Prohibited and Restricted Items When Shipping From Thailand

Prohibited goods and restricted goods are not the same rule

Thai Customs defines prohibited goods as items banned from import or export outright, and restricted goods as items that can move only with a permit from the government agency that controls them.

> "Prohibited Goods are goods for which either the import into or export out of Thailand are prohibited."

> "Restricted Goods are goods of which the imports and exports are restricted by law and therefore require a permit from the related government agencies."

Source: General Prohibitions and Restrictions, Thai Customs Department, en.customs.go.th.

No permit fixes a prohibited item. A shipment carrying one is turned away regardless of the paperwork attached to it. A restricted item just needs the right agency's approval before a courier can book the flight, and the approval has to exist before export, not after a parcel is already held.

What never flies, regardless of destination

Dangerous goods rules set by the International Air Transport Association ban or tightly restrict items that pose a risk to an aircraft in flight, and lithium batteries and aerosols are two of the categories that stop the most parcels at Thai airports.

> "Dangerous Goods are items that may endanger the safety of an aircraft or persons on board the aircraft."

> "Certain items pose risks to aircraft, crew, and passengers and must be handled with strict precautions or are forbidden from air transport."

Source: Dangerous Goods Regulations, IATA, iata.org.

> "Some examples of dangerous goods are aerosols, lithium batteries, infectious substances, fireworks, dry-ice, gasoline powered engines and machinery, lighters, and paint."

Source: What You Need To Know About The Transport Of Dangerous Goods By Air, IATA.

A loose lithium battery or a can of aerosol packed inside a parcel is checked against those rules before the parcel is accepted, not after it reaches the airport. Asked what it will not carry to any destination, Dragon Courier's own answer names one of the same categories directly: "Religious items, batteries and anything illegal etc."

What Thailand will not let leave the country

Thailand controls the export of antiques, objects of art and Buddha images under a law older than most of its modern customs rules, and moving one out of the country without permission is illegal no matter who is shipping it.

> "No person shall send or take any antique or object of art, registered or not, out of the Kingdom without permission from the Director-General."

Source: Act on Ancient Monuments, Antiques, Objects of Art and National Museums B.E. 2504, Section 22, Fine Arts Department, finearts.go.th.

Thai Customs states the same rule from the export side: "The import or export of antiques or objects of art, whether registered or not, requires permission from the Fine Arts Department." A Buddha image, an amulet or an antique piece falls under this law regardless of its size or declared value, and the permission has to come from the Fine Arts Department before export, not from the courier. The "religious items" Dragon Courier lists among what it will not carry to any destination sits directly on top of this rule.

The list changes by destination

Beyond what is barred everywhere, each destination country runs its own import restrictions on top of Thailand's export rules, and a complete country by country list is not something a courier publishes, because it changes with local regulation on either side of the shipment.

Food, live plants and medical items are the categories that shift most by market. Dragon Courier's answer on that is direct: "It depends on the market, please inquire for specific details." A sender with a category not covered above is asked to check before packing, since the same item can clear one destination and be turned back at another.

Prohibited and restricted categories at a glance

How Dragon Courier handles it

Dragon Courier checks every parcel against dangerous goods rules and Thai export law before it books a flight. Customs clearance door to door is the main part of the service, and once a shipment clears both checks it moves under the same duty inclusive process as everything else Dragon Courier exports. Dragon Courier does not carry religious items, batteries or anything illegal to any destination, and it checks food, documents and medical items market by market before quoting a price. A sender unsure whether an item qualifies is asked to contact the team directly rather than guess, since the answer changes with both the destination and the category. A parcel held at customs for any reason follows the same recovery process Dragon Courier runs for any shipment stuck in transit.

About Dragon Courier

Dragon Courier is a Bangkok-based international courier shipping from Thailand to over 200 destinations. The business started in tailoring 30 years ago and has run under the same management team for most of that time. Today that is more than 20,000 shipments a month, duty and tax included on the main markets.

Contacts and drop-off

The contents of the box and where it is going are enough to get a quote. Office +66 2656 9019, WhatsApp and LINE at +66 6-5937-0812, or info@dragoncourier.com.

Drop-off runs until 17:00, Monday to Saturday, at the Bangkok office on Sukhumvit Soi 4 (217/3 Crystal Garden Building, 3rd floor, Klongtoey 10110) or the Chiang Mai office on Viangbua Road. A pickup can be arranged in Bangkok and Pattaya for a date and time that suits.