What you are charged on
FCL is priced per container, so a half-empty box costs the same as a full one. LCL is priced on revenue tonnes — the greater of weight in tonnes or volume in CBM — which is why light, bulky cargo is billed on its size.
Services
Sea freight from Thailand — FCL and LCL
Full containers where the volume justifies one, consolidated groupage where it does not, booked on the major trade lanes through our carrier and agent network.
Overview
Sea Freight
Sea freight carries the overwhelming majority of what leaves and enters Thailand, and for most cargo it is the mode that decides whether a shipment is profitable. It is also the mode with the most moving parts: a rate is only comparable to another rate when both sit on the same Incoterms rule, the same port pair, and the same set of surcharges.
We book space on the lanes our customers actually use, quote the whole movement rather than the ocean leg alone, and tell you which of the numbers on the quote are fixed and which move with the market.
- FCL — full container load — 20ft, 40ft and 40ft high-cube, sealed at your factory and opened at the consignee's door. The right choice once the volume approaches a container, because the rate stops depending on how the cargo cubes out.
- LCL — shared container — Consolidated groupage for part loads, charged on whichever is greater of the weight in tonnes or the volume in cubic metres. Below roughly 15 CBM this is normally the cheaper answer.
- Port to port, or door to door — We can take the shipment from the berth, or from your supplier's gate through to the receiving door with the haulage at both ends included in one price.
- Reefer and special equipment — Temperature-controlled containers with the set point confirmed in writing before loading, plus flat rack and open top where the cargo will not fit a standard box.
- Export and import clearance — Handled in-house by our own licensed brokers rather than subcontracted, so the declaration and the booking are prepared by one team.
- Cargo insurance — Arranged on request. Note that carrier liability is limited by convention and is not insurance — it is calculated on the weight of the goods, not their value.
Good to know
Three things that decide the cost and the timing
What the ocean rate leaves out
Terminal handling at both ends, documentation, customs, haulage and any bunker or peak-season surcharge sit outside the base rate. We itemise them, because a quote that hides them is not cheaper, only shorter.
How Thai Customs values it
Imports are valued on a CIF basis under the Customs Act B.E. 2560 whatever Incoterms rule was agreed. Exports are declared FOB. The term you trade on changes who arranges the freight — not how the entry is valued.
Common questions
Sea Freight: common questions
How long does sea freight from Thailand take?
Transit depends on the lane and on how many transhipments the routing carries. Intra-Asia services are typically a few days to about two weeks; long-haul services to Europe or the US west coast usually run several weeks port to port. We quote the specific sailing rather than an average, because a direct service and a two-transhipment routing on the same lane are not the same shipment.
Should I use FCL or LCL?
As a rule of thumb, cargo approaching 15 cubic metres or so is usually cheaper in a full 20ft container than as groupage, and it also avoids the consolidation and deconsolidation handling that LCL adds at both ends. Below that, LCL normally wins. We will price both when the volume sits near the line.
Our other services
Air Freight
Urgent, high-value and perishable cargo, priced on chargeable weight and moved on the first available uplift.
Land Freight
Port haulage, domestic distribution and cross-border road freight with the border formalities arranged in advance.
Customs Clearance
Import and export declarations, tariff classification, duty assessment and FTA preference claims, handled in-house.
Documentation & Compliance
COO, phytosanitary, CITES, LPI, Thai FDA support and Section 29 duty refunds, applied for alongside the booking.