Thai Postal Service Theft Rate

[wintermute]

Just an informal poll I suppose. I did an experiment recently where I had to have documents sent to me from the U.S. I decided to do it in separate envelopes to play the odds and out of the 10 packets only 6 arrived. The other 4 "disappeared" into the void on the Thai side.

In the past the results have usually been about the same ..about 2 out of 3 envelopes will get here.

I have also noticed that if you send packages or letters to government affiliated offices they almost always get there unmolested. Interesting isn't it.

So what are your experiences with the amazing disappearing wonders of the Thai postal system?

[angiud]

Always use Thai Postal services both for domestic and oversea sending ( around 15/20 a year)

Very good service, never a lost.

[wintermute]

I guess I should specify..is the TO: field written in Thai or english in your letters? This could make a difference. As the Thai postal worker could have been "confused" by the english and slipped the envelope into his pocket to take home so he could do further research.

[TheWalkingMan]

I have sent a few boxes, registered, to Thailand and they all arrived unmolested. But once I stuffed 100 baht into a pair of socks and that disappeared.

TheWalkingMan

[Mopfog]

I have received all packages, boxes, documents, and letters for the past six months. In Phuket first, and Phitsanulok second. Perhaps disappearances are related to the local office, or perhaps there is a problem with your address. Also, we have had delivery notices wedged in our gate, which have been blown around on the ground by the wind at times. I don't know why they didn't use the little slotted mail holder next to the gate. Fortunately, we found these. Otherwise, those would probably have been in the 'disappeared' packages category.

[fredob43]

When I lived in Pattaya only 2 out of 7 arrived. Where I live now also Thailand 100% arrive funny A.

[noahvail]

Whenever I send/receive letters or packages, they always go "return receipt." That way they're tracked, so we know who the last one was to handle it.

Haven't lost one in the past 18 months. But we do have a good postie.

[isanbirder]

I've been here 18 years, 16 in Chiangmai, 2 in Issan. I've very rarely lost a letter, with one exception... several letters to my Bank in London have never arrived (a telephone call to the Bank revealed that at least part of the problem was at the English end). But a local registered letter took 7 months to reach me!

[Murgatroyd]

I bought a lot of things on e-bay last year. Almost all the packages arrived, (95% ish), until we got a new postman around september. From that moment on the only packages that arrived were those that had either been sent on a "Sign for on delivery" basis, or those that were held at the local post office because import tax had been levied on the contents. Not a single package that didn't have some sort of tracking paperwork arrived. I just stopped buying stuff on e-bay. More recently I have been ordering again, but only stuff that can be sent in an envelope, never a package unless it's been sent "Sign for on delivery".

I was bloody furious with the postman, because Occams razor suggested that he was the most likely suspect. However I had no proof. I did complain at my local post office, but they said that the only thing I could do was to take the matter up with the sender. I believe that we now have another new postman, and all my letters aeem to be arriving OK, but I still request that anything worth over about £10 is sent by a tracked service.