Thai Post Office Steals Credit Cards--why?

[raslin]

I am glad that your letter turned up You were lucky -- I had five pensions cheques sent from England ( The Goverment will not send OA pensions by electronic transfer to Thailand) All were in brown papers envelopes -- all were Lost and when I enquired about them I was told that brown paper envelopes were treated as junk mail.

Get a Bangkok Bank account. UK pension cheques can be paid to their London branch for clearing and 10 days money transferred here by Swift.

[bdenner]

I've said in the past when the topic was raised, most mail goes missing after it leaves the post office for the final destination:- Get yourself a PO Box. I haven't lost anything since doing so including ATM cards (sent via a 3rd party in Aus), magazine subscriptions, and general mail both inside or outside Thailand. AND 90 day report receipts.

[Sakeopete]

The mails here are utterly unreliable and should never be used for anything that matters. I notice that over the years about half my magazines disappear. Stolen? No, dumped more like, and naturally no one in authority would ever do anything about it even if you caught your friendly local letter carrier personally pushing your mail into the nearest storm drain. That's just the way it is here.

A few weeks ago 2 UK posties were charged for dumping mail and stealing contents. One claimed the work was too hard for her so she just left the mail in her car and she was a bit short of cash so only took a few packages. The other claimed he was stressed from family problems so could not deliver all the mail and only opened the parcels out of curiosity.

[bendix]

[

And now you're trying to figure out why there was no theft; after jumping to all sorts of negative conclusions and, getting the rest of the "complainer squad" mobilized & in gear?

Go back & re-read your origination!

Come to my house tomorrow and pick up a box of pampers for the participants of this wholesome thread -- and get that fella, OldAsiaHand to switch to the right hand -- he ought to know better!

I'm glad you made this comment Harmonica. I was going to say the same thing, but in a much less polite manner.

The OP starts a thread wondering why the Thais stole his mail, totally ignoring the fact that if it had been stolen it could have been done at the other end. Oh, but no, they're Thai's and they're brown and usually poor, so they must be the culprits.

Then - lo and behold - the mail turns up and what happens? He wonders why it WASNT stolen, with the clear implication that the package was obviously valuable and important so SHOULD have been an easy target. So now the Thais are not only little sneaky thieves, but they're STUPID sneaky thieves who don't know value when they see it.

Some people are never satisifed.

[bendix]

The mails here are utterly unreliable and should never be used for anything that matters. I notice that over the years about half my magazines disappear. Stolen? No, dumped more like, and naturally no one in authority would ever do anything about it even if you caught your friendly local letter carrier personally pushing your mail into the nearest storm drain. That's just the way it is here.

And the Victor Meldrew Award for ThaiVisa's Most Consistently Miserable poster goes to . .. . .

Are you STILL in Thailand, Old Asia Hand? It must be so horrible to be so miserable here all the time. I pity you.

[PhilHarries]

Same as another poster I used to have a set of address labels created in the PC complete with fictitious company name and suitable logo for each of my rellies and friends. All UK bound letters and packages with those labels got through. Most of the returns also got through, they used same system, but occasionally they were in a hurry and hand wrote the address on the envelope. I'd guess that 50% of those didn't make it.

For important stuff I always used DHL but after reading one of the above experiences might explore the alternatives.

FYI, things are only slightly better here in Malaysia. My ex wife e mailed me after some money as ex wives do (no, she's okay) and I mailed a check using the company envelope afternoon of the 26 Feb. It was delivered morning of the 1st March, not bad I think.

Conversely, I have sent several birthday and Xmas cards with hand written addresses on regular envelopes. All of them, 100%, failed to be delivered. Which mail system is to blame? Who knows, the UK system once probably the best in the world is now a complete shambles. My sister quite often gets letters delivered, right house number but the wrong street. Quite regularly there are cases where a postman got behind with his deliveries and just stockpiled them at his home.

[taxexile]

And the Victor Meldrew Award for ThaiVisa's Most Consistently Miserable poster goes to . ..

i liked his posts , he made me laugh and i found him to be one of the more perceptive posters when commenting on thailand. a legendary insulter.

he was posted to thailand by his company and couldnt wait to leave.

he was banned , but i dont know what for , probably for posting a hurtful truth.

[Trevor]

I think the Thai posties can either smell money/cards or spot them via a metal detector. Then they're stolen. Yet they can do brilliantly if they want: 5 days for my RAC Int'l driving licence UK to Koh Phayam (off Ranong province) was excellent. Registered mail Thai to UK can take 2-3 weeks instead of the normal 5-6 days.

Really depends on your luck and the honesty of posties on your route. NEVER send plastic cards or money.

BTW when you do get your ATM/credit card, NEVER use it in S E Asian retail outlets: it's an invitation to clone the number!

Also agree DHL are a bunch of w#nkers; they have double-charged me in the past for VAT (customs) on supplements from USA to UK. Use UPS.

[h90]

Someone sent me a small Priority Mail envelope (like an overnight letter envelope, made of stiff paper, but not guaranteed) from the US. I should have received it by now. It contained several credit and ATM cards, as well as some new printed checks for a checking account and a check made out to me and some other documents.

If my fears are correct and the post office has stolen it, I just want to know why. They can't use those cards. Credit cards routinely have to be activated by telephone before they can be used, and the person activating them has to know personal information about me in order to activate it. They don't know that information. And they ought to know that this was a personally addressed letter to me, not from a business, and that I was expecting this stuff and will promptly cancel all cards if they don't arrive.

They can't use my ATM cards because they don't know the PIN. I made sure that wasn't enclosed in the envelope.

They can't use the checks. They don't know my signature. What are they going to do with my checks?

They can't cash that check made out to me, because they would have to prove that they are me, and they can't.

All they have done is create big problems and headaches for me. So I ask you, what are they going to do with those cards? How are they going to profit from them? Do they sell them to a fence? Doesn't the fence know that he can't use these cards? Why would he pay for them?

Before anyone starts lecturing, yes, I know I should have sent it by guaranteed mail, and wanted to, but decided not to because the person sending it won't let me pay for anything, and I feel bad about that, so try to let her send me stuff the cheapest way possible. Also, I've seldom had anything not arrive in 4 years of living in Thailand. Though a couple of months ago a bank did send me a credit card that never arrived.

I just want to know why?

Believe me, it is possible to use them

Give me your ATM and I give you your pin

give me your creditcard and I go shopping with it :-)

[taxexile]

there are some very good reasons why visa uk will not send credit cards by post to thailand.

dishonesty inefficiency and theft by postal workers being one of them.

when i queried with visa uk why they could not send me a new card , they said fraud from this part of the world was rampant.

even now , if i try and make a purchase over 20,000b on a uk issued card , i am asked to contact them in the uk to verify the purchase. too much hassle.

therefore , cash is king for me every time.

[Naam]

"Give me your ATM and I give you your pin"

NO FAIRY TALES PLEASE!

[Luckydog]

I just want to know why?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Identity theft is a major problem today. It is surprising how much information can be gained from the envelope the person stole. He knows your name, address, bank, bank code, account number, credit card number. From this info, it is possible to get your date of birth, parent's names, mother's maiden name (a security measure used by the u.k banks), especially if you have an unusual surname. If he comes to your house and raid your bins, he probably can get hold of your signature and much more. I don't want to scare you, but it happened to a friend of mine.

Yep. Mine too. My Bank in the UK wont send a card to me in Thailand......Its a big problem if you need one so that you can draw on your cash in the UK.

[h90]

"Give me your ATM and I give you your pin"

NO FAIRY TALES PLEASE!

It is proofed that the pin is/was on the magnetic part. Some customer protection group showed with some hacker that it is possible to read it in Austria. Than there is a change to cards with a chip on it, but I think it is not everywhere yet.

[jaede]

ANYTHING of ANY VALUE, I send from any country to any country... I at least use EMS as is insured and has a tracking number you can watch on the net.

[bendix]

it's an excellent feature but that applies only to U.S. issued credit cards. i hold various credit cards from non U.S. institutions which do not need activation.

I have a Thai HSBC visa card and a Thai-issued Amex Card. Both needed phone activation, Dr Naam.

[dekka007]

That really is shocking, remind be never to ship anything with DHL....

Actually DHL is the best courier out of all the express services. They consistently achieve on-time deliveries anywhere in the world and are far more professional than the other two Fedex and UPS.

Ok so they are not exactly cheap but have never let me down and their staff are far more professional than the others have you visited the fedex drop off points - they treat you like sh*t everything is a problem because you want to send something its too much effort for them.

After that visit the DHL offices - a breath of fresh air......................As good as delivered

[mrpink]

Well what can I say, I was going to congratulate the OP with the Thaivisa Wooden Spoon award for 2007, but it appears someone got there before me !

As for banks not sending cards to Thailand this is rubbish, this comment is as bad the OP's comment. "Bank refuses to send to Thailand so Thailand is bad", rubbish ! Try asking your UK bank to send to ANYWHERE other than the address that matches your bank account, they wont do it.

For me its always you people who want the best of both worlds who are doing the complaining. You want the simplicity of the banking facility in there own country, but wish to live your lives and spend your money in another, and when it doesnt work out to your liking you complain ! If you wish to be in 2 places at once you have to be prepared to put up with the consequences and pitfalls of doing so !

Do some research, you will see there are companies that can provide a reliable and secure postal solution for this part of the world, even in Thailand ! One is mysecurepost.com Its ran buy a Thai company. I have never had a problem since I have been using them, not that I had a problem with the Thai postal service before.

With mysecurepost you can actually have your own international address for mail forwarding, both a PO box address and a physical address for important items. Good if you find yourself moving around a lot and never seem to be able to pin down a more permanent address.

On the other hand I would not recommend it to the OP, its not for people want to put there post at risk just to save a couple of hundred baht !

[Bagwan]

Why is it that people who make adverse comment re the status quo, or God forbid complain, are subject to rubbishing censure by others? Suggestions that 'if you don't like it here, go home' can only come from closed narrow minds. Sensible, thought out and constructive criticism and dissatisfaction fuels progress, or would you prefer to remain a troglodyte? Mrs Og would still be painting herself blue in her cave unless she had thought a nice animal skin (bear is very much in this year) would look good on her back - and a comfortable semi-detached in Surbiton sounded nice. Luddites are alive and well in Thailand it seems. People should be applauded for thinking outside of the box but alas, as history shows, thinking differently attracts oppression. Archimedes, Galileo , Columbus, Beethoven - shall I go on?

A management technique that I practised during my career was to gather my section leaders/junior managers and hold a brainstorming session. Everybody had to make at least three suggestions to solve a given problem, and it didn't matter how hairbrained the notion might be. Each was recorded and all in turn was discussed. The good points were noted and the bad modified or discarded. We came up with some pretty good proposals for courses of action. Now, try if you will, to consider this forum in the same light. Wouldn't it be more civilised and intelligent to state why you disagree, either in part or total, of another person's posting? That way we all learn, do we not?

God knows that this country needs all the intelligent input it can get in the assistance of solving its myriad problems. Unfortunately it's leaders adopt the egotistic behaviour of some here viz. I'm right, you're wrong. Shut up. Simian thinking in my book. People offer criticism or suggestions because they have the country's interests and well-being at heart. They should have the freedom to speak their minds without let or hindrance.

[griffer]

HSBC will definitely send credit cards from the UK to their branch in BKK. Takes around 7 days. You need to pick it up in person with your passport.

[mrpink]

HSBC will definitely send credit cards from the UK to their branch in BKK. Takes around 7 days. You need to pick it up in person with your passport.

I will 2nd to that (and correct myself at the same time). HSBC will send credit cards to their branch in BKK, I did the same with my HSBC account in Malaysia. All you are required to do is sign with one of the HSBC staff as a witness. They will NOT however send to a residential address.

Nice inteligent reply Bagwan, no doubt you will be copy & pasting that one for many years to come !