Letter Mail to United States

[Acharn]

For months I've been watching for information about the mail situation, which shut down when airline flights were suspended. On Sunday I received my replacement credit card in my mail. I had previously received an email from Bank of America informing me they had "shipped" my replacement card on September 10. So that took one month, but may have been held up in the States. Today I went to the main post office in Nakhon Sawan and, after checking their computer, they accepted my absentee ballot to go Air Mail to the United States. Price ฿30, same as before (two sheets of paper). Of course I have no guarantee it will get there before November 3, but I can check its status on the internet (the ballot, not the letter).

[Swiss1960]

Why not send the letter registered? That is what I do with my mail to Switzerland and I can follow the journey through airports,  customs, post offices, mail distribution centres to the recipient (including name). Few Baht more, but that way you are kept informed about the progress 

[suhoaswhas]

8 hours ago, Swiss1960 said:

Why not send the letter registered? That is what I do with my mail to Switzerland and I can follow the journey through airports,  customs, post offices, mail distribution centres to the recipient (including name). Few Baht more, but that way you are kept informed about the progress 

ant registered letter to USA is 200 thb at least !

 

[mtls2005]

I am under the impression that:

 

Regular airmail FROM Thailand to the U.S. was re-enabled on/about 1 October. 40 baht, up to 40 grams.  

 

 

 

 

 

Regualr airmail FROM the U.S. to Thailand now re-enabled: $1.20 up to 1 oz. Delivery times 14 days and up.

 

 

 

Alternatives FROM Thailand to the U.S. incluide EMS (World) 880 THB, and CourierPost 990 THB, both ThaiPost services.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 15, 2020 by mtls2005

[Acharn]

On 10/14/2020 at 4:33 PM, Swiss1960 said:

Why not send the letter registered? That is what I do with my mail to Switzerland and I can follow the journey through airports,  customs, post offices, mail distribution centres to the recipient (including name). Few Baht more, but that way you are kept informed about the progress 

I never send mail registered any more. After my first wife died I sent her death certificate to the Army finance office by registered mail (this would have been in 1995). It never arrived, and there was some discussion on TV at the time that registered mail is what gets stolen. I've always sent my mail as ordinary first class air mail since then, and never had anything go astray. In this case I wanted to let people know that the days of only being able to use EMS (costing ฿ึ7-800) or a parcel are over. Since people have been reporting that mail was being held up at U.S. post offices for months I'm not confident that two weeks will be enough time for my ballot to get there, but registered mail would be even slower, since it has to be recorded at each intermediate stop. I appreciate there is some mail that the senders need to monitor closely, but the candidates I care about are pretty sure of being elected and I think my vote won't matter in the Presidential election anyway. I can check with my city clerk on election day via the internet if my vote was accepted or not -- Michigan has an excellent voting system, even though the previous Secretary of State was a Republican

[trucking]

20 hours ago, suhoaswhas said:

ant registered letter to USA is 200 thb at least !

 

 

Shocking !!  Only to be used for something  vitality important.

[dddave]

17 hours ago, Acharn said:

I never send mail registered any more. After my first wife died I sent her death certificate to the Army finance office by registered mail (this would have been in 1995). It never arrived, and there was some discussion on TV at the time that registered mail is what gets stolen. I've always sent my mail as ordinary first class air mail since then, and never had anything go astray. In this case I wanted to let people know that the days of only being able to use EMS (costing ฿ึ7-800) or a parcel are over. Since people have been reporting that mail was being held up at U.S. post offices for months I'm not confident that two weeks will be enough time for my ballot to get there, but registered mail would be even slower, since it has to be recorded at each intermediate stop. I appreciate there is some mail that the senders need to monitor closely, but the candidates I care about are pretty sure of being elected and I think my vote won't matter in the Presidential election anyway. I can check with my city clerk on election day via the internet if my vote was accepted or not -- Michigan has an excellent voting system, even though the previous Secretary of State was a Republican

"Certified" mail can be preferable to "Registered" mail in some cases. 

First of all, it's much cheaper. You can track Certified mail and you can get an electronic delivery receipt with signature or a hard copy for an extra charge.  Certified mail is usually much faster as it doesn't have custodial delays enroute. 

Registered mail can take much longer because at every stop enroute, custody and secure storage must be documented which can cause significant delays.  

A couple of advantages of registered mail is you can usually insure valuable items for a higher amount.  You can also specify delivery to a specific individual only.  The downside to that, if that individual is not available after several attempts, your item may be returned.  Usually they will notify you and ask if there is an acceptable secondary recipient.

Edited October 16, 2020 by dddave

[KhunBENQ]

On 10/15/2020 at 12:44 AM, suhoaswhas said:

ant registered letter to USA is 200 thb at least !

Price list of Thai post shows 30 Baht for a 20g air mail letter.

Registration is 80(?) Baht.

 

To Germany the price list shows 24 Baht.

I repeatedly sent registered air mail to Germany always costing around 100 Baht.

[trucking]

I just got back from our local post office and they are still not sure if ordinary mail is an option.

 

Surface mail was never interrupted and various kinds of express or registered options were there but ordinary 19 baht letters have been suspended since March and even my post office would not offer me this service today. Gave me a number to call tomorrow and enquire.

 

Inconvenient for me since I sell online and have not made any money since March.