Moving old tool chest concerns

From experience:

If you ship with a courier company they will ensure you follow every rule. Every single one. So the chances of you getting import fees are very, very high.

However if you ship with the post office they, pretty much, take you at your word.

Send it to yourself at the Main Post Office. Mark it with your name and passport number on at least 2 sides and top or bottom. Send it the slowest way possible that has tracking and insure it for the full amount (as it is much less likely to go missing if they have to pay you that amount).

Then come here. A week before it is due to arrive go to the post office and show them your shipping info. They'll check for it on the computer and, most likely, tell you it isn't there. That's okay. The point is to have them see you check on it. Then come back every Monday and Friday and have them check each time. The longer it takes the better as the staff will notice it when it arrives and put it somewhere (safe) so they can give it to you when you come back. Oh, and its very important for you to always be extra nice, polite and smile - especially when they are telling you it isn't here yet. They never see that. Also let them get to know you by telling them how important this is to you because it belonged to your father (not because of how much it costs). Combined there is a 99.9% chance you can just pick it up without any extra fees.

I did this when I went home to Canada after my father's death. I packed all kinds of tools (saws, screwdrivers, wrenches, etc.) into a box with a bunch of other stuff and sent them to CM from Canada. 3 boxes full of all kinds of things I had in Canada that I wanted in CM and were worth the shipping cost. I got them without any customs as they knew they were my Dad's tools and his other effects.

BTW: I'd like to add that when things go missing it is almost always because they disappear after a failed attempt to deliver or when they have been sitting around gathering dust for too long.

So... by picking it up you cut out all the delivery people and by going in frequently you cut out all the storage people.

It's an interesting idea, thanks. Sadly Australia Post doesn't offer surface mail anymore to Thailand, and airmail is insanely expensive, it would be much cheaper to pay import duties than to ship by normal post. Not good for me.