Thai freight forwarders are capable of providing transport-management services and international supply-chain support to exporters and importers. However, there are still limitations on capital and expansion of their services.
International freight forwarders and MTO service providers need to develop the quality of their services in order to create a competitive advantage. Therefore, the following proposals should be considered as a matter of priority:
Adjusting and developing Thailand’s logistics service providers will help to enhance the competitiveness of the country’s exporters, who face increasing foreign competition. Local operators must strive to improve their business conduct; to gain more efficiency and reduce their costs, while maintaining the highest service quality in order to satisfy the needs of their customers. Hence, logistics and supply-chain management has to become a primary strategy for building the capacity of Thai operators. Those operators who can best respond to the needs of their customers will be the winners in the coming market competition.
According to the guidelines for international trade, freight forwarders hold responsibility for delivering goods to destination countries. This is especially important for small firms that have to use consolidation services from freight forwarders in the case of less-than-a-container-load (LCL) consignments. But, as mentioned earlier, while the Multimodal Transport Act B.E. 2548 supports the status of MT0s, there is no law to clearly define the status of international freight forwarders. Due to this lack of legal status, freight forwarders receive no tax privileges and find difficulty in competing with other kinds of transporters. To help overcome this hurdle, the Thai International Freight Forwarders Association (TIFFA) has submitted a letter to the Ministry of Finance and the Revenue Department asking them to consider waiving the 7 per cent value-added tax on international freight forwarders’ services.
Thailand badly needs a law to clearly define the role of international freight forwarders in various capacities, such as agents or Non-Vessel Operating Common Carriers. Furthermore, the law should recognize the status of the Thai International Freight Forwarders Association and its role in supervising the ethics and service standards of international freight forwarders.
The Multimodal Transport Act applies to MTOs and shipping lines that provide international cargo services involving two or more modes of transport, obliging them to register their MTO licenses with the Merchant Marine Supervision Division of the Marine Department. The law has an objective to provide protection for shippers or transport service users.
Enforcement of the law should be improved to ensure that various parties strictly abide by its provisions. Exporters or shippers should be encouraged to familiarize themselves with the law, which exists to protect their interests.
In sea freight, you can choose 2 ways to ship your products. Usually it depends of the volume of the shipment, but it also relies on others factors such fragility or timing. Those two options are simply the FCL which is the Full container (20 feet or 40 feet) and LCL which is a shared container.
The choice of road freight (or trucking) with Docshipper represents a reliable alternative to sea and air. Indeed, although this mode of transport allows you to get longer, it offers real security to your merchandise at much more attractive prices.
We offer a trucking service on an international platform. We accompany you to any destination for any destination. We also offer parallel services such as packaging or customs formalities.
Whether it is a standard or door-to-door shipping, our platform-form stands out for its high level of security and modernity, which is perfectly combined with national or international logistics operations. We consider every need of our customers, and we adapt our process according to your project to find the best solution for you, your time and your budget.
The trucking service of Siam Expedition is distinguished by its quality. Thus, you can be certain that your merchandise will arrive intact and in time, at the best price.
To ensure the best success and the best development of your company, a good organization of logistics is essential. At Docshipper, we are aware. That is why we use all our network and our know-how to offer you a complete range of services that will perfectly meet your requirements in terms of quality and cost.
Our supply management services are a range of services that help you manage and consolidate all your transportation needs (multimodal, road, maritime, air or rail), as well as the needs of your supply chain. Supply. Our offer enables you to obtain the creation, management and realization of your logistics, guaranteeing you a wider and more complex transport network.
For medium and large sized shipments, our supply chain solutions, we can establish a transportation management that will improve the performance of your business, with competitive freight rates. Thus, your logistics needs will become simpler, more efficient and more profitable. We use an automated tool to manage the online order price, contact with the various service providers and contract management, shipment visibility and management reports.
Trucking Docshipper offers logistics at regional, national or international level. We also offer optional options such as insurance or urgent mention. Our offer is distinguished with its personalized services, its listening salespersons and your qualified employees.
If you need an immediate quantity of goods or relocate your premises, we have a fleet of trucks that are dedicated to your company’s expectations. For more information, do not hesitate to contact us, we will return you in the highest delay.
Complete delivery
Our door-to-door service includes all the necessary steps to ship the cargo, from its origin to the destination:
We are a freight forwarder and we also offer our services in all Asia. We can provide intermodal freight for all companies throughout ASEAN, our core business. This will allow companies to reduce costs and this offers an alternative to road transport.
The intermodal rail is also a long-term transport solution, it can be a real door-to-door service solution. It is also a more economical means of transport for companies, which will respond more rapidly to the growing need of the consumer.
Safety is also more important in this type of transport. Indeed, intermodal rail transport greatly reduces the risk of delay and / or theft of merchandise in the cargo. It is also considered a more environmentally friendly means of transport since it requires less fuel.
Intermodal transport is a means of transport of goods that uses at least 2 modes of transport (trucking, rail or boats) without handling the freight. Thanks to these different means of transport one allows oneself to have the best characteristics of each transport used, this also brings savings for the sender. This brings a real scalable capacity for shippers, so if you need a door-to-door service, contact us to know more about our intermodal solutions.
Some products can be imported into Thailand without any tax for the foreigner who imports them, but these personal effects are subject to specific conditions. If the person importing the goods has diplomatic status, holds a valid one-year Thai work permit, his goods enter within six months of his arrival in Thailand. If the above conditions are verified, only one ship or air can be authorized, and the shipper can bring his domestic appliances only free of duty. The rule is similar if it is a Thai national who wants to return his property and personal effects to Thailand. He must, however, prove that he has resided for more than a year in a foreign country and on a continuous basis. It is only by air and sea that goods can circulate, and each of the electrical appliances is exempt from duty.
Anyone not complying with the above rules will have to pay fines. This is the case for all returning Thailand or foreigners who import household appliances and personal property in Thailand. The amount varies according to the objects and is negotiable with the customs service. Siam Relocation will do everything possible to limit the price of these tax obligations to the maximum.
The sender is not obliged to be present in person during customs clearance at the port or airport, but we must despite all present his original passport and a work permit, also original, one year to the Thai authorities During clearance. The shipper must therefore already be in Thailand for the dispatch to be cleared from the customs. A returning Thai national must present his old and current passport.
The most significant fact in the history of Phuket was the attack by the Burmese in 1785. It is said that Sir Francis Light, a captain of the East India Company, sent a message to the local administration, warning that he had observed that Burmese forces were preparing for an attack. Kunying Jan, the governor’s wife, who had recently died, and her sister Mook, organized the defense of the island. After a month of siege, the Burmese were removed, the March 13, 1785 and the two women became national heroines, receiving the King Rama I, the honorary names Thao Thep and Thao Sri Sunthon Kasatri.
During the reign of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), Phuket became the administrative center of tin production in the southern provinces. In 1933, the Monthon Phuket was dissolved and Phuket became a province.
The old names of the island include Ko Thalang and Junk Ceylan, an English Malay Tanjung Salang distortion (Cape Salang).
Like most of Thailand, the vast majority of the population is Buddhist, but there is also a significant number of Muslims (17%).
An increase of international passenger numbers, combined with a strong domestic traffic, led Thailand to accelerate its program of investment in airport infrastructure.
Thailand is facing a slower growing number of traveler in the last 20 months, due to the recent political events. The figures show that while domestic traffic rose 16.1%, the increase was offset by a 5.6% decrease in international passengers. Overall, the six airports run by Airports of Thailand (AOT) experienced an increase of 37.8% in passenger numbers (each year) and a 25% increase in number of flights.
The pressure is felt on many provincial airports that have launched major modernization programs. This program should greatly open up certain cities, increase tourism and air freight and reduce the crowds on the Bangkok airport.
Suvarnabhumi should increase its capacity as Don Meuang – second air hub of the capital – with the construction of a new terminal that will be ready in December 2016. The airport primarily serves low cost airline flights, and this increase in air freight relieve Suvarnabhumi.
To know more about Bangkok main airport, check their website : Suvarnabhumi Airport
While the two largest airports in Bangkok are the main focus of these investments, the government also target secondary airports in order to strengthen regional networks, with facilities in Chiang Mai, Phuket, Hat Yai and Chiang Rai.
AOT also seeks to enlarge Mae Sot airport, on the Burmese border, in anticipation of expected growth through special economic zone in the region. The Department of Transportation has announced an investment plan of 298 million baht for the project, which includes the acquisition of additional land for the expansion of the airport, with completion expected in 2018.
Thai airways, official national airline company of Thailand.
Among the benefits in the development of Dawei deep sea port are:
The Port Authority of Thailand, as the lead agency, has implemented a port expansion plan by developing the second pool and inviting private sector participation on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT).
According to the IMF, the economy of Thailand is considered as an emerging economies, heavily dependent on exports which account for over half of GDP, 654 billion of dollars in 2015. This same year, Thailand is the second largest economy in Southeast Asia, after Indonesia but ahead of Malaysia.
The recovery in Thailand since the Asian economic crisis of 1997, is expressed in particular by specializing in certain export sectors such as automotive, food processing, electronics that make return significant amounts of foreign currency as tourism. GDP growth of Thailand has been running for a decade between 2% and 8%, with high volatility, especially because of the consequences of tensions in the South of Thailand, the 2004 tsunami and political instability linked to shirts red and yellow shirts and the 2008 crisis.
« Economic Integration has arrived. We must make the most of it »
The 10 nations of ASEAN are putting the final touches on their creation of a single market and production base with a population greater than either the European Union or North America, and the Permanent Secretary of Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce, Chutima Bunyaphraphasara, says the Kingdom must now strive to make the best use of the new régional economic integration.
For much of the past decade, the leaders of Thailand’s *tic- and private-sector organizations have been preaching the benefits and opportunities promised by the implementation at the end of 2015 of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).
As that time arrived, the ASEAN nations had almost perfectly achieved their mission of forming a single market and production base, one of the four major elements of the AEC, by reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers, facilitating intraregional trade, harmonizing standards, rules and regulations, liberalizing trade, services and investment and allowing a free flow of skilled labor.
The single big message from the Ministry of Commerce’s Permanent Secretary, Chutima Bunyapraphasara, is that the time has come; the benefits and opportunities are here for the taking, and it behoves all in Thailand who may enjoy them to make the best use of them.
Moreover, Thailand has a significant geographic advantage. Since the country is centrally located at the heart of ASEAN, Thai companies can conveniently trade with their counterparts in neighboring countries that share borders with Thailand, as well as investing in these countries. Thailand can also serve as a gateway to ASEAN for countries outside the region that wish to do business, export or invest in ASEAN.
“Thanks to our strategic location, Thailand can become a (trading and investment] gateway for our neighboring countries by utilizing the AEC program,” Chutima said.
Clearly, the benefits of economic integration have been growing for some years. ASEAN is already Thailand’s No.1 trading partner for both exports and imports. The Kingdom’s exports to ASEAN have grown consistently, year by year. Total shipments to ASEAN member countries exceeded $59 billion in 2014, accounting for 26 per cent of Thailand’s total exports.
In reality, the market for Thai companies has expanded from 69 million people in the past to 600 million people throughout the ASEAN region.
The new economic community obviously presents a jewel of an opportunity for Thai business operators to overcome constraints such as tabor shortages, higher production costs and lost trade privileges. They can now take advantage of ASEAN’s “single production base” by moving some of their production to neighboring countries where these issues are not a problem.
To ensure that the country fully utilizes the benefits of the AEC, the government has initiated many projects, including the enhancement of its trade and investment policies to better facilitate business, such as hastening the completion of the “National Single Window” project; investing in road and rail infrastructure to improve connectivity with neighboring countries; promoting border trade by removing obstacles and facilitating trade at border checkpoints; providing special tax and non-tax privileges to projects situated in Special Economic Zones; and enhancing the capabilities of Thai enterprises, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises. It has also assisted the development of human resources in various occupations in order to prepare them for the challenges of the AEC.
“The Ministry of Commerce has been working closely with other parties on these initiatives and we are confident that they will bring Thailand into the forefront of ASEAN and thus our vision of ‘Think ASEAN, Think Thailand’ will materialize,” Chutima said.
Some of the main benefits of the AEC will be the ability of member countries and their businesses to complement their strengths and weaknesses and gain in local and global competitiveness.
“We can utilize benefits from the integration of Asean’s supply chain,” Chutima said. “As tariff and trade barriers are removed, importing raw materials from our neighboring countries will become more convenient than shipping them from outside the region. We can also bring in labor from neighboring countries to help meet our needs because we are entering an ageing demography. We can also bring in management and know-how from neighboring countries if they excel in particular fields.
“At the same time, we can utilize the transport infrastructure which has been developed to help bring down the costs of our business sector and enhance the competitiveness of our exported goods in Asean and other global markets,” she said.
The 10 Asean member countries have finalized their ninth package of commitments under the Asean Framework Agreement on Services. They are now moving Onto the 10th package, although the completion schedule for this package has been postponed by two years to 2017.
Nevertheless, the member countries have already given priority to the logistics sector, among other sectors, and have opened up their markets in accordance with earlier commitments. This is because of the importance of logistics as a trade facilitator that helps to boost trade and investment and promotes the single market principle.
Logistics is now one of the major service sectors on which the Ministry of Commerce has focused its promotional efforts, along with other industries such as tourism and healthcare services. The AEC will present distinct opportunities for Thai logistics service providers. They will be able to expand their operations by establishing warehouses, distribution centers and transport services in other Asean countries.
So far, Thailand has not undertaken to open up its logistic sector more than what is stipulated in current domestic laws. However, Chutima said the sector could be opened up ahead of the AEC’s framework because of its important influence on the competitiveness of Thai goods.
“In the meantime, we can unilaterally open up our logistics sector to support our policy of becoming a trading hub of the region,” she said.
Chutima said that Thai logistics service providers still needed to enhance their competitiveness to some the country’s mission of becoming a regional trading hub. A study commissioned by the World Bank has shown that the Kingdom has relatively high logistics costs – 14.1 to 14.7 per cent of gross domestic product, compared to 8.2 per cent of GDP in the United States and 7.2 per cent in the European Union. Thailand is ranked 35th on the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index, which rated 160 countries around the world. It is lower down the index than two other Asean members – Singapore and Malaysia. The Logistics Performance Index indicates three areas that Thailand should tackle urgently: customs procedures, infrastructure and the competency of its logistics service providers.
Chutima said the government had already announced massive investments in infrastructure projects and was currently making a big effort to improve its customs procedures. On the matter of enhancing the competitiveness of logistics service providers, she said the private sector, especially the Thai International Freight Forwarders’ Association, should take a leading role.
“The government sector is very pleased to lend our support if there is a concrete plan proposed to us, since it is our policy to work closely with the private sector,” she said.
The Ministry of Commerce’s Departments of International Trade Promotion and Business Development implemented several projects to help Thai logistics service providers in 2015, she said. These including training and advisory services to help with organizational management and cost reductions; organizing seminars to disseminate knowledge on various topics such as innovations, “green logistics” and ISO standards; appraising organizations’ capacity to achieve ISO standards; holding international conferences on connecting logistics to facilitate the AEC; organizing an Excellent Logistics Management Award; helping local logistics service providers to meet and build networks with overseas governments and their foreign counterparts; and providing space for logistics firms to showcase their services at international trade fairs such as BIG+BIH and THAIFEX in Bangkok.
Further information, visit the official website : ASEAN
