Sometimes people complain that the post office delivery guy is unreliable, or that they don't have a fixed address to receive parcels.

For example my local delivery guy likes to drop the parcels at my front door if nobody is at home.

But there is a solution to it: A parcel can be sent as "poste restante", which means that they keep the parcel at the post office for you to pick it up.

So if i know that i might not be at home at the day of delivery i use the "poste restante" address to not become a victim of theft.

 

To receive a parcel like this you just put your name, "poste restante" and the address of the post office on the parcel.

Your name
Poste restante
Bang Phli post office
10540 Bang Phli, Samut Prakan

Can be used with any post office in Thailand. I guess as long as the name and post code of the post office is correct the parcel will find its way. If in doubt ask your local post office for their address.

I've only used this with parcels which had tracking, so i knew when it arrived, and never picked up a parcel more than two days after it arrived. I don't know if they would try to contact you if your phone number is on the parcel, or how long they keep it before sending it back.

It;s a few years ago and I did the same because at the time the postman with his motorbike would not deliver big parcels to the home.

So I would have had to pickup at the post office anyway and I could choose an office with more convenient location.

1 hour ago, jackdd said:

or how long they keep it before sending it back.

Found some hints that it would be 14 days.

Each day holding in the office costs a whopping 1 Baht.

Edited March 4, 20206 yr by KhunBENQ

Can the "poste restante" facility also be used for other general items of mail where unreliable delivery guys could prove problematical (e.g. UK State Pension Life Certificates where the DWP deadine for the receipt of witnessed forms might otherwise have expired prior to eventual delivery and State Pension payments stopped as a result)?

Edited March 4, 20206 yr by OJAS

Poste restante addressing can be used for all types of postal items.

anyone now how long they will hold packages??

Am moving to Kep, Cambodia soon and was thinking of sending packages up to Trat as its a lot closes than phuket and than go pick them up later 

its dam expensive to qsend packages to Kep from Phuket
 

13 hours ago, Maestro said:

Poste restante addressing can be used for all types of postal items.

While "Poste Restante" can probably receive your pension and other checks, you could well have a problem with the sending institution as many will not send checks to a PO box or Poste Restante, requiring instead a residential address.  

 

On 3/5/2020 at 2:17 PM, dddave said:

While "Poste Restante" can probably receive your pension and other checks, you could well have a problem with the sending institution as many will not send checks to a PO box or Poste Restante, requiring instead a residential address.  

 

The UK State Pension payments I referred to in my previous post are made electronically to bank accounts in the UK or here in Thailand. I seriously doubt whether any pension, etc payments are still made by means of paper cheques despatched to recipients by snall mail these days!