ordering books in Phuket (online or at a shop)

[the juggler]

I am looking for some English books.

I am sure some of you have already ordered books from amazon.com to Thailand. As I think that amazon doesn't have a branch office in LOS, I would reckon I will have to order from USA. Did your orders arrive, in what time and what kind of additional taxes, import duties did you have to pay?

Or did someone order in a local bookshop here in Phuket (Central or Jungceylon)? How were your experiences with this?

THX

[inthemode]

I have ordered alot of books from Amazon U.S. I have never had to pay duty or anything.

It takes about 7 days to recieve most.

[LivinLOS]

I order from amazon all the time.. Maybe once every 2 months.. Shipping cost is a bit freaky but the USD price of books is really low (look at amazon.co.uk and its double) so its swings and roundabouts.

I find they take anything from 4 or even 6 ish weeks.. Cartainly I dont get 7 day delivery (is this a courier upgraded shipping ??) As you dont get much discount on group shipping (some but not much) its better to have a few coming regular and then have a stream of parcels IMO.

I have never paid any duty on purely books. But if you have one DVD in the package the whole bundle can get taxed, I was once told that maps do the same so what happens if you buy an atlas !!! I also have never had ana amazon box go missing either. Tho now I am out of Patong my post has gone crap and many 'test' letters I have sent myself have not been delivered.

[marc26]

Originally Posted by LivinLOS

I order from amazon all the time.. Maybe once every 2 months.. Shipping cost is a bit freaky but the USD price of books is really low (look at amazon.co.uk and its double) so its swings and roundabouts.

I find they take anything from 4 or even 6 ish weeks.. Cartainly I dont get 7 day delivery (is this a courier upgraded shipping ??) As you dont get much discount on group shipping (some but not much) its better to have a few coming regular and then have a stream of parcels IMO.

I have never paid any duty on purely books. But if you have one DVD in the package the whole bundle can get taxed, I was once told that maps do the same so what happens if you buy an atlas !!! I also have never had ana amazon box go missing either. Tho now I am out of Patong my post has gone crap and many 'test' letters I have sent myself have not been delivered.

speaking of which
you are about a month away from gettign your book from me!

it is under my time clock, need to remember it

[munggri]

I order books from Amazon in the US maybe 3-4 times a year.I use the
expedited shipping option and as inthemode says,delivery times are
around 7 days.I've never had to pay additional charges,regarding
import duties,etc.

The expedited shipping charges are quite steep though.My last order
of 4 books,placed on the 15th March 2008, cost 81.31 US$ and the
shipping cost 53.95 US $.

If you want to save money then maybe you should use a slower delivery
method, as per, LivinLOS post.

If you expedite the order, then a DHL tracking number,or two, will be
provided by Amazon and you can follow the shipment progress from
Amazon to your home on the DHL website.

I have had problems receiving books sent by Amazon in the UK,but these
were, in the main, caused by local Thai formalities and Amazon UK
were very,very helpful in overcoming all problems.

I reckon something like the Amazon Kindle will prove a boon, in future,
to expats living here,who don't want to pay the extortionate DHL
delivery charges.

Hope this helps.

[Nicke]

I use a PO Box for most of my mail (not for courier ofcourse) as its a step less and cost only 160 baht or so per year. Also it remains same when you move around. So maybe an option if you have problems receiving your mail.

Originally Posted by LivinLOS

I order from amazon all the time.. Maybe once every 2 months.. Shipping cost is a bit freaky but the USD price of books is really low (look at amazon.co.uk and its double) so its swings and roundabouts.

I find they take anything from 4 or even 6 ish weeks.. Cartainly I dont get 7 day delivery (is this a courier upgraded shipping ??) As you dont get much discount on group shipping (some but not much) its better to have a few coming regular and then have a stream of parcels IMO.

I have never paid any duty on purely books. But if you have one DVD in the package the whole bundle can get taxed, I was once told that maps do the same so what happens if you buy an atlas !!! I also have never had ana amazon box go missing either. Tho now I am out of Patong my post has gone crap and many 'test' letters I have sent myself have not been delivered.

[Dingo's]

Nicke,

I remember this discussion not so long ago about PO Boxes. Is it possible to get a PO Box at the Patong Post Office or are they all out?

Are there other Post Offices around the Patong area (maybe not IN Patong like Kathu) where I could get a PO Box from?

I think it would definitely come in handy.

Cheers.

[Lightemup]

Amazon delivered the new Rainbow Six Vegas 2 PC game to me within 5 days via DHL, cost a lot in shipping tho..But only shipping option available as I ordered.

[Nicke]

When I first moved here I used a po box at Kathu post office while waiting for an available one in Patong. I got that maybe 6 months later.

There used to be two locations in Patong, I dont know if they restored the one on beach road after tsunami or not, but I am using one at rat-u-thit post office.

I dont have any clue if they have any available or not, so I guess you have to ask them. (And maybe monthly, until you get one)

Have been useful, over the years I have been living in 4 different places but kept my main mail address.

Originally Posted by Dingo's

Nicke,

I remember this discussion not so long ago about PO Boxes. Is it possible to get a PO Box at the Patong Post Office or are they all out?

Are there other Post Offices around the Patong area (maybe not IN Patong like Kathu) where I could get a PO Box from?

I think it would definitely come in handy.

Cheers.

[jimholio]

Originally Posted by Lightemup

Amazon delivered the new Rainbow Six Vegas 2 PC game to me within 5 days via DHL, cost a lot in shipping tho..But only shipping option available as I ordered.

Great game that one Lightemup! If you havent already, you should check out Call of duty 4 aswell, pretty much beats anything in the genre i would say, although it is rather short.