1 minute ago, topt said:

What time and effort is wasted

Waiting around for them to turn up!

The days of them phoning before delivery seem to have stopped and the "your package is out for delivery in the next hour" is a joke. On many occasions they mean some hour in the next day!

On 1/12/2026 at 11:30 AM, NanLaew said:

Anyone from the UK seeking to use a credit card here can save on the foreign transation surcharge by getting a card from Barclays, Halifax or Chase.

Also an offering now from Lloyds. Their Ultra Visa offers 1% cashback for the first year too.

https://www.lloydsbank.com/credit-cards/ultra.html

1 hour ago, topt said:

What time and effort is wasted - do you mean the onerous responsibilities of handing money over when it is delivered..........🤔

For me, the biggest problem with CoD is having to be in when they deliver, if I pay upfront they can just leave the parcel with the condo desk.

Having said that, the GF uses CoD all the time and if they deliver when we're out she gets me to pay them via PromptPay whilst she's on the phone to them.

9 hours ago, sandyf said:

I used to do COD all the time but became a bit of a pain having to be there, driver would phone up from the gate.

I changed some time ago and not had any problem. I use my Wise card(UK) and hold a balance of THB obtained when a favourable rate. I get immediate notifications when any funds are deducted.

I don't know about Shopee but Lazada use 2C2P payment provider who are about as reliable as any other. In this day and age, no payment providers are immune from fraudulant activity, up to individuals to be careful.

but surely you , or somebody else, has to be there to receive the goods and , or ,open the gate ? Or do the couriers just throw it over the wall? I don't see how using a credit card has any bearing on that? Am I missing something?

3 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

but surely you , or somebody else, has to be there to receive the goods and , or ,open the gate ? Or do the couriers just throw it over the wall? I don't see how using a credit card has any bearing on that? Am I missing something?

Lots of ways they can deliver if not COD.

Shopee gives a driver phone number when the parcel is out and you can tell them to post next door. (not sure if Lazada still do it).

If high value the maid/cleaner etc will not have access to the cash for COD etc etc

7 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Google search using Gemini AI, not Grok.

Barclays UK offers the Barclaycard Rewards Visa which has no foreign transaction fees on purchases or cash withdrawals abroad, plus you get 0.25% cashback, making it excellent for travel, though you need good credit and income to qualify. Other US-based Barclaycards, like the Miles & More Mastercard or Frontier Airlines World Mastercard, also advertise no foreign transaction fees. 

For UK Customers (Barclaycard):

• Barclaycard Rewards Visa: This is the top recommendation for travelers, offering no fees for spending or ATM withdrawals overseas, plus a small cashback reward.

• Barclaycard Avios Cards: Some Avios cards might also offer fee-free spending abroad, but always check the specific card's terms.

• General Barclaycards: Most standard Barclaycards have a 2.99% non-sterling purchase fee, so the Rewards card is the key exception for no fees. 

I guess it's down to the 'flavour' of their card offering. My Royal Bank of Scotland Premium MasterCard, like yours, isn't special but does charge a foreign transaction fee.

Thanks for this, seems a no-brainer to switch to the Rewards card so will do it after Feb’s billing cycle (I’m in the UK in March so can pick up the new card then)

1 hour ago, scottiejohn said:

Lots of ways they can deliver if not COD.

Shopee gives a driver phone number when the parcel is out and you can tell them to post next door. (not sure if Lazada still do it).

If high value the maid/cleaner etc will not have access to the cash for COD etc etc

I always pay by COD. there are tracking apps for the courier company that tell me when he will arrive, and he always phones me before he turns up. If I had to go out I would simply leave the COD money with a neighbour and instruct the courier to collect the money and leave the parcel with them, Cleverly ensuring first that the neighbour had enough cash to pay the bill, COD or credit card , Its exactly the same

Weirdly today i payed for a Shopee item and it didn't go to the credit card app, payment went straight through...

4 hours ago, topt said:

What time and effort is wasted - do you mean the onerous responsibilities of handing money over when it is delivered..........🤔

main thing is waiting around for delivery, just pay and wait for delivery, easy, relax guys paying in advance is ok

5 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

Waiting around for them to turn up!

The days of them phoning before delivery seem to have stopped and the "your package is out for delivery in the next hour" is a joke. On many occasions they mean some hour in the next day!

The contact phone number I give to lazada and shopee is my wife's. That was done originally to avoid trying to explain where the house was. Nowadays, it's usually the same two or three delivery guys who know the 4 or 5 names using this address. They still call about 10 minutes before turning up, but they also know there's always someone at home to receive and pay. On the odd occasion when nobody's in, they also know to leave at the mom and pop shop two doors down. They pay the delivery guy and we reimburse rhem when we go and get it.

Nice and friendly favela here.

21 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

but surely you , or somebody else, has to be there to receive the goods and , or ,open the gate ? Or do the couriers just throw it over the wall? I don't see how using a credit card has any bearing on that? Am I missing something?

Indeed you are, you are making the assumption that you and the gate are relatively close, but some of us live out in the sticks.

Yes, a fair percentage of deliveries are just thrown over the wall, or left on top.

1 hour ago, sandyf said:

Indeed you are, you are making the assumption that you and the gate are relatively close, but some of us live out in the sticks.

Yes, a fair percentage of deliveries are just thrown over the wall, or left on top.

I doubt you live more "out in the sticks" than me, yet I have never had a delivery thrown over the wall, (what wall)? How far from your gate is your house?

20 hours ago, NanLaew said:

The contact phone number I give to lazada and shopee is my wife's. That was done originally to avoid trying to explain where the house was. Nowadays, it's usually the same two or three delivery guys who know the 4 or 5 names using this address. They still call about 10 minutes before turning up, but they also know there's always someone at home to receive and pay. On the odd occasion when nobody's in, they also know to leave at the mom and pop shop two doors down. They pay the delivery guy and we reimburse rhem when we go and get it.

Nice and friendly favela here.

I would be ashamed if i was not capable of giving directions to my (wifes') house

On 1/16/2026 at 6:15 PM, scottiejohn said:

If high value the maid/cleaner etc will not have access to the cash for COD etc etc

Do you actually have a maid ? or cleaner?

1 minute ago, Bday Prang said:

Do you actually have a maid ? or cleaner?

None of your business, but the answer is Yes!

PS They are better known as the wife!

22 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

None of your business, but the answer is Yes!

PS They are better known as the wife!

same here , but there are some who do indeed employ a maid, I think its a bit weird personally , are their wives disabled or something?

20 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

I would be ashamed if i was not capable of giving directions to my (wifes') house

Well not all of us are as fluent in the Thai language as you presumably are, as to be able to give copious directions to our wives' houses over the phone to a delivery courier whose grasp of the English language is usually zilch, in my experience!

23 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

I doubt you live more "out in the sticks" than me, yet I have never had a delivery thrown over the wall, (what wall)? How far from your gate is your house?

During the day we spend most of the time outside.

The property perimeter adjacent to roads is walled with the remainder fenced. About 250 yards from the gate to the other side of the property.

4 hours ago, OJAS said:

Well not all of us are as fluent in the Thai language as you presumably are, as to be able to give copious directions to our wives' houses over the phone to a delivery courier whose grasp of the English language is usually zilch, in my experience!

the ability to give simple directions hardly requires fluency, of course the delivery guy doesn't speak English, why should he? I don't see how anybody can live here without learning Thai to at least a basic level , it must be like being disabled

11 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

the ability to give simple directions hardly requires fluency, of course the delivery guy doesn't speak English, why should he? I don't see how anybody can live here without learning Thai to at least a basic level , it must be like being disabled

If the delivery guy can't use google maps ........ you're screwed.

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

If the delivery guy can't use google maps ........ you're screwed.

very few Thais can read a map its funny watching them try

On 1/16/2026 at 9:13 AM, Brettoj said:

For any online purchase you should have a separate debit card. I use Revolut for the single use virtual card but when I can’t use it, I use the pernament virtual card it comes with which allows them to save card but I only load enough to cover the cost. If the details are stolen, they can’t create a card because it’s a virtual card and because I have minimal money in account, I’d lose nothing in any case. This is basic personal Cyber Security. Your details can be stolen from any country, Thailands no more risky than any western country. I also have nearly 400 email addresses, a single address for any site so I can delete address if they spam me and it’s useless to a hacker trying to access other sites I might do business with.

Yeah I do the same, I was quoting another reply.

I also do something similar with email addresses, utilising the feature in Gmail to add a modifiery to your email using the + sign.

So one website's logins might be myname+uniueID1(at)gmail.com and another sites might be myname+uniueID2(at)gmail.com