Wondering how Thai post mail sent overseas [ไปรษณีย์ไทยส่งของไปต่างประเทศ which is the term in Thai] and international shipping costs are calculated? As an importer, you may already know that the total cost of a product is worth the shipping costs, the cost of the product and the customs duties.

What international shipping cost

When planning on sending your purchased items home, calculating the postage to overseas [คํานวณค่าส่งไปรษณีย์ไปต่างประเทศ which is the term in Thai] could be difficult. Below, we will try to indicate what costs are usually included and when they are.

Overseas Shipping

For overseas deliveries, you have two options to bring your goods home, they are the sea freight and standard air freight.

Sea freight

This is of two types, namely, Less Container Load and Full Container Load. LCL means a mass shipment that is relevant to smaller shipments. In contrast, FCL is relevant if you send more than 15 m3 and, in this case, you can self-populate an entire container. The LCL prices are calculated based on the volume (cubic meters / m3), which is a concept of how much space the cargo occupies. The FCL price for a full container varies quite a bit. This is due to the basic principle of supply and demand, which also applies to most other markets.

Standard air freight

The price of a standard air freight is determined by the loadable weight. In practice, this means that the price is calculated based on a predefined dimensional factor, which is determined by the respective airline and based on the loading capacity of the aircraft. The weight refers to the density of a shipment which considers the volume concerning its weight.  It is crucial to note that transport prices do not always include everything. For overseas transport, the costs depends on the agreed Incoterms.