One of life's mysteries.

However, when I send post to the UK, it arrives within a fortnight and has a 100% delivery rate.

I have had a letters including bank cards which never arrived from the U.K. the only time I ever receive Mail is when it’s sent Track and Trace. I send documents to the U.K. a few months back Track and Trace and they were ‘stuck’ in Qatar for few days for some reason.

On 1/9/2026 at 5:51 PM, dayo202 said:

I have my mail send from the UK tracking and signed for.

Fingers crossed 🤞 every letter arrived with in 7 day's.

I do the same. Had a letter posted from UK 05/01/26 to sign for. Surprise, surprise. It arrived 12/01/25. Opening myself up for a problem here maybe, but In all my time in Thailand and a couple of changes of address, I have never had any post go missing. 🤞

Getting officialdom in the UK to send anything via email, is like try to extract blood from a stone. Email is much more secure and faster than snail mail, and cheaper.

3 hours ago, Surasak said:

I do the same. Had a letter posted from UK 05/01/26 to sign for. Surprise, surprise. It arrived 12/01/25. Opening myself up for a problem here maybe, but In all my time in Thailand and a couple of changes of address, I have never had any post go missing. 🤞

Getting officialdom in the UK to send anything via email, is like try to extract blood from a stone. Email is much more secure and faster than snail mail, and cheaper.

We know tracking post arrives it's the non tracking post that goes into a black hole

5 hours ago, Surasak said:

Had a letter posted from UK 05/01/26 to sign for. Surprise, surprise. It arrived 12/01/25.

That is surprising. It arrived almost a year before it was posted. 😉

On 1/8/2026 at 5:11 PM, JAG said:

I am supposed to receive a newsletter from the Armed Forces Pension provider every three months or so but they have stopped.

I get mine through an online postal service.

I also get a magazine from my old training station and that stopped about 10 years ago and I got them to send me a pdf, can't understand why they still use a paper version. However after the covid fiasco the paper magazine just started turning up again, although about 3 months after issue. Then in December, for some strange reason the latest issue turned up within 10 days, see what happens next time.

On 1/8/2026 at 7:51 AM, scubascuba3 said:

I've read others reported it also, anyone know why? are they stored somewhere? stolen? or just lost in transit?

There could be various reasons and these are what I have experienced living in Thailand and Cambodia.

Mail, whether it is being received or sent, should be registered/recorded Air Mail. This is relatively quick in delivery and can be computer tracked by the numbered bar code issued BUT can be expensive.

Sending just Air Mail is a hit or miss method, it can arrive in a few days or a few weeks. For example, a Chritmas card posted in early December 2025 and sent Air Mail arrived at my local post office in Siem Reap yesterday (22 January 2026!)

For a much cheaper alternative, mail from the UK can be sent by land and or sea BUT in my instance it took 3 months. This was my Proof of Life Certificate which arrived 3 months after posting and, annoyingly, after the deadline date by which it had to be returned. It took frantic phone calls to the UK Pensions Office to re-establish my OAP!

So, my advice for you and your contacts in other countries, is to send mail recorded or registered by Air. (The UK Government will not do this)

A couple of years ago there was some hacking incident and Royal Mail had to suspend all international mail. Strangely at this time of the year. I had sent some mail to Taiwan. It never got delivered when the mail got back to normal. I assume there is a warehouse full of undelivered mail somewhere.

One of those never answered problems. A few years ago I ordered some special drills from a US supplier that never arrived so I naturally took it up with the credit card company. This began the most strange saga of events. The US supplier was a bit miffed, not surprised really as the goods had been tracked into the UK. But when I took this up with UK parcel force they said they hadn't got the package. So the US were quite rightly saying but the goods arrived into the UK so nothing to do with them. It was even suggested that UK customs and excise had seized the package thinking the package contained drugs. But no Customs and Excise didn't have it. It wasn't a large order, £30 or £40 an fair on the US company they sent the good again at no charge.

But some where, along with all the other undelivered mail, is my original package. Are the authorities our there not curious about the warehouses full of undelivered mail?

20 hours ago, Surasak said:

Email is much more secure and faster than snail mail, and cheaper.

I am not sure it is really more secure, a scammers world revolves around email and messaging apps.

18 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

There could be various reasons and these are what I have experienced living in Thailand and Cambodia.

Mail, whether it is being received or sent, should be registered/recorded Air Mail. This is relatively quick in delivery and can be computer tracked by the numbered bar code issued BUT can be expensive.

Sending just Air Mail is a hit or miss method, it can arrive in a few days or a few weeks. For example, a Chritmas card posted in early December 2025 and sent Air Mail arrived at my local post office in Siem Reap yesterday (22 January 2026!)

For a much cheaper alternative, mail from the UK can be sent by land and or sea BUT in my instance it took 3 months. This was my Proof of Life Certificate which arrived 3 months after posting and, annoyingly, after the deadline date by which it had to be returned. It took frantic phone calls to the UK Pensions Office to re-establish my OAP!

So, my advice for you and your contacts in other countries, is to send mail recorded or registered by Air. (The UK Government will not do this)

So how would you recommend we convince our respective governments to spend extra money on sending things like our Proof of Life certificates by recorded delivery instead of via the cheapest service they find can find? Some of us have explained the problem to them repeatedly but you may as well bang your head against a brick wall for all the good it does.

1 hour ago, Guderian said:

sending things like our Proof of Life certificates by recorded delivery

In this day and age should be sent online. Ridiculous by post.

1 hour ago, Guderian said:

So how would you recommend we convince our respective governments to spend extra money on sending things like our Proof of Life certificates by recorded delivery instead of via the cheapest service they find can find? Some of us have explained the problem to them repeatedly but you may as well bang your head against a brick wall for all the good it does.

Sorry I have no idea, and I fully sympathise with your no responses. When I contact UK International Pensions in Newcastle, and explain the situation, I also get negative replies from the call handlers. They deal with enquiries in hand but will not discuss DWP policy!

23 hours ago, treetops said:

That is surprising. It arrived almost a year before it was posted. 😉

Typo!

On 1/23/2026 at 12:41 PM, Geoff914 said:

I had sent some mail to Taiwan.

That reminded me. a good few years ago I had sent some important documents to Thailand but the never arrived so sent them again. Then several months later the documents addressed to an office in Bangkok Thailand turned up having been delivered to a sorting office in Taipei Taiwan. Nearly the same as Thailand.

Last item of mail I received from the UK was about 3 years ago. Have had a couple of bank cards that never made it. I now get all my mail sent to a UK address where a relative scans it and sends to me online. Also postal rates have shot up over the last few years. I do get an occasional hand carried item brought by a relative.

17 hours ago, garygooner said:

In this day and age should be sent online. Ridiculous by post.

It is very likely they will be dealing with older people and not all of them are hooked up or capable of managing the tech. That said, traipsing round sorting out a paper certification is a challenge too.

Last week I received an A5 sized envelope/parcel from the UK, which arrived in 4 days ! (normally takes 10 days). Currently hoping my recent cheque to HMRC arrives safely by 31/1 LOL

Also received EMS post from Pattaya twice recently, posted one day, arriving the next day which was a Sunday.

So my recent experience - exemplary ! (in an urban location).

It depends where you are - when I lived 20 km outside Korat, months would pass by and NO post at all ! I had to go to the sorting office and find it myself. More remote locations seem to have poor or non-existent service ?

3 hours ago, TorquayFan said:

Last week I received an A5 sized envelope/parcel from the UK, which arrived in 4 days ! (normally takes 10 days). Currently hoping my recent cheque to HMRC arrives safely by 31/1 LOL

Also received EMS post from Pattaya twice recently, posted one day, arriving the next day which was a Sunday.

So my recent experience - exemplary ! (in an urban location).

It depends where you are - when I lived 20 km outside Korat, months would pass by and NO post at all ! I had to go to the sorting office and find it myself. More remote locations seem to have poor or non-existent service ?

I live in South Pattaya, near Thepprasit, the main road to get from Sukhumvit to Jomtien Beach used by thousands of people every day. I'm about 1,500 m from the beach and in a large residential housing area with hundreds of foreigners living here, plus bars and restaurants. It's hardly the Boondocks, yet the mail service is almost non-existent nowadays. A decade ago it was excellent, I'd see the Thai Post man almost every day. I'd like to know why Thai Post seems to have just about given up on its job even in major urban areas?

Both my Proof of Life letters from Centrelink Australia took over 4 months to arrive, after the due date to complete and return. Fortunately a quick phone call to Centrelink prevented my pension being stopped, but maybe I won't be so lucky next time.

On 1/9/2026 at 7:38 AM, daveAustin said:

Have found sending anything overseas from here (even a letter) is exorbitant, unreliable and SLOW!

Sent one to UK last month which arrived within a week.....Bht 68.

5 hours ago, jacko45k said:

It is very likely they will be dealing with older people and not all of them are hooked up or capable of managing the tech.

True. They should send out the form online first. If they haven't had a reply in say 2 weeks then send out a hard-copy. Give people the option.

I never received a proof of life request from UK pensions, meaning I have to call to sort it out. Same thing, I should receive stuff from Switzerland, it never arrives. I put this down to the local postman being unable to read European script.

It would help a great deal if we could get a warning email, like "we have sent you a letter. please answer" kind of message. If they can't do that then they won't be able to manage ID cards very well either.

8 hours ago, jacko45k said:

It is very likely they will be dealing with older people and not all of them are hooked up or capable of managing the tech. That said, traipsing round sorting out a paper certification is a challenge too.

What do you class as ólder people'. I am 78 and can read, reply to an email. About as difficult as typing this.

2 hours ago, cooked said:

I never received a proof of life request from UK pensions, meaning I have to call to sort it out.

Meaning UK Pensions thinks you are still living in UK.

4 hours ago, wil iam not said:

Meaning UK Pensions thinks you are still living in UK.

I suppose that can work in reverse. The letter that you sent to notify the DWP that you no longer reside in the UK never got delivered and you continue to get the annual increases.

15 hours ago, wil iam not said:

What do you class as ólder people'. I am 78 and can read, reply to an email. About as difficult as typing this.

And yet you cannot grasp that not all folks are the same!

I know some who do not have laptops.

21 hours ago, garygooner said:

True. They should send out the form online first. If they haven't had a reply in say 2 weeks then send out a hard-copy. Give people the option.

proof of life request from UK pension, are sent out I believe in brown envelopes.. not sure if they use Royal Mail, if they do would be standard 2nd class

Go to Royal Mail website and check = clearly states this class of mail to Thailand to allow 12 weeks !!

I have lived here 22 years, only ever received 1 mail from them, some years ago, would have to wait until my pension did not arrive to phone them - they would restore my Pension - Have asked both on phone and Registered mail to send form via email, they never do ------ last twice have used copy on my PC printed filled in and sent

Question have the forms changed at all ? my copy is 5 years old

1 hour ago, ignis said:

have used copy on my PC printed filled in and sent

Making copies for future use certainly makes sense.

On 1/8/2026 at 7:51 AM, scubascuba3 said:

I've read others reported it also, anyone know why? are they stored somewhere? stolen? or just lost in transit?

It could be all of those reasons.

Before I got out of Blighty in 2006, I had previously encountered evidence Royal Mail employed postmen/ women who either couldn't read English or were in general illiterate.

Some normal mail can take weeks to get here. Seems to be worse over the festive period.

2 hours ago, ignis said:

proof of life request from UK pension, are sent out I believe in brown envelopes.. not sure if they use Royal Mail, if they do would be standard 2nd class

Go to Royal Mail website and check = clearly states this class of mail to Thailand to allow 12 weeks !!

I have lived here 22 years, only ever received 1 mail from them, some years ago, would have to wait until my pension did not arrive to phone them - they would restore my Pension - Have asked both on phone and Registered mail to send form via email, they never do ------ last twice have used copy on my PC printed filled in and sent

Question have the forms changed at all ? my copy is 5 years old

Yes, but I can't remember how they have changed from the previous year......🤗