Thai Customs Department
The Thai Customs Department is Thailand's customs authority, responsible for collecting import and export duties, collecting VAT on imports on behalf of the Revenue Department, enforcing customs and trade controls, and facilitating trade. It supervises all goods entering and leaving Thailand and administers the country's customs procedures, valuation, classification and clearance.
Thailand operates a paperless e-Customs system, with declarations submitted electronically and integrated into the Thailand National Single Window, allowing largely automated clearance and risk-based inspection. Thai Customs also administers duty privileges and facilitation schemes — including those tied to Board of Investment (BOI) promotion, free zones and bonded warehouses — that support Thailand's export and manufacturing economy. For importers, exporters and manufacturers in Thailand, Thai Customs is the central authority whose duties, VAT collection, declarations and privilege schemes shape the cost and process of trade. Understanding its procedures is essential to clearing goods and operating in Thailand.
Thai Customs governs the duties, import VAT, declarations and privilege schemes that shape every Thai import and export — and its paperless e-Customs and single-window integration make clearance largely automated. For traders and manufacturers in Thailand, understanding its procedures and BOI/free-zone privileges is fundamental to the cost and speed of trade.
What does Thai Customs collect?
Import and export duties and, on imports, VAT on behalf of the Revenue Department, plus enforcing trade controls and administering privilege schemes.
Is clearance paperless in Thailand?
Yes — Thailand runs a paperless e-Customs system integrated with the National Single Window for largely automated, risk-based clearance.