Moving During the Covid-19 crisis as of December 2020

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Moving During the Covid-19 crisis (As of December, 2020)

This past year has been a tough one hasn’t it? No matter your views on the subject, COVID-19 has affected everyone and everywhere to a greater or lesser degree. With companies going out of business and employees being let go, this global pandemic has tested our limits as human beings, business owners, employees and even as parents.

So, what does this mean if you are planning a move to or from the Kingdom of Thailand, and what does this mean for you as the paying customer?

We hope this short blog can help to answer those questions.

Some industries have taken a harder hit than others. Unfortunately, the international logistics industry is one of those that have been affected the most. That said, where there are negatives there are sure to be positives. That’s just the way the world works. Good vs evil, hot vs cold, etc.… The universe is made up of never-ending dichotomies. 

So, let’s get the bad out of the way first, so we can leave you with the good. 

The Bad

We, like you, thrive from transparency. We want to be completely open and honest about the current situation so you are well prepared on what to expect when moving internationally during these difficult times.

Because Relocation Company’s like USP Relocations (Thailand) relies heavily on the logistics industry, we would like to share with you the current situation when it comes to moving Internationally. The following information comes from (in part) from one our top logistics partners (Shipco Transport):

The global supply chain is no doubt impacted by the current Covid-19 pandemic. How exactly?

In regards to transportation, equipment imbalance, shortage of truckers, etc., have caused significant cost increases in most markets and trades. There are Indications that this will continue for the unforeseeable future.

This doesn’t only affect the logistics industry. It also impacts manufacturers, trading companies and the retail sector as cargo is ordered at Point A and later sold at Point B. It makes merchandise more expensive for the end consumer as well.

Covid-19 has brought about lockdowns around the world which has impacted all economies and global trade in a way very few saw coming. What has happened is truly unprecedented.

Port operations were halted or negatively impacted globally. Cargo moved through the ports at a slower pace because cargo receivers stopped containers either at origin or destination ports. With the world ´shutting down´, the ocean carriers had to reduce capacity to cut their losses on empty ships.

There were three months of sluggish volumes globally from April to June, followed by a sudden and relatively sharp recovery in July and August. With other production countries around the world being impacted by the pandemic, China was back in full production, and that availability increased orders from there.

The list of reasons and ramifications goes on for a while and we don’t want to bore you with the details. That said, if you do want to know more, please contact us and we can help answer any question you may have. A simple Google search would yield many results as well.

Simply put: COVID-19 has caused costs of logistics companies to temporarily inflate. These higher costs have temporarily caused relocation companies like us to increase our costs. This in turn has unfortunately forced us to (again temporarily) charge the customer (you) more to make ends meet. 

We keep emphasizing the word temporarily for a reason, and this bring us to the good news 😊

The Good

First:

USP Relocations (Thailand) is not a massive international company, and we mostly focus on moving folks like you, to or from Thailand. Because of this, our costs will be lower than the big guys. True, our costs our slightly higher now, but even during the Covid-19 crisis we are able to keep our costs much lower than the top dogs.

Second: Did we mention the word temporary? Nothing stays the same. This is especially true when we are talking about Thailand and the covid-19 pandemic. Thailand is one of the top countries in the world when it comes to dealing with COVID-19.

As of December, 2020 – Thailand sits at only number 151 out of 200 countries with the worst covid-19 situation. With only 60 total deaths and 237 active cases, Thailand is a pretty relaxed and stress-free country right now. 

Compare this with a similar country in size like the U.K.

The U.K. sits close to the top at number 6. With 64,402 deaths and 1.87 million active cases!  Obviously, this information isn’t very beneficial if you were moving to or back to the U.K., but it does speak volumes in just how well Thailand has coped with the pandemic

Again, no matter your political views, the majority of people know that this can’t go on forever. The situation can and will change at some point.  All we can do is hope that it changes sooner than later.

I summation, whether you are paying for the move yourself or it’s a company paid move, most likely it still needs to be done. Despite the recent spike in prices from Covid-19, our team of experts at USP Relocations (Thailand) are working endlessly to ensure smooth relocations and to help reduce the costs as much as possible with the intention of saving you money. 

If you have any further questions or concerns about moving internationally to or from Thailand during this pandemic, please do not hesitate to contact us, and one of our highly trained relocation consultants will be at your aid.

We wish you nothing but good luck in your upcoming relocation. We hope that you and your family stay safe and healthy during this pandemic, and that you find peace and tranquility at your new home.