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Three numbers decide almost everything about a household move to Thailand: how many cubic metres you are sending, which visa you will hold when the goods clear, and how easily a lorry reaches each door. This page covers the first two. The third depends on where you are going.
Goods cross by sea in a container. You either take a container to yourself or buy space in a shared one and pay by volume. Air freight exists, lands in one to two weeks, and costs enough that it only makes sense for a small load you cannot be without.
The duty position is where people lose money, and it turns on your visa rather than on your belongings. If you are retiring to Thailand, read the customs section below before you book anything.
Collection postcode, destination address, roughly what is coming, your date, and the access at both ends. Mention your visa type: it changes the duty answer.
One vetted firm surveys the house, in person or by video, and converts it into cubic metres. That volume decides shared space or a container to yourself, and the price follows from it.
Packing, loading, the export entry, the sailing, the Thai clearance and the inland delivery. You deal with the firm directly throughout, and we take no fee.
Volume drives the price. A surveyor converts your house into cubic metres, and everything else follows. Below fifteen cubic metres shared container space is cheaper. Above roughly seventeen, a container to yourself costs much the same and your goods are handled less.
| What you are sending | Volume | Shipped as | Indicative cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| A few boxes and a bike | 2 to 5 cbm | Shared container space | From about £650 |
| Studio or one bedroom | 8 to 15 cbm | Shared container space | About £1,600 to £2,800 |
| Two to three bedroom house | 25 to 33 cbm | 20ft container to yourself | About £4,100 to £4,800 |
| Four bedroom or larger | 50 cbm and up | 40ft container to yourself | From about £7,300 |
Three published UK sources, read in August 2026. Shipit lists Thailand moves from £636 for a small shared load, £4,119 for a 20ft container and £7,277 for a 40ft. MoveHub quotes £4,309 to £4,761 for a 20ft. Swift Cargo Solutions publishes a line by line breakdown at £40 to £80 per cubic metre for shared sea freight plus £1,200 to £2,200 all in for a 20ft container. The shared bands above apply those per cubic metre rates to a typical load, so an eight cubic metre shipment works out at roughly £320 to £640 of ocean freight before surcharges, handling and delivery are added. We re-check these every year.
A headline figure hides eight separate charges: ocean freight, origin handling, bunker adjustment, low sulphur, Cape routing, peak season, destination handling at Laem Chabang, and marine insurance. Two firms can quote the same total with very different things inside it, so always ask for the breakdown.
The full line by line breakdown, with what each charge runs at and which ones are negotiable, is on the cost of moving to Thailand page.
Thailand does relieve duty on used household effects, and it is not automatic. Relief is aimed at holders of a one year non immigrant visa with a work permit to go with it, and at Thai nationals returning after twelve months or more abroad.
Retirement visa holders are normally excluded. Thailand's Bureau of Customs treats non immigrant O and O-A retirees as falling outside the relocation criteria, so their goods are assessed rather than cleared free. Elite and education visa holders are in the same position.
Where relief does apply it is a once in a lifetime allowance covering one sea shipment and one air shipment, and the goods must arrive no earlier than a month before you do and no later than six months after.
Full detail, including the appliance rule, the paperwork and ToR1 on the return leg, is on the Thai customs and Transfer of Residence page.
Vapes and e-cigarettes are banned from import outright. Buddha images, gold and silver need clearance first. Firearms, drones and certain radio equipment need permits. Alcohol and foodstuffs need a licence. Vehicles need a Department of Foreign Trade permit and carry 200 to 328 percent total duty, so almost nobody ships one.
The first month is the expensive one wherever you land: a deposit, the rent, utilities and setting up, all in baht. Moving a large sum through a high street bank is where people quietly lose several hundred pounds. Currency exchange comes as part of the service, through trusted partners.
People who move money into Thailand every day, not a bank counter.
What you are quoted is what leaves your account.
Rated five stars by consumers who have used the service.
A rate that stands up against the high street.
Rates move daily, so we do not publish one. Ask and we will put you in touch.
Every firm in the network holds FIDI FAIM certification. Ernst and Young audit them against more than two hundred criteria on a three year cycle: financial standing, insurance, customs competence, staff training and how claims get handled. On a route with a sea leg and a clearance in the middle, that audit is what separates a problem being solved from a problem being argued about.
We have run this service since November 2010 and have handled over 850,000 enquiries in that time. We are a Working Member of the AGM Group network, agm.group. We are not a removal company and we do not own a lorry: your details go to one vetted firm and they survey and quote directly.
As market information for August 2026: a shared load starts from about £650, a studio or one bedroom runs about £1,600 to £2,800, a 20ft container to yourself for a two to three bedroom house runs about £4,100 to £4,800, and a 40ft container starts from about £7,300. Those are published UK market figures, not a quote. The mover we introduce prices your move after a survey.
The crossover is around fifteen to seventeen cubic metres. Below that, shared space is cheaper and you pay only for the volume you fill. Above it, a 20ft container to yourself costs much the same and your goods are handled less, because nobody else's consignment is loaded and unloaded around yours.
About six to twelve weeks door to door. The ocean crossing itself is fairly fixed. The variable is how long a shared container waits for its final consignment before it sails, which is why a container to yourself is quicker. Air freight lands in one to two weeks at several times the price.
Usually not. Thailand's Bureau of Customs treats non immigrant O and O-A retirement visa holders as falling outside the relocation criteria, so their household goods are normally assessed for duty and tax rather than cleared free. Education and Elite visa holders are in the same position. Relief is aimed at one year work permit holders and at Thai nationals returning after twelve months or more abroad.
No earlier than one month before you arrive in Thailand, and no later than six months after. Miss that window and the relief claim fails even if everything else is in order. Extensions are possible in exceptional cases but you should not plan around one.
You can ship them. Only one will clear free. The relief covers one unit of each type of electrical appliance and the duplicate is assessed at the normal rate. Customs apply the exemption to whichever unit carries the lower duty, so the bill usually lands on the better appliance.
No. Marine cover is bought separately and normally runs at a fraction of a percent of the replacement value you declare. Get the certificate in writing before the container is sealed, and declare what the goods would cost to replace in Thailand rather than what you paid in the UK.
Almost all UK household shipments arrive at Laem Chabang, the deep sea container port in Chonburi. A smaller number come in through Bangkok Port at Khlong Toei. Everything then travels inland by road, and the length of that leg depends on where you are going.
Most people use a packing service for a sea move, and there is a practical reason beyond convenience. A container is handled several times and owner packed cartons are the ones that fail. Insurers also treat them differently and often exclude them from breakage cover. A part pack, where the crew handle only the fragile items, is the middle option.
Vapes and e-cigarettes are banned from import outright. Buddha images, gold and silver are sensitive and need clearance first. Firearms, drones and some radio equipment need permits. Alcohol and foodstuffs need a licence and should not be included without advice. Vehicles need their own permit and are rarely worth shipping.
Six to eight weeks before you want the goods collected is comfortable. Sailings from the UK to Thailand are not daily and the surveyor needs to see the house before anything is confirmed. Book earlier if you are moving between July and September, which is peak season on this trade.
It matters, because relief is assessed against your status when the goods clear, not when they left the UK. If you ship expecting a work permit that does not arrive, the shipment is assessed for duty. Tell the mover if your status is unsettled so the timing can be planned around it.
The UK collection postcode, where it is going, roughly what is coming, the access at both ends and your date. One vetted moving company from our network surveys it and quotes properly.
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Written by Darren Benjamin, founder of International Removals Companies. Darren has run this service since November 2010 and has overseen more than 850,000 moving enquiries.
Costs on this page were checked in August 2026 against three published UK sources and are re-checked every year. Customs rules were checked against the Thai Customs Department in August 2026. Rules change, so confirm your own position before you ship. Questions: 07551 855 064 or WhatsApp. Read our Google reviews.
A free enquiry service run by DATACONTEXT (UK) LTD, and a Working Member of the AGM Group network, agm.group. We are not a removal company.
Use this page to prepare the enquiry, then deal directly with the moving company we introduce before you book anything.