I went to visit a Thai friend of mine yesterday and he asked me if I could fix his electric meter. He hasn't paid an electric bill for four months. He said the guys from the electric company were there the day before yesterday and told him he had to buy a new meter. The meter doesn't work and he doesn't pay any bill. What's wrong with that? I told him if not for the government seal I'd trade meters with him.

he doesn't have to change it - it's electricity company property and they should care about it

I would say if its not working and the EGAT does not fix/replace it promptly he may get a whopping invoice,,,,,,,,,,,,,this is Thaikand and they will say he used too much electricity or some dumb thing,,,,,,I would hound them to repair it quickly.

I would say if its not working and the EGAT does not fix/replace it promptly he may get a whopping invoice,,,,,,,,,,,,,this is Thaikand and they will say he used too much electricity or some dumb thing,,,,,,I would hound them to repair it quickly.

So far they are saying HE must buy a new meter and he is saying that he's not going to. I imagine they will soon turn his power off until he buys one. I asked him how much his electric bill normally was and he said about 400 baht a month.

Strange story. First of all EGAT don’t deliver electricity to households but most time a local electricity authority. Almost every city have his own one and bigger cities sometimes 2 or more.

The meter is property of that local electricity authority. But I think your friend did vandalize the meter and that the authority did ask that he must pay for a new one. If not they will close the connection and he will face big costs by reconnect.

Regards

Gary,

Hopefully the electric co. will take forever to address their dilemma! My meter died in Pattaya & registered 100 baht 1st month 0 baht 2nd month & kicked back on & registered 400 baht the last month. We moved shortly after. Saved about 3600 baht!

One would think the electric co. would pay for the meter to protect their interest------But this is Thailand!

Strange story. First of all EGAT don’t deliver electricity to households but most time a local electricity authority. Almost every city have his own one and bigger cities sometimes 2 or more.

The meter is property of that local electricity authority. But I think your friend did vandalize the meter and that the authority did ask that he must pay for a new one. If not they will close the connection and he will face big costs by reconnect.

Regards

The first thing is that he did NOT vandalize the meter. It is stuck on all 9's and simply quit running. According to my wife the meter DOES belong to the person paying the electric bill and if it has a problem, the person receiving the service is responsible for replacing the meter.

Strange story. First of all EGAT don’t deliver electricity to households but most time a local electricity authority. Almost every city have his own one and bigger cities sometimes 2 or more.

The meter is property of that local electricity authority. But I think your friend did vandalize the meter and that the authority did ask that he must pay for a new one. If not they will close the connection and he will face big costs by reconnect.

Regards

The first thing is that he did NOT vandalize the meter. It is stuck on all 9's and simply quit running. According to my wife the meter DOES belong to the person paying the electric bill and if it has a problem, the person receiving the service is responsible for replacing the meter.

Sounds like the solution to the problem is simple....replace the metre.