Mail To Thailand

[pumper]

I have mailed US magazines to a friend in Bkk

He & his sponsor were covered in the May issue of Flex .. Khun Sitthi won 1st at the Asian games.

I used the US Post office because of cost ..

$10 Post office 3-5 days to Thailand (the post office accepts responsibility until the package reaches Thailand)

$60 DHL 3 days to Thailand ( I live in a small town w/o a DHL or FedX office, I must use an agent that adds a huge surcharge)

this is the second time I have mailed magazines to Thailand that they seem to have disappeared.

My friend was also covered in a 2005 magazine.

thoughts / suggestions?

[farangsay]

I have before sent items registered mail to Thailand from the UK.

They never arrived.

When I followed up with the UK Post Office they were able to trace

the items to Thailand (Bangkok) but received no answers to their queries.

Frankly the internal post system here is less than reliable.

[richard10365]

If the magazine has an internet edition, print up the relevent section and avoid using the post office all together.

[pumper]

If the magazine has an internet edition, print up the relevent section and avoid using the post office all together.

that 2 page spread on the Asian Games did not make Flex's on line edition.

the guys are stoked to have their pics in an American mag.

I contacted Flex & they are comp-ing me several copies!

I will send those via private carrier snail mail .. non-air.

to bad the Thai mail is so ... what ever ..

stealing magazines, come on!

money, food, electronics I would understand stealing something of value .. but magazines .. $6.95

I'm still out $25. .. for the mags & US Postal fee.

Edited May 8, 2007 by pumper

[pumper]

suggestions on slow boat to china shipping

dhl, ups & fedx offer only offer air beginning at $50 if I drive 120 miles round trip to their closest office .. my net will be $75 to send $13. worth of mags.

dhl prices began at $90.

doing a friend a favor ended with 2 lost packages .. & $50. down the Thai tubes.

I will greatly benefit from doing the guys a favor or I would not drive 1/2 day to send again

I will need to drive the 120 miles no matter what ..

but would appreciate help with a slow boat carrier.

stuff like this makes me wonder if i want to retire in such a dysfunctional society!

how do expats communicate with the first world?

[Phil Conners]

how do expats communicate with the first world

Email. Thai post is notorious for "losing" mail!

[sukanyacondo]

Have sent a fair few things to BKK all arrrived except one but when I send ANYTHING to Phuket it ha NEVER ARRIVED. Seems no one is held accountable whole things a farce really.

[BIGJIMMY]

Whenever I have had stuff sent from the UK I use FEDEX, I have lost several packages in the past - even using even The Royal Mail trackable, registered service, it does work out more expensive but at its worth it to have the items!!

[cdnvic]

Theft has been and I imagine still is rife within the Thai postal service. I never send anything important to Thailand in the mail.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=81307

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=26919

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=10332

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=5955

[Maizefarmer]

Pumper

Did you send them in A4 size US Postal Global hard baord envelopes?

I have had the same problem - endless missing mag's in US Postal Global Mail envelopes.

Sad

[Jet Gorgon]

The PO guys love foreign mags. I swear. Also, they may check them for porn or anti-Thai content. Even if they find nothing, they might keep the mag for their own enjoyment as it's too difficult to restuff the envelopes.

Perhaps clip out the relevant articles and send registered.

Edited May 8, 2007 by Jet Gorgon

[ajarnmark]

Never happened to me. All the mails are received intact, and in fact my mailbox is full all the time. Not even a single piece of mail is lost.

I dont know, either they want me to be busy or they are too scared to steal my mail or maybe I am too poor as to not even have tempting thing for even a postman.

[Jet Gorgon]

AjarnM, did you Photoshop that kitty? 555 It's fab.

[PaulUSA302]

** Warning! May be off topic **

In Chinatown in Philadelphia, a few shops seem to have package services to and from China. It struck me as being a underground or unofficial transport setup... Not illegal mind you, but not the type of service that you will find advertising on the radio or TV but well known to the community it serves. I wonder if there is a similar service for Thailand?

[endure]

Can't you just send the relevant pages in an ordinary sized envelope to make it look like a letter?

[PaulUSA302]

Can't you just send the relevant pages in an ordinary sized envelope to make it look like a letter?

I think it would diminish the enjoyment of the person in and on the magazine to only receive a few pages. If it were me, I would imagine to have greater status by showing the full magazine intact with my picture on it.

If the only way to get it is to destroy the magazine and only send a few pages.... Well I would be happy to receive it but it would not be the same.

[Matthew31140]

You've got to be very cautious when sending stuff to LOS. Once, a friend of mine (stupidly) sent money over and hey presto!! It magically disappeared!! I've sent clothing over before and the package arrived but had holes in the corners and sides as though some body had poked their fingers through to see if there was any cash secreted inside!! My Missus say's the local Post Offices / Post Men are to blame. But who knows.

If you can; avoid posting things over especially money.

[Padkapow Guy]

My wife has lost several letters and cards that she has mailed to Thailand.

Now she writes in Thai (in big black letters) "no money inside" So far all her letters have made to her sister.

simple but seems to work so far.

PKG

[pumper]

>>>>

I think it would diminish the enjoyment of the person in and on the magazine to only receive a few pages. If it were me, I would imagine to have greater status by showing the full magazine intact with my picture on it.

If the only way to get it is to destroy the magazine and only send a few pages.... Well I would be happy to receive it but it would not be the same.

>>>

my thoughts exactly.

this thread says a lot .. about a lot.

busily suing utube .. when a basic services like the postal system is unusable.

as an american it is hard to believe that such a situation is present .. much less condoned & allowed to continue.

to be perfectly honest, this little issue is a big negative regarding my planned relocating as a retired old geezer in 2008

+ things like threatening to hold westerners hostage if enough flu vaccine is not on hand.. all the while using obscure WTO regulations to violate pharmaceutical patents.

to me thats self centered to the nth degree & all but societal insanity

nice place to visit .. but do i want to make such my day in day out reality!

[pumper]

Now she writes in Thai (in big black letters) "no money inside" So far all her letters have made to her sister.

>>>

at first i laughed .. then I realized how serious this situation is to any one living in such a lawless place.

[johnh101]

I read on another thread aboout the guy who always addressed his mail to General Khun Whoever, or Khunying Whatsername c/o himself at his condo in Bangkok and the mail always got there.

Personnally I have never received any letters my Dad sent from the Uk to LOS and twice my wife sent letters from Singapore which also never arrived.

If you can't get a job with the BiB the Customs and Postal Service are also very good for income boosting opportunities.

[chevykanteve]

I stopped using the Thai post office in the late 1990s. Reason? Letters would go missing (expecially during Christmas holidays) and at least 50-70% of packages sent to me would never arrive. That's when I was living in BKK. Since then all communications, including holiday greetings, go via email. I've told my friends and family not to send me any packages.

During all the years I lived in America I never even once had problems with missing letters or packages.

Apparently, the Thai authorities simply can not be bothered with policing this matter. You can all complain about the issue as much as you'd like but the reality is THE AUTHORITIES DON'T CARE.

[Tarragona]

In almost 20 years only one item has failed to reach me. That was a magazine from the UK, although it was also around a time I had a change of address so I wasn't sure if that was the PO's fault.

Nothing else has ever gone missing, letters or parcels. I would never get anyone to send me money by mail though.

Edited May 9, 2007 by Tarragona

[pumper]

I apologize for ranting about Thailand being Thailand.

this is a good lesson for me .. it's a long way to Kansas Toto.

i like the looseness .. but need to remember to always be ready for & to enjoy 3rd world standard.

be glad the A/C crashes at midnight .. happily order another dish when your 1st order is to spicy hot for any normal person to consume .. enjoy the newly arrived from Issan taxi driver that is lost as a scenic bangkok cruise & use the lottery # being called on his radio as a Thai number class.

When I hand them the mags in person it will be more fun any way .. I'll be a hero in person instead represented by a 3 color stuffed envelope... Thank You LOS

what about other south asian countries postal?

India, Bangladesh, Singapore, Malay .. I guess no point wondering about Myanmar.

[Phil Conners]

I read on another thread aboout the guy who always addressed his mail to General Khun Whoever, or Khunying Whatsername c/o himself at his condo in Bangkok and the mail always got there.

That's actually a funny idea - might even work ... I'm certainly going to try that next time I need to receive anything by snail mail ...

[wintermute]

Here's a little secret..if you send your mail to a government institution, college, or to someone with a title (like someone has already mentioned) then it will almost always get there. If you have a friend that works in one of those places get it sent there and if the office administration are honest you will receive your items.

[CarlBkk]

This won't help the OP as he was posting from USA, but from the UK if you post "air signed for" they are trackable, need a signature on arrival and I haven't had one go missing yet. They also seem to arrive quicker. Letters and parcels sent normal Airmail can either take months or get lost over 70% of the time in my experience. Air Signed For isn't that much more expensive. There may also be an American equivalent.

[qualtrough]

In almost 20 years only one item has failed to reach me. That was a magazine from the UK, although it was also around a time I had a change of address so I wasn't sure if that was the PO's fault.

Nothing else has ever gone missing, letters or parcels. I would never get anyone to send me money by mail though.

Ditto. Never had any problem (knock on wood) in the 15 years I have been here dating back to 1980. I run a business and depend on stuff coming to me from overseas. From the US the best method to use one of the US Priority Mail flat rate envelopes. Those arrive here in 4-5 days and cost under $10. When you send stuff out use registered mail, only costs 55 Baht.

[ajarnmark]

AjarnM, did you Photoshop that kitty? 555 It's fab.

I got the kitty from some other place on the internet. I liked it so I put it as my avatar. Anyway, thanks for your comments.

As for the letters and parcels, I just remembered that once I sent one letter without registered AD and that never reached it destination. I learnt my lesson and never sent any other thing without registered AD.

[kriswillems]

I've tried to send unregistered mail several times. It only arrived once, and that was because the person I sent the letter to went to the post-office before the letter arrived to warn them that this letter should not be lost. All the other mail got lost.

All registered mail arrived. 95% of my mail sent within Thailand arrives, also non-registered mail.

The Thai post-office just steals all the contents from non-registered international mail (for money, clothes, souveniers and also for the international postal stamps, ...). It has always been like that and it will probably not change. It's like a second income for them.