. flight...
 
I bought this Sony 42'' W 674A In Mumbai for Rs 45,000/- 10 days back without warranty but fully sealed pack box and Seller gave me full demo for 3 hours. After satisfying with the TV i purchased the same.Now after 10 days there are not even single problem as this Tv was officialy imported by seller.This information for those who wants to buy from out of India.
Similar Model 42'' W 650A Is available in showroom.Only difference: wifi is ready but you need to connect dongle. This W 674A same Tv is already available in 32'' size model no 32W 670A This is same tv (W 674A) For Indian Market and it is officialy available in all the store and 42'' will be going to launch around Diwali.
 
Brilliant post by tanmayj and thanks everyone else for your inputs. I am visiting BKK soon and have seen Panasonic 50" TH-P50X60T on Powerbuy's website for THB 21990. This is much cheaper than compatible model in India. Can someone please guide me for duty, customs issue etc with bringing such a big tv back to India. Please guide me
 
I see almost everyone getting LED TVs at a significant price difference. Are Plasma TVs (42-50 ", Panasonic/Samsung) also available ? any experiences with them ?
 
This is great info. I wanted to know how much it would be actual price for the sets. I picked one through ebay and including shipping to Bangalore from Chennai costed me 52k. Not bad deal I feel for sitting in front of comp and getting done. :)
 
Plasmas are significantly heavier than their LCD counterparts. And, excess baggage rates are BAD. I frequently see nasty scenes at BKK Check-In counters. Don't get carried away, clear it with the Airlines beforehand. Mention both weight and dimensions.
 
are you people buying for cash or emi lol..i was wondering if one needs to pay cash to buy w/o bill imported led's in india ?
 
Can I, legally and without hassle, as a non-Thai, non-Indian citizen, non-NRI , import into India a large screen TV? I heard policies changed recently - but I am having difficulties with my Android devicevexpanding that notice to get an update.

I want to profit from any loophole, to help pay for my airfare as a tourist coming to India on a multi-entry tourist visa with the citizenship if a nation with friendly relations with India.

But I don't like to argue with men in uniform with guns. Indian gov't has a reputation as a socialist srate bureaucracy with wacky policies. I have read (false?) that as Indian economy falters the State meddles making it even worse and that even married women are being hassled for wearing their mangal-sutras (gold wedding necklaces). Is this true?

Is India continuing to enforce state socialist policies even less open than Vietnam!

And to be specific, how can I profit by bringing with me electronics?
 
Can I, legally and without hassle, as a non-Thai, non-Indian citizen, non-NRI , import into India a large screen TV? I heard policies changed recently - but I am having difficulties with my Android devicevexpanding that notice to get an update.

I want to profit from any loophole, to help pay for my airfare as a tourist coming to India on a multi-entry tourist visa with the citizenship if a nation with friendly relations with India.

But I don't like to argue with men in uniform with guns. Indian gov't has a reputation as a socialist srate bureaucracy with wacky policies. I have read (false?) that as Indian economy falters the State meddles making it even worse and that even married women are being hassled for wearing their mangal-sutras (gold wedding necklaces). Is this true?

Is India continuing to enforce state socialist policies even less open than Vietnam!

And to be specific, how can I profit by bringing with me electronics?
The rules that have been changes recently i.e. Baggage Rules (Baggage Rules, 1998 - CBEC) do otherwise also not apply to foreign nationals coming to India for tourism, so there is no change in the rules in your case. As far as funding your air fair, I do not think there is difference in prices of electronics huge enough to support your motive. But I do not have authoritative opinion on this.
 
Correct, Now Even Indrasound, doesn't have International warranty card, for both samsung & Sony.

I guess, Both Co's must have threatened him, NOT to give any more warranty card to customers, & must have taken back from all dealers, & only then they must have announced, this '
"No warranty" Policy in India...

Bought, SAMSUNG
55F6400 @ 41200 baht.
40EH5000 @ 13300 baht.

Hey you bought samsung 55F6400 @41200baht??


Vat refund @ 7% is separate from this amount.

Now just have to deal with Customs, Customs comes to about 13000 for 55" tv.
for 40" is zero customs duty.

Any idea, how to avoid 13000 duty ?




How much you paid custom ? Actually i am planning to buy same size UHD .kindly provide me details did they harassed you at airport and how much money you paid for clearance.
 
Any experience with buying a 65" from Bangkok and dealing with indian customs ?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 
Notice that all the older posts are from 2013!
Rules have changed a lot since then. Check the latest personal baggage rules.

Suggest that all those planning to bring in a TV read the info on the following web site .....For the two above , you did not do your home work !

https://nricafe.com/indian-customs-duty-lcd-led-tv/

Yeah, post are from 2013,but still checking if someone has recently bought a 65" through such channel and can share their experience.
Already aware of the latest baggage rules.
One thing which is not confirmed is whether custom guys calculate the tax on the cost price or on the market price in India.
 
Join WhatsApp group to get HiFiMART.com Offers & Deals delivered to your smartphone!
Back
Top