Took a pile of Christmas cards (letter size) to my local Post Office this morning for dispatch by normal air mail service and nearly had a heart attack.

 

The counter clerk after weighing the cards and consulting his computer advised me that: -

 

a)    I needed to complete a customs declaration sticker for each of the 8 cards, and

 

b)    The cost was 180 THB (£4.36... based upon today's Xrate) for each card.

 

I informed him that I had posted a birthday card (same size) in October to the UK and that no customs declaration sticker was needed and the cost (air mail) was about 65 THB.  The clerk called his supervisor who advised me that the customs declaration sticker was a new requirement imposed by the UK Customs and that the charge for air mail items had been increased recently.

 

I politely thanked both and left with my pile of cards.  It will be an email to each recipient to advise them that unfortunately this year they won’t be getting a Christmas card from my wife and I because of the stupid new regulations.

18 minutes ago, 007 RED said:

Took a pile of Christmas cards (letter size) to my local Post Office this morning for dispatch by normal air mail service and nearly had a heart attack.

 

The counter clerk after weighing the cards and consulting his computer advised me that: -

 

a)    I needed to complete a customs declaration sticker for each of the 8 cards, and

 

b)    The cost was 180 THB (£4.36... based upon today's Xrate) for each card.

 

I informed him that I had posted a birthday card (same size) in October to the UK and that no customs declaration sticker was needed and the cost (air mail) was about 65 THB.  The clerk called his supervisor who advised me that the customs declaration sticker was a new requirement imposed by the UK Customs and that the charge for air mail items had been increased recently.

 

I politely thanked both and left with my pile of cards.  It will be an email to each recipient to advise them that unfortunately this year they won’t be getting a Christmas card from my wife and I because of the stupid new regulations.

Imposed by your "stupid" government😭! 

I thought people had stopped sending xmas cards

59 minutes ago, 007 RED said:

I politely thanked both and left with my pile of cards.  It will be an email to each recipient to advise them that unfortunately this year they won’t be getting a Christmas card from my wife and I because of the stupid new regulations.

 

eCards are the new thing.

 

https://www.123cards.com/christmas-ecards/

28 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

I thought people had stopped sending xmas cards

You thought wrong   expect a visit from the police forthwith !!

1 hour ago, 007 RED said:

Took a pile of Christmas cards (letter size) to my local Post Office this morning for dispatch by normal air mail service and nearly had a heart attack.

 

The counter clerk after weighing the cards and consulting his computer advised me that: -

 

a)    I needed to complete a customs declaration sticker for each of the 8 cards, and

 

b)    The cost was 180 THB (£4.36... based upon today's Xrate) for each card.

 

I informed him that I had posted a birthday card (same size) in October to the UK and that no customs declaration sticker was needed and the cost (air mail) was about 65 THB.  The clerk called his supervisor who advised me that the customs declaration sticker was a new requirement imposed by the UK Customs and that the charge for air mail items had been increased recently.

 

I politely thanked both and left with my pile of cards.  It will be an email to each recipient to advise them that unfortunately this year they won’t be getting a Christmas card from my wife and I because of the stupid new regulations.

Which post office was that? i need to send a letter to UK soon

58 minutes ago, Olmate said:

Imposed by your "stupid" government😭! 

Probably  not  but lets wait and see a bit   because they are indeed very stupid... but so are some of the post office staff.

perhaps @007 RED   could try a different post office branch

tel them you just want to send the cards by normal airmail  "tumada"

mai tong long tabien..

In this day and age I'd have thought everthing is done via the internet.

Are you sure it was an official post Office or a Post Agent ? The latter has much higher rates....

Just now, IvorBiggun2 said:

In this day and age I'd have thought everthing is done via the internet.

Unfortunately, that does nothing for the mantle piece or wall to look at...........🤫

 

 

 

1 hour ago, 007 RED said:

b)    The cost was 180 THB (£4.36... based upon today's Xrate) for each card.

 

It's terrible now. I sent a box with Christmas presents to the US this week and it cost 2,600 baht. Not doing that again. It's like they want to shut down this type of communication.

Why not just post the image of your Christmas cards on TV.

 

Then, send the links to your loved ones.

 

This will save you money while also supporting TV.

 

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

I thought people had stopped sending xmas cards

Nothing says i am thinking of you like a snail mail Xmas cards

Ecards dont have the same feeling 

My Christmas cards to UK and USA usually cost around 50bht, but it is a shame that those cards sent to me by air mail don't show up, or show up in February........🤫

1 hour ago, NoDisplayName said:

 

eCards are the new thing.

 

https://www.123cards.com/christmas-ecards/

A few years back a friend of mine in the UK sent all their friends personalised eXmas cards.  When mine arrived in my Inbox, my anti virus software went absolutely 'crackers' and warned not to open the link which supposedly would present an animated card. 

 

Luckily I didn't open the link, and I later learnt that those who did got a Christmas present they didn't want, it locked and encrypted  their computer.   I subsequently learnt from my friend that he had used a reportedly reputable firm and paid quite a bit to have each card personalised and sent.

 

As a result of that experience, I would be very reticent to use such facilities.  That's personal choice.  Easy enough to copy a Christmas card and email it as a JPG with personal message attached.

54 minutes ago, Halfaboy said:

Are you sure it was an official post Office or a Post Agent ? The latter has much higher rates....

 

This is the post office that I use (about 0.5m from my home), and I can definitely say that this is an OFFICIAL POST OFFICE.

 

FYI.... I have in the past also used a 'post agent' which is attached to a nearby supermarket, and I found that their rates for normal letter size card sent by air mail was slightly cheaper that the above OFFICIAL POST OFFICE.  Unfortunately they did not apply to have their contact renewed with Thai Post, so can no longer provide this service.

1 hour ago, johng said:

Probably  not  but lets wait and see a bit   because they are indeed very stupid... but so are some of the post office staff.

perhaps @007 RED   could try a different post office branch

tel them you just want to send the cards by normal airmail  "tumada"

mai tong long tabien..

When I handed the cards over to the clerk I advised him that I wanted them sent by normal air mail, as you suggested.  In the past such cards have cost about 65THB to send.  Hence the shock when he told me the price was 180THB per card, plus having to complete a customs declaration sticker for each card.

 

On getting back home, I had thought about using a different post office, but decided to opt for copying a Christmas card and emailing it as a JPG with personal message attached instead.

 

 As I'm going into BKK tomorrow, I will take one card with me and try a post office that is a few doors away from our apartment  I'll report back if there they accept it without requiring a customs declaration sticker and the charge for normal air mail.

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

Which post office was that? i need to send a letter to UK soon

 

 

Approximately 24km West of BKK... Out in the sticks.

14 hours ago, johng said:

Probably  not  but lets wait and see a bit   because they are indeed very stupid... but so are some of the post office staff.

perhaps @007 RED   could try a different post office branch

tel them you just want to send the cards by normal airmail  "tumada"

mai tong long tabien..

Who asked you, I replied to 007,I.e. his government (UK)! Thai bash at every opportunity.! 

17 minutes ago, Olmate said:

Who asked you, I replied to 007

And who asked you ? I was referring to the UK government..I'm an equall opportunity basher.

15 hours ago, NoDisplayName said:

 

eCards are the new thing.

 

https://www.123cards.com/christmas-ecards/

 

Not at $4.49 a month !

45 minutes ago, johng said:

And who asked you ? I was referring to the UK government..I'm an equall opportunity basher.

Try harder Johny, UK dont have 'tabienbahn'-_lame!! 😭

I tried to understand the rules for sending postal mail FROM UK to overseas.

And from that it seems clear that no customs declaration is needed for (long) letters containing only documents.

What can come any closer to a postcard?

So it might indeed be worth trying another post office.

17 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

I thought people had stopped sending xmas cards

They did - to you 🙂

18 hours ago, Olmate said:

Imposed by your "stupid" government😭! 

The change is fundamentally about shifting from paper-based customs declarations to Electronic Advance Data (EAD) for all shipments of goods. You can thank the Chinese online shops for this.

The Thai Post clerk must provide this EAD, they are simplifying their life by requiring the physical CN22 customs form (which captures the data electronically) for any item that could conceivably be classified as "goods"—even a slightly thick Christmas card with glitter. They are protecting themselves from UK Customs delaying or returning their mail.

I use Moonpig to send birthday and Christmas cards.

 

https://www.moonpig.com/uk/?srsltid=AfmBOoq3jBtl8eHwrfeNyIo5mqd3pNMofQziwFjRFBbnR7z3-tgY4VN0

 

Very efficient and cheap. These are physical cards delivered through the letter box as ordinary mail. You go to their site ( link aboce ) , choose a card from their large selection and they post it in the UK for you. If you don't like their cards you can design your own by uploading pictures or images. You can also write the inside message.   Very good service and much more reliable than posting from Thailand

 

They also have a selection of gifts like flowers or chocolates etc

 

 

3 hours ago, WorriedNoodle said:

They did - to you 🙂

The elderly like to continue these things 😢

11 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

The elderly like to continue these things 😢

 

 

This elderly doesn't

12 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

The elderly like to continue these things 😢

The 'young' bloke in Pattaya speaks, sadly........🥸......

1 minute ago, transam said:

The 'young' bloke in Pattaya speaks, sadly........🥸......

 

 

Not in Pattaya.....................get your facts straight