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Thailand is not one destination. A household going to Si Racha clears the port and reaches the door in half an hour. The same household going to Hat Yai spends fifteen hours on the road afterwards, and one going to Koh Phangan waits on two ferry crossings that the weather can cancel.
Roughly a hundred thousand Western residents live in Thailand, and they are not spread evenly. Where they have settled is worth understanding before you choose, because the reasons people gather in a place are usually the same reasons the delivery there is easy or hard. Our guide to where most foreigners live in Thailand covers the populations by nationality and region.
The six groupings below are how the moving companies think about the country. Each behaves differently on access, timing and the length of the final leg. Packing, part packing and storage at either end are quoted as extras everywhere, so ask for them separately whichever area you pick.
The busiest arrival point and the shortest road legs. Mostly condominium and estate housing, and the only part of Thailand where a service lift booking decides the delivery day.
Cooler, cheaper and slower. The longest mainland road legs in the country, and a burning season from February to April that shapes when people time an arrival.
Almost entirely people joining a Thai family. Detached houses with land, rural addressing, and access that depends on the rice calendar rather than the tourist one.
Closest to the port, so the fastest deliveries in Thailand. A mix of retirees on the coast and contract technical staff on the industrial estates.
Retirement towns at the northern end, working provincial cities at the southern. The longest road leg in the country ends at Hat Yai.
Where the last leg stops being a road leg. Ferries, bridges, weight limits and hillside approaches decide what arrives and when.
The UK collection postcode, the Thai address or just the area, a rough inventory, your date, and the access at both ends. If you are still deciding between two areas, say both.
One vetted moving company reviews the sailing, the container size, the arrival port, the inland leg, the duty position under your visa and the access at each address.
They confirm the written quote, the timetable, the packing, the paperwork and the delivery plan. Nothing is committed until you say so, and we take no fee either way.
Distances are road kilometres from Laem Chabang, where almost every UK household shipment lands. Drive times are for a loaded lorry, not a car.
| Area | Province | km by road | Drive | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bangkok | Bangkok | 130 | two hours | Most homes are condominiums in tall buildings |
| Nonthaburi | Nonthaburi | 150 | two and a half hours | Low rise estates and riverside houses, not towers |
| Samut Prakan | Samut Prakan | 110 | ninety minutes | Suvarnabhumi airport sits in the province |
| Ayutthaya | Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya | 190 | three hours | Old city island has heritage vehicle restrictions |
| Kanchanaburi | Kanchanaburi | 260 | four hours | Single storey houses with land, rarely apartments |
| Chiang Mai | Chiang Mai | 800 | eleven hours | Longest road leg of the northern cities |
| Chiang Rai | Chiang Rai | 950 | thirteen hours | Longest of the northern road legs, three hours past Chiang Mai |
| Lampang | Lampang | 700 | nine and a half hours | Old teak houses with limited ground floor access |
| Mae Hong Son | Mae Hong Son | 1000 | fifteen hours | Route 1095 from Chiang Mai has 1,864 numbered bends |
| Pai | Mae Hong Son | 900 | thirteen hours | 762 bends on the mountain road from Chiang Mai |
| Khon Kaen | Khon Kaen | 500 | seven hours | Regional university and teaching hospital centre |
| Udon Thani | Udon Thani | 620 | eight and a half hours | High Western resident population for a non tourist city |
| Nakhon Ratchasima | Nakhon Ratchasima | 300 | four and a half hours | Closest northeastern city to Laem Chabang |
| Roi Et | Roi Et | 570 | eight hours | Village houses with land, no apartment stock to speak of |
| Ubon Ratchathani | Ubon Ratchathani | 700 | nine hours | Furthest east of the Isaan cities from either port |
| Loei | Loei | 700 | ten hours | Coldest province in Thailand, frost most winters |
| Pattaya | Chonburi | 40 | forty five minutes | Nearest resort city to Laem Chabang port |
| Si Racha | Chonburi | 20 | half an hour | Shortest road leg from the port of any Thai address |
| Rayong | Rayong | 80 | ninety minutes | Map Ta Phut is Thailand's largest industrial complex |
| Trat | Trat | 300 | four and a half hours | Mainland gateway to Koh Chang by vehicle ferry |
| Hua Hin | Prachuap Khiri Khan | 300 | four and a half hours | Strong British and Scandinavian retirement community |
| Phetchaburi | Phetchaburi | 250 | three and a half hours | Khao Wang palace hill dominates the old town |
| Surat Thani | Surat Thani | 750 | ten hours | Largest southern province by area |
| Nakhon Si Thammarat | Nakhon Si Thammarat | 880 | twelve hours | Historic southern capital, minimal tourist presence |
| Songkhla | Songkhla | 1150 | fifteen hours | Sino Portuguese old town with protected frontages |
| Hat Yai | Songkhla | 1150 | fifteen hours | Largest city in the deep south, ahead of Songkhla |
| Phuket | Phuket | 1050 | fourteen hours | Reached by the Sarasin bridge, no ferry leg needed |
| Krabi | Krabi | 950 | thirteen hours | Railay is reached only by boat, no road access |
| Koh Samui | Surat Thani | 750 | ten hours plus a ferry | Vehicle ferry from Donsak, roughly ninety minutes |
| Koh Phangan | Surat Thani | 750 | ten hours plus two ferries | Two ferry legs, usually via Koh Samui or Donsak |
| Koh Lanta | Krabi | 1000 | fourteen hours plus a ferry | Car ferry to Koh Lanta Noi, then a bridge to Koh Lanta Yai |
| Koh Tao | Surat Thani | 750 | ten hours plus a long ferry | Twenty one square kilometres, smallest of the three Gulf islands |
Not listed? Send the address anyway. The moving company we introduce delivers nationwide, and smaller places are served off the nearest regional run.
People rarely pick a Thai city off a map. They pick it off a reason. These are the six reasons UK arrivals give most often, and where each one usually leads.
Hua Hin, Chiang Mai and Kanchanaburi take the bulk of British retirees. Read the duty section below before you book anything: the retirement visa does not carry household goods relief, and that catches out more people than any other single rule.
Hua Hin, Chiang Mai, Kanchanaburi
Rayong, Si Racha and Samut Prakan are built around the industrial estates and the airport. Company housing is usual, which is why these are the three areas where a shared load beats a full container more often than not.
Rayong, Si Racha, Samut Prakan
Chiang Mai, Koh Phangan and Koh Lanta have the established remote working communities. Shipments here tend to be a desk setup and personal effects rather than a household, because furnished rentals are the norm.
Chiang Mai, Koh Phangan, Koh Lanta
Udon Thani, Roi Et and Khon Kaen. Full households into houses on family land, often outside the city, where rural addressing means the mover wants a map pin as well as a street name.
Udon Thani, Roi Et, Khon Kaen
Phuket, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, Koh Lanta and Koh Tao. Every one adds a constraint the mainland does not have: a bridge that closes in bad weather, a ferry with a weight limit, or a concrete hill a loaded lorry cannot climb.
Phuket, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, Koh Lanta, Koh Tao
Lampang, Chiang Rai and Ubon Ratchathani. All three cost noticeably less than the places people arrive at first, and all three sit at the far end of a long road leg, which is the trade.
Lampang, Chiang Rai, Ubon Ratchathani
Thailand does relieve duty on used household effects, and it is not automatic. The 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. Education and Elite visa holders are in the same position. Given that Hua Hin, Chiang Mai and Kanchanaburi are largely retirement destinations, this affects a lot of the people reading this page.
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 paperwork and the vehicle position, is on the route guide.
Wherever you land, the first month is the expensive one: a deposit, the rent, utilities and setting up. All of it in baht. Where you change the money makes a real difference to what arrives. 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.
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Bangkok has the largest total number, followed by Chiang Mai, Hua Hin and Phuket. Hua Hin has the highest concentration relative to its size and is sometimes called Little England locally. Udon Thani has one of the largest Western populations of any non tourist Thai city, almost entirely people who have married into Thai families.
The eastern seaboard. Si Racha sits about twenty kilometres from Laem Chabang, so a container released in the morning can reach the door the same afternoon. Pattaya is about forty kilometres and Samut Prakan about a hundred and ten. Everywhere else adds a road leg measured in hours.
Hat Yai and Songkhla, at roughly 1,150 kilometres and about fifteen hours from Laem Chabang. Chiang Rai is second at about 950 kilometres but thirteen hours, because the northern road is slower. Goods for both are normally consolidated with other deliveries rather than sent on their own lorry.
For Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Lanta, yes. Phuket is reached by the Sarasin bridge and needs no ferry at all. Koh Phangan takes two crossings. On all three ferry islands the timetable sets the delivery date, not the road distance, and December to February crossings book out.
Almost all UK household shipments come in at Laem Chabang in Chonburi, the country's deep sea container port. A smaller number arrive at Bangkok Port at Khlong Toei. Everything then travels inland by road, whichever city you are heading for.
Usually yes. Thailand's Bureau of Customs treats non immigrant O and O-A retirement visa holders as falling outside the relocation category, so a retiree's 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.
Tell us the address anyway. The pages here cover the areas UK arrivals ask about most, but the moving company we introduce delivers nationwide. Smaller places are usually served off the nearest regional run, which affects the date rather than the price.
It helps, because the road leg and the access are two of the three things that set the price. If you are still deciding between two or three areas, say so when you enquire and ask for the difference. It is often smaller than people expect, and it is occasionally the opposite of what they expect.
About six to twelve weeks door to door by sea for most of Thailand, with the far north and deep south at the top of that range. Air freight runs one to two weeks at several times the cost. Book six to eight weeks before you want the goods collected, and earlier if you are moving between July and September.
One vetted moving company from our network, chosen for your route. Every firm holds FIDI FAIM certification, audited by Ernst and Young against more than two hundred criteria on a three year cycle. We are not a removal company and we do not carry out moves ourselves.
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 are handled. On a route with a sea leg and a customs 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.
Your UK collection postcode, the destination address or just the area, a rough inventory, the access at both ends and your date. One vetted moving company from our network confirms the route and quotes. Still choosing between two areas? Say so and ask for both.
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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.
Distances and drive times were checked in August 2026 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.
We are not a removal company. Tell us what you are sending and where it is going, and one vetted moving company from the AGM Group network, agm.group, takes it from there. Their movers and packers survey the house, wrap the goods and load the container, and the same firm handles the relocation paperwork and the clearance in Thailand. That company holds FIDI FAIM certification. One firm, one quote, one point of contact, from the UK collection through to the shipping and the delivery.
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Use this page to pick the area, then deal directly with the moving company we introduce before you book anything.