DONATING Clothes in THAILAND?
Question by michaelsmail@rogers.com: DONATING Clothes in THAILAND?
I hope this question will not come out culturally insensitive, however, I am NOT particularly knowledgeable about THAI customs and culture.
I am arriving in BKK on NOVEMBER 18TH and would like to ship about 20 boxes of gently used clothes to give away while I’m there. In this regard, I have several questions.
1. Do Thai men have any use for long-sleeve shirts (mainly dress shirts) due to the climate?
2. Do elderly women wear long pants? (My Mother just passed away and she left hundreds of outfits behind but they are mainly long sleeved shirts and long, polyester pants – very small – size O or 2.
3. What would be the best method to distribute this clothing, I don’t want to just go out on the street and get mobbed.
4. What’s the procedure to get the clothing into the country through Customs. Should I ask my Embassy for help?? Are there special forms to be filled out?? (FEDEX has agree to ship them for free!)
THANKS SO MUCH for all your help!!
VERY BEST WISHES
Best answer:
Answer by freezacrowd
Clothing is very cheap in thailand.
You should donate the clothes to a local agency like the Salvation army for example
Add your own answer in the comments!
First let me say yes, it’s true clothes are cheap in Thailand, but there are some extremely poor people there, and I think it’s great you’re donating clothes.
1. Yes, Thai men wear long sleeve shirts. You’d be surprised at how much clothing Thai people wear considering how hot it is there. I suppose they’re just used to it.
2. Yes, women wear long pant. In fact, that’s mainly what they wear. I think some ladies would really appreciate getting some nice pants like that. Thai women dress very conservatively.
3. I suggest going to one of the temples. There are tons of them everywhere. You can also look up a church if you feel more comfortable with that. There might not be as many as temples, but there’s still quite a few. And don’t worry, Thais are not the type to mob you. They are very very polite.
4. As far as customs goes, it shouldn’t be a problem as long as you explain the clothes are for charity. The only way you have problems is if they’re for sale and you don’t declare them. Then the worse thing they would do is confiscate them. But since your giving them away, you don’t need to pay any sort of duty. Just the normal custom form to explain what it is. Fedex should have some.
Good luck.
From a personal experience, it would be best to donate them to local temples. Yes, clothes are cheap but for some locals (especially if they are poverty stricken), they can’t afford to get even the cheapest clothing available even for 50 Baht!
Trust me, locals would be happier when those clothes are distributed in temples than anywhere else… you might be interested in giving it to them personally, especially if those temples were out of town/far from the city.
I think you might want to consider sending the items to orphanges in Phuket, where children of the last tsunamis are. You can ask your embassy in Thiland to help you link up with the organisations in Phuket for the arrangement.
I think the children there will have much use for any donations of any kind.
Just a personal opinion.
peanutz got the right idea.
Contact your local embassy and/or charitable organisations in Thailand and enquire what’s the best way of doing this.
There are plenty of charitable organisations in Thailand. Have a talk to them. The poorer areas up north and the northeast will probably be a good place to go – but this also means transporting the boxes up there. Communities down south destroyed by the tsunami can probably do with such donation also.
Keep in mind though – that if you come from a colder country, some of the clothing might not be appropriate for the hot and humid places like Thailand. Polyester pants might just not be as practical to Thais in the hot climate. REALLY nice outfits also can be useless for the really poor rural communities. Where and when would they wear them?
It is a good thing you are doing.
All the best with your endeavour.
My opinion
EDIT: Spanky, my apologies. You are right. I should not be so quick to assume. Glad yo came here to answer this question. You have all the right knowledge and experience to give an answer to this question. Cheers
First of all thanks a lot for your lovely tought and the “trouble” bringing them over here. Guess the previous answers are very good! God bless you…
Yes. I have done this many times and in many different areas here.. Long sleeves are preffered for field work because it keeps the sun off the skin – if the poly pants aren’t too heavy, that will be ok – and there is nothing like a dress shirt to help a poor man feel a little better about himself – and yes, I live in a small agrarian village and they do have holidays, weddings, house warming parties etc… even if they need to go into town or to the doctor, they do not want to go dressed like a poor field worker… how nice of you to do this – I have enjoyed the process of distributing in the past and sometimes it feels good to give the stuff away personally. If you need any help on the ground, let me know – - how nice of fedex as well. I will remember them next time I have a document to go outbound.
I agree with Teddy the bear’s answer to give your clothes to the temple. Every temple in countryside will have the primary school located , the temple can distribute the clothes via school and children. It is the best idea.