Parcel Lost On Way Back From Thailand - Any Advice

[johngradycole]

Hi, I think this is a pretty "general" topic, so I hope this is the correct place to post it.

In Bangkok this year I had a couple of lovely suits made up and posted them back to myself in the UK. I was off travelling for a further couple of months so just sent the suits surface mail. trouble is, twelve weeks later, they still haven't arrived, and the UK Post Office tells me they haven't arrived in the UK. Evidently the package has got lost somewhere en route. Beyond that, they couldn't help.

After a full afternoon on the phone with various agencies, I managed to track down the phone number of the post office where I sent the package. Trouble is, I don't speak more than a few words of Thai, and the post office personnel don't speak more than a few words of English. (Which is fair enough, I wouldn't expect UK Post Office personnel to speak Thai, either!) Thing is, I don't know how to track down my lovely suits. I am totally at a loss.

Has this happened to anyone? Can anyone give me any advice? I know it seems a bit trivial, but the suits cost money and I've never been able to have suits made for me before. I never even got to wear them!

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Jason

[johngradycole]

Forgot to mention - I do have the tracking number for the package!

[Neeranam]

I'd give it while longer before doing anything. Surface mail can take ages.

I'd tell us the name of the PO and hopefully someone can help.

I got sent $20 from my granmother once for my birthday. It arrived exactly, to the day, on my 32nd birthday. She sent it two weeks before my 31st!

[Humphrey Bear]

Thai Post Office counter staff are required to speak English as a part of the qualifications for the job.

Most are quite good.

Maybe you were talking to the office cleaner, or the guy who nicked your parcel - you can see him behind the counter - jacket sleeves rolled up, trousers wrapped twice around his middle.

[Thaicoon]

If i send anything from Thailand, documents etc, i use DHL, in the UK 3 days, superb, but pay a bit more, i have sent stuff back using the post office and my wifes sister sends stuff to her in the uk, and that is normally a week to 10 days, it is not the thai mail i do not trust but the mail this side of the water, UK, They have lost 8 packages of mine since xmas,

I hope you sort it all out, good luck

[britmaveric]

Mailed it from Thai Royal Mail???? Well only thing you can do is wait, but high level of theft from these lot. Both sending/receiving - best to use fedex, dhl, or ups.

[guyham]

Mailed it from Thai Royal Mail???? Well only thing you can do is wait, but high level of theft from these lot. Both sending/receiving - best to use fedex, dhl, or ups.

Up here in the boondocks of Isaan, there is no fedex or ups delivery service so the mail transitions to the Thai mail service, so back to square one. DHL however still does door to door service so that is the safest deivery service.

[phutoie2]

Thai Post Office counter staff are required to speak English as a part of the qualifications for the job.

Most are quite good.

Maybe you were talking to the office cleaner, or the guy who nicked your parcel - you can see him behind the counter - jacket sleeves rolled up, trousers wrapped twice around his middle.

Maybe in Pattaya & the like where they are used to farangs, up here, best to brush up on your Thai, even purchasing a postal order can be an ordeal. However once the counter staff have seen you for a few times they are extremely good at anticipating what you want.

[dave111223]

What happens when you put in the tracking number here?

http://track.thailandpost.co.th/trackinter...lt.aspx?lang=en

[johngradycole]

What happens when you put in the tracking number here?

http://track.thailandpost.co.th/trackinter...lt.aspx?lang=en

Nice idea! Unfortunately it just says "Item not found". Not terribly helpful.

I know the item hasn't arrived in the UK since the Royal Mail tell me so. Does this mean it's lost somewhere between Bangkok and Scotland? I really hope not!

[johngradycole]

I'd give it while longer before doing anything. Surface mail can take ages.

I'd tell us the name of the PO and hopefully someone can help.

I got sent $20 from my granmother once for my birthday. It arrived exactly, to the day, on my 32nd birthday. She sent it two weeks before my 31st!

Thanks for that, and happy birthday!

I'm not sure of the Post Office name but it was the one in the multi-storey car park at the back of Siam Square. Anyone met workers from there dressed in suspicious-looking suits?

[bangsue]

I posted a couple of boxes back to the UK two weeks ago.

If I enter the code on the tracking link that someone posted above, the boxes show as ACCEPTED and the post office details etc. They appeared straight away on the system also, (checked same evening they were sent).

Not sure what that tells us.

[eek]

If its any consolation regarding the tracking number, I sent a parcel to the UK in April and although my number didnt show up on the tracking, it arrived ok. Took around 2 weeks (as i paid for the faster service), so if it had taken longer i would have contacted the Post Office. Also, the girl at the counter did say that if i sent it by the slowest option it would take a VERY long time, but 12 weeks does seem like it would be long enough.

Best of luck.

[qualtrough]

Mailed it from Thai Royal Mail???? Well only thing you can do is wait, but high level of theft from these lot. Both sending/receiving - best to use fedex, dhl, or ups.

I have sent at least a thousand packages via Thai post by registered airmail all over the world for the past two years and have yet to have one fail to arrive at their destination (knock on wood!). The few times customers complained of a non-arrival turned out to be because the US post office could not find them for some reason and the packages were returned here. Registered mail costs only 55 Baht and is worth it. Over the past 25 years I have had nothing but stellar service from the Thai postal system. Maybe I am just lucky, more likely because I don't live in Pattaya or Phuket...

Use Fedex, DHL, UPS, TNT for outgoing, but absolutely not for incoming unless you want to get hit for duty and other charges every single time. I use TNT for outgoing over 6 kg. as the rate is the same or less than airmail, but much quicker and trackable.

[Minburi]

Its funny but I was sending stuff back to Canada a number of times and it would vanish and then my wife started writting out the address label and writting abit of Thai on the package and it seems to help. Maybe it has nothing to do with the stuff going missing but as I said it seems more stuff was getting through.