7 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

How can proof of life letters be second class. Wouldn't they have be sent at an international rate. As far as I am aware proof of life letters aren't sent to UK residents.

18 hours ago, BeastOfBodmin said:

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.

I suspect that would be more common these days..... have the DWP started sending them out written in Arabic and Romanian.... Welsh is a thing of the past!

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?

I just wanted to update this thread as may be useful to others.

I had been previously to the Chaiapruek distribution office last year and received a couple of letters immediately afterwards. So nothing since then so I went again yesterday not expecting much. There were about 4 Thai's complaining quite heatedly about not receiving packages but eventually a guy took my address details and went to check out back. After a while I was told that they had got rid of whoever our postie was and he would contact me if any news on missing letters.

Like @Guderian I should receive a regular monthly statement from a bank which hasn't been happening. Anyway literally 10 minutes ago there was a ring on the bell and when I went to see who it was I found 4 letters from the UK, 2 statements from said bank and a Christmas card, stuffed in the letter box.

So if you are missing stuff, and that is your distribution office it may be worth going there with a copy of whatever address you are using.

1 hour ago, topt said:

I just wanted to update this thread as may be useful to others.

I had been previously to the Chaiapruek distribution office last year and received a couple of letters immediately afterwards. So nothing since then so I went again yesterday not expecting much. There were about 4 Thai's complaining quite heatedly about not receiving packages but eventually a guy took my address details and went to check out back. After a while I was told that they had got rid of whoever our postie was and he would contact me if any news on missing letters.

Like @Guderian I should receive a regular monthly statement from a bank which hasn't been happening. Anyway literally 10 minutes ago there was a ring on the bell and when I went to see who it was I found 4 letters from the UK, 2 statements from said bank and a Christmas card, stuffed in the letter box.

So if you are missing stuff, and that is your distribution office it may be worth going there with a copy of whatever address you are using.

How do we know which post office? there's Soi Post Office, one on Sukhumvit, others

3 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

How do we know which post office? there's Soi Post Office, one on Sukhumvit, others

4 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

How do we know which post office? there's Soi Post Office, one on Sukhumvit, others

From my experience living in Thailand, I located my local post office and rented a PO Box which at that time cost 200 baht per annum. Once arranged, I was given my own numbered key to unlock my box on any visit to the post office. The PO boxes were built secularly into the outer wall of the distribution office, but with access, of course, from the inside so that postal workers could put mail into the respective boxes. Your name and address is registered to your personal box. Great service and never any problems at that time.

For reference (Google) 20/2/2026.

Yes, the Thailand Postal Service (Thailand Post) rents PO Boxes (known as "ตู้ ป.ณ.") at many of their branches, providing a secure, stable, and private mailing address. Renting is typically done in person, costs around ฿500 per year, and requires a passport or ID. They are commonly used by expats and business owners.

Sadly, it costs more these days!

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

How do we know which post office? there's Soi Post Office, one on Sukhumvit, others

Something you would need to find out. Mine used to be from the Naklua office until they built the one on Sukhumvit.

The only reason I knew was I had to go and pick up parcels at Naklua and then when I had a query a couple of years ago they directed me to the newer building on Suk.

18 hours ago, topt said:

So if you are missing stuff, and that is your distribution office it may be worth going there with a copy of whatever address you are using.

Yes, similar to my experience.

My Mrs told me of a tale back from the village where post was not being delivered.... they visited the postman at home and found him in the company of a great pile of packages and letters, and many empty Lao Khao bottles.

TOT provides my internet and a land line but, since the merger with CAT to form NT, the monthly bills have been declining in number. I put this down to chaos after the merger, but it's been 5 years now and the last bill arrived in August. Given the problems many people seem to be having in Pattaya with mail delivery, I'm now thinking that it's not the fault of NT but the dismal performance of Thai Post. So it's not only international mail that's affected but local letters too. Before Covid, I used to see the mailman around our village almost every day. Now I honestly can't recall when I last saw him.

On 2/20/2026 at 12:07 PM, topt said:

I just wanted to update this thread as may be useful to others.

I had been previously to the Chaiapruek distribution office last year and received a couple of letters immediately afterwards. So nothing since then so I went again yesterday not expecting much. There were about 4 Thai's complaining quite heatedly about not receiving packages but eventually a guy took my address details and went to check out back. After a while I was told that they had got rid of whoever our postie was and he would contact me if any news on missing letters.

Like @Guderian I should receive a regular monthly statement from a bank which hasn't been happening. Anyway literally 10 minutes ago there was a ring on the bell and when I went to see who it was I found 4 letters from the UK, 2 statements from said bank and a Christmas card, stuffed in the letter box.

So if you are missing stuff, and that is your distribution office it may be worth going there with a copy of whatever address you are using.

Still nothing here after well over 8 months. I think I'll go to the Chaiyapreuk Post Office and enquire, but can I ask, @topt , where in the Post Office did you ask? The one or two people working on the counters inside seem to be challenged enough simply by normal mail (before Christmas, I sent a Christmas card to a friend in Brunei and the girl behind the desk didn't seem to have heard of it, lol). The place outside and to the left where you collect undelivered parcels only seems to accept the postal 'attempted delivery' card. Is there another person who deals with this sort of problem, or do you just collar whoever you can? Thanks for any advice.

I had a package which had been TRACKED to the office in Sawang Fa (Banglamung office) but when I went there, I was told that it was in the Chaiyaphruek office!

1 hour ago, Guderian said:

Still nothing here after well over 8 months. I think I'll go to the Chaiyapreuk Post Office and enquire, but can I ask, @topt , where in the Post Office did you ask? The one or two people working on the counters inside seem to be challenged enough simply by normal mail (before Christmas, I sent a Christmas card to a friend in Brunei and the girl behind the desk didn't seem to have heard of it, lol). The place outside and to the left where you collect undelivered parcels only seems to accept the postal 'attempted delivery' card. Is there another person who deals with this sort of problem, or do you just collar whoever you can? Thanks for any advice.

When you drive in off Sukhumvit keep to the left of the first building and go to the building behind it - loads of parking space.

Through the doors up the step/ramp and there is a desk with one or 2 people sitting there and 3/4 chairs for visitors. I think this is the same place to collect parcels that you mention as there were several people doing that when I was last there. This is where I was directed to go the first time after asking in the main building.

Explain to whoever is there and ideally show them the address of a letter you had delivered before or just write out your address and give it to them. This last time I had no issues being understood using English only..........

Since I received the batch of letters I mentioned I have unfortunately not received any more recent post so it appears it is still WIP.......

Best of luck

@topt thanks!

Just an update. About 5 weeks ago, I did the same as @topt and went to the Soi Chaiyapreuk Post Office on Sukhumvit. Ignore the first building where you buy stamps and post things and go to the one behind it, the 'operations' building. I was the only person there and a Thai guy seemed to understand what the problem was and disappeared into the back to see if they had anything there for me. I took a copy of my address in English and Thai. He returned empty-handed 10 minutes later and by that time a lady who seemed to be the boss had arrived. She explained to me that they'd fired the postman who was supposed to deliver mail to my address two weeks earlier, and she'd speak to the new person and tell them to dig out any mail for me. Two days later, two letters duly arrived in the post, the first since last June or July. One was the monthly NT internet bill and the other a monthly statement from my bank in Jersey. Since then there's been nothing at all, even though the next monthly NT and bank letters should have arrived by now. Once Songkran is over I'll go back if nothing has arrived and ask what's going on.

Given the scale of the mail non-delivery problem, the postman delivering to my house was hardly responsible for it all as it covers much of Pattaya as well as other areas of the country. At a guess, the posties have found a good boondoggle. Get your sack of mail to be delivered in the early morning, then chuck it all in the nearest bin. Presumably there are no checks that they're actually doing the job properly, so they can receive their monthly salary from the Post Office and then work a second job when they're supposed to be out delivering the mail. I might be wrong, but that does explain the situation.

Anyway, I'd encourage people to visit the Chaiyapruek Post Office if it covers their area as the only way they'll come under pressure to fix the problem is if enough people start complaining. I'm surprised that lots of Thais haven't been there telling them they're not getting any post, I expect they'd take more notice of them than they do of us.

43 minutes ago, Guderian said:

Just an update. About 5 weeks ago, I did the same as @topt and went to the Soi Chaiyapreuk Post Office on Sukhumvit. Ignore the first building where you buy stamps and post things and go to the one behind it, the 'operations' building. I was the only person there and a Thai guy seemed to understand what the problem was and disappeared into the back to see if they had anything there for me. I took a copy of my address in English and Thai. He returned empty-handed 10 minutes later and by that time a lady who seemed to be the boss had arrived. She explained to me that they'd fired the postman who was supposed to deliver mail to my address two weeks earlier, and she'd speak to the new person and tell them to dig out any mail for me. Two days later, two letters duly arrived in the post, the first since last June or July. One was the monthly NT internet bill and the other a monthly statement from my bank in Jersey. Since then there's been nothing at all, even though the next monthly NT and bank letters should have arrived by now. Once Songkran is over I'll go back if nothing has arrived and ask what's going on.

Given the scale of the mail non-delivery problem, the postman delivering to my house was hardly responsible for it all as it covers much of Pattaya as well as other areas of the country. At a guess, the posties have found a good boondoggle. Get your sack of mail to be delivered in the early morning, then chuck it all in the nearest bin. Presumably there are no checks that they're actually doing the job properly, so they can receive their monthly salary from the Post Office and then work a second job when they're supposed to be out delivering the mail. I might be wrong, but that does explain the situation.

Anyway, I'd encourage people to visit the Chaiyapruek Post Office if it covers their area as the only way they'll come under pressure to fix the problem is if enough people start complaining. I'm surprised that lots of Thais haven't been there telling them they're not getting any post, I expect they'd take more notice of them than they do of us.

something untoward is going on at that post office 🤔