Carnet and Customs
Bringing Kit in and out of Thailand is a relatively straight forward process.
ATA Carnet, Importing Film Kit Into Thailand
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Legally importing your own equipment is a relatively easy process due to the fact that Thailand is a member of the ATA Carnet Convention. This means that Thailand’s customs department accepts ATA carnets when you enter the country. This Carnet is essentially a passport for your equipment. Such a “passport” will list out all items, descriptions and serial numbers for any equipment being brought into the country, allowing it to pass through customs without import duties being applied, however it is imperative that the same equipment must also leave the country after the shoot has been completed.
Your production must obtain an ATA Carnet that lists all equipment to be imported for a shoot in advance of arriving in Thailand. Then, after passing through immigration and picking up your kit from the luggage conveyor belts or oversized baggage zones, you should proceed to the customs "red lane" and inform the officer on duty that you would like to request assistance in getting your ATA Carnet Stamped. The officer will then assist you through the process which typically involves opening up a random selection of kit bags to ensure that what is listed on the Carnet is what is actually inside the bags. On rare occasions a customs officer may decide to check every piece of kit but this is usually not the case.
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Film Kit Checkout Procedure While Exiting Thailand.
When you exit Thailand, you will go through the same process again with the customs department however you will need to attend the customs office at the airport before going through immigration. You will present the ATA form (equipment passport) to the customs department officer on duty. They will then randomly check equipment and serial numbers to make sure that you have not left any of your equipment inside Thailand. On rare occasions a customs officer may decide to check every piece of kit but this is usually not the case. It is however important to allow sufficient time to complete this process just in case they decide to check every piece of kit, therefore we recommend allowing 2 hours on the day of departure in addition to your usual airport flight lead times. If you do leave any equipment in Thailand it would then be expected that you pay for any duty on the value of the equipment that was imported.
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How to obtain an ATA Carnet?
To obtain an ATA carnet, this has to be done outside of Thailand. This process is actually something that no person or company inside Thailand can help you with. Such equipment and hardware logistics have to do only with the people traveling with the equipment and also the customs departments.
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Fast-Track Your Arrival Process to Thailand.
It is quite common for our clients to arrive, quite literally with more film kit than they can handle, one person can only push so many trolleys through an airport. In the event of needing assistance with moving kit through customs, we can provide escorts from within Airline arrival terminals (that are not open to members of the public). These professional escorts will fast-track you through immigration and customs to smooth out the process. At every step, we stay in touch as you go through the customs check, and your fast-track escort will help to navigate any challenges that you might run into. We find that this is the most seemless way to get our clients through the customs process.
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Importing Drones or UAV to Thailand
Please do note, this DOES NOT apply to drones. Drones or UAVS, are NOT allowed to be imported to Thailand if you have not registered with the NTBC (Radio Communications Ministry) and CAAT (Civil Aviation Authority) prior. This process generally takes around 1-6 months and the forms are in Thai language.
If you would like assistance with this or any other production services, please contact us. We would be happy to help navigate this for you and register your drone. Whether you want to import your own gear or hire locally, do not hesitate to contact us. We are always more than happy to provide any assistance we can in order to help your production.
