Can the PEA and PWA utility bills be automatically debited from a bank account or is this too sophisticated for the LOS?

[NanaSomchai]

5 minutes ago, Eff1n2ret said:

Not here, they don't, the meter readers both for PEA and the Water Authority leave slips in the mailbox with the latest reading, the amount due and the payment date. My wife set up direct debits years ago. We no longer get a postal statement, however. Incidentally, two summers ago the missis must have left insufficient in the account to cover a bigger PEA bill than normal, but we weren't cut off, and they then collected the next month's as normal, showing an outstanding balance of the two months. This continued for several months until I nagged her into going in to the office to settle it.

I'm curious to where is this actually?

[Eff1n2ret]

1 minute ago, NanaSomchai said:

I'm curious to where is this actually?

Banchang, Rayong. I love it that the Water bill has the lat. and long. of the meter to 6 decimal places.

[digger70]

No they do .  just make sure that there's enough Funds in your account .you still will receive a bill each month so you know how much they Take out .

[ChrisKC]

Both the water and Electricity bills are paid by direct debit monthly from my wife's account - KTB, and has been for 5 years to my knowledge

[LoudHailer]

My utility bills are paid directly by banks. Just as well. I was absent from the kingdom for 20 months because of Covid travel restrictions. 

[NONG CHOK]

Hi there, I have a house in Bangkok and a holiday house in the country. I've been doing auto debits for both power and water for both properties with Kasikorn Bank for many years with no problems at all. Bangkok is  MEA for power, MWA for water  and the country is PEA and PWA, P as in provincial. Cheers.

[robblok]

2 hours ago, superal said:

I do online banking with my UK bank but not with my Bangkok bank as I have heard it is not straightforward nor reliable . Do you have to be able to read Thai or is the app translatable ?

Kasikorn is also in English. I think most of the commercial banks have an app in English. Its so easy to do internet banking.

[robblok]

20 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Be fair this is a nation so far behind the rest of the world in technology they cannot even run and electronic lottery and have people distributing tickets by push bike. 

Be fair, for someone with no knowledge on the subject and just bashing Thais your doing a great job. But your knowledge on the subject is lacking, had auto debit set up for years for electricity and water even in Thailand. 

 

Maybe its not Thailand that is behind but you for not knowing how things work in the country.

[ThailandRyan]

With my K-Bank account and the banking app you can set up the payments for MEA, PEA and a few others to be automatically paid from your account.  I pay all my bills this way with automatic scheduled payments to be paid on a certain date. I pay my True bill this way as well.

[DefaultName]

8 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

With my K-Bank account and the banking app you can set up the payments for MEA, PEA and a few others to be automatically paid from your account.  I pay all my bills this way with automatic scheduled payments to be paid on a certain date. I pay my True bill this way as well.

I use K-Bank too, but I like to see the amount before paying.  Once a month, I just click the PEA link, then click to pay.  So far, no issues.

[ThailandRyan]

Just now, DefaultName said:

I use K-Bank too, but I like to see the amount before paying.  Once a month, I just click the PEA link, then click to pay.  So far, no issues.

It is also why I set the payment date to be a few days after the bill shows up in the app.  You can see that as you say.

[superal]

57 minutes ago, NanaSomchai said:

Interesting "dilemma" indeed. I believe that after 15 years plus spent in the Kingdom, after witnessing scams, tricky situations, Thais siding with Thais even when the situations are plainly wrong, etc, etc, sometimes the sneaky way is the best way.

 

Going the non confrontational way walking into your regional administration office very casually with a big smile "Can you help me set direct debit on this service?" (plus they see a foreigner so naturally they think you have money) probably works wonders rather than walking in with a grim face "I'm sorry but can you turn my water/electricity/internet off?", that smells problems right off the bat, nobody likes problems.

 

Plus should this go all the way to the court, if a judge starts looking into the case, a case of "I did set-up direct banking to one of my accounts to make it easier to the lessee" as an argument sounds less scrupulous than "I did turn off water/electricity/internet to unease my lessee", so I believe the legal aspect matters.

 

To the Thai courts it's always the intent behind the actions that matters rather than the act itself, proving that you had bad intentions setting up a (failing) direct debit is much harder for the courts to demonstrate than a clear "cut them rascals off!!!", good luck defending your actions in court trying to explain a (Thai) judge you have had good faith but then decided to cut off running water/electricity to a (Thai) family.

 

On the other hand, a permanent service cut-off (due to unpaid bills defaulting payments method) is just that; a permanent service cut-off. Much easier to defend yourself in court and yet has a better effect; because even with a typical residential tenancy agreement or a recent paper slip in their hands, the lessee cannot restore the power/water to the premises, only the one with a legally binding contract with the respective administrations can.

 

Again I'm no lawyer but after years spent in the Kingdom, you eventually get to learn the ropes, sometimes the sneaky way out is the only way out.

 

This is Thailand.

     Some might say you could have avoided your problems if you had a legal lease drawn up under Thai law , ( because of the tenants actions and yours , it is doubtful ) . A lease can include a monetary deposit from the new tenant prior to gaining access to the property , along with a third party guarantor for the rental side which will normally include utility bills . The deposit to be returned at the end of the lease if the property remains in good condition and that the terms of the lease were honoured . In pursuance of any claim against the lessee the legal expenses would become payable by those at fault and probably include the forfeit of the initial deposit. With all of the aforementioned a lessee with an official lease will seldom default . 

[Moonlover]

20 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Be fair this is a nation so far behind the rest of the world in technology they cannot even run and electronic lottery and have people distributing tickets by push bike. 

Although this is off topic, I'm going respond to it anyway.

 

A great many of the lottery ticket sellers are disabled in some way which, for them, would make finding employment difficult. The idea of an on-line system has been discussed previously and rejected due to this particular aspect. See this article.

 

If this 'backward country' were to run an online lottery, I'm quite sure it would be just as efficient and as well run as any western country.

[Lopchan]

21 hours ago, davidst01 said:

In more civilised countries one can have it automatically deducted from a bank account. Can this be arranged in Thailand or is it too advanced/ too much to ask?

If Thailand isn't civilized enough for you maybe you should remove yourself.

However, in answer to your question, just use your phone banking app to pay you utilities. They all have this option, then your trips to 7-11 among the "uncivilized" can be used purely to buy cheap booze with which to fuel your disdain of the country hosting you.

[lungbing]

I'm in Khon Kaen and have been paying water and electricty by direct debit from my Kasikorn account for at least 18 years, back when they were the Thai Farmers Bank.

 

One advantage that's not been mentioned is that the six monthly summary that we get from the electricity company  has my English name on it with our address so it might be useful if I need to prove my address as utility bills are acceptable.

[LivinLOS]

Yes you can.. they just dont stop when instructed to.. 

I learnt my lesson on that one in Phuket and since then each house I make a new bank account, put everything direct debit on that and when I move on I zero the account as well as cancelling all DDs.. if they try to keep taking it, nothing there to access. 

[Jen65]

PEA quite easy to set up direct debit and with most banks done fairly quickly .  You get the form , take it to the bank to get signed and then back to PEA for actioning .

PWA is a different matter - yes, can get direct debit set up but more long winded than PEA and with some banks , like Bangkok Bank , it can take an age .   They told me 6 months !  After 6 months I was still paying bills directly and asked what had happened ? They told me they had no response from the bank to which I visited my Bank only to find out they had lost the paperwork and to start again !!!  Brilliant !!  We got there in the end but sometimes a bit like Spain "manana ". oh, one can pay PWA on Line but you need your bill.  

[josephbloggs]

6 hours ago, superal said:

I do online banking with my UK bank but not with my Bangkok bank as I have heard it is not straightforward nor reliable . Do you have to be able to read Thai or is the app translatable ?

Are you for real??

It is super easy and reliable.  And yes - in English!  Wow!!!

[Chris.B]

22 hours ago, GrandPapillon said:

jesus, who goes to TESCO or 7/11 pay their utility bills and get charged 10 THB for a 70THB water bill ? ????

 

Probably, most Thai people would. ????

[josephbloggs]

Quote

I find it tedious having to take the water and electric bills to 7/11 to pay each month. 

 

In more civilised countries one can have it automatically deducted from a bank account. Can this be arranged in Thailand or is it too advanced/ too much to ask?

Wow, to think you can be so condescending towards a country in your question yet you don't even know how to use a banking app or set up a direct debit - both of which are child's play and have been available for years.

[GrandPapillon]

8 minutes ago, Chris.B said:

Probably, most Thai people would. ????

yeah, those who can't count past 10THB obviously ????

[josephbloggs]

On 1/10/2022 at 9:25 PM, RichardColeman said:

Be fair this is a nation so far behind the rest of the world in technology they cannot even run and electronic lottery and have people distributing tickets by push bike. 

Wow, for someone who has been a member of this forum for 10 years I am surprised you don't know that many of the lottery ticket sellers are disabled or disadvantaged.  Nothing to do with not being able to run a digital system, you should know better.

Seriously disappointing post.

[Mr Meeseeks]

I scan the QR or bar code on the bills and pay with my KBank or KTB app on the phone.

 

Done in seconds.

[ericthai]

5 hours ago, NanaSomchai said:

I'm curious to where is this actually?

dont know where he is, but they do this in Surin. 

[EricTh]

Yes, it can be done. I have my water and electricity bills deduced every month automatically.

 

Some banks will charge 10 baht per deduction.

 

 

[LivinLOS]

6 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

I scan the QR or bar code on the bills and pay with my KBank or KTB app on the phone.

 

Done in seconds.

but still requires physical intervention and a piece of paper being delivered / collected.. Not useful if your a frequent traveller or have multiple homes.

 

[Moonlover]

4 hours ago, LivinLOS said:

but still requires physical intervention and a piece of paper being delivered / collected.. Not useful if your a frequent traveller or have multiple homes.

 

To pay my PEA bill I simply select PEA on my banking app and enter my customer number. It instantly tells me how much is due and I hit pay. Job done. Same with my True account as well.

 

Paper bills are so 20th century.

[Gottfrid]

Yes they can! (Sorry, I did not write a book like some other members.)

[Moonlover]

11 hours ago, Chris.B said:

On 1/10/2022 at 11:51 PM, GrandPapillon said:

jesus, who goes to TESCO or 7/11 pay their utility bills and get charged 10 THB for a 70THB water bill ? ????

 

11 hours ago, Chris.B said:

Probably, most Thai people would. ????

In the villages there is often a locally appointed collector for water bills. Residents do not have to go anywhere to pay their dues. Our guy comes to the door. And no, there is no commission.

 

And for those who do pay via a retail outlet, it's probably worth paying 10 THB if they live some distance from a WA office and they do not have a bank account. Please don't judge everyone by your own circumstances @GrandPapillon.

[Moonlover]

11 hours ago, GrandPapillon said:

yeah, those who can't count past 10THB obviously ????

What a demeaning comment! More thinly disguised Thai bashing.