Tracked Mail Service To Usa

[dancw3]

Fedex and UPS won't deliver to post office boxes in the USA. Is there some service that will deliver mail from Thailand to post office boxes in the USA in a few days instead of a couple weeks or more and preferably tracked?

[4evermaat]

In a few days....

EMS is your best choice for door-to-door tracking. Also the most costly. But it gets there in about 2-4 business days guaranteed. USA would be 4 business days. Do your best to avoid shipping on saturday. Not sure if that counts as a day. You can estimate costs here: http://www.thailandpost.com/servicerate_en.php

I believe you can ship to PO Boxes.

And track here: http://track.thailandpost.co.th/trackinternet/Default.aspx

But I found that you can also track with this:

www.track-trace.com and get quicker updates once it leaves Thailand.

They offered a registered mail option for non-expedited services, but the tracking for those are lacking, especially once the package leaves thailand.

[terrier123]

If you can, I would suggest waiting until the 2nd week in the New Year as all parcels are being stock-piled due to bad weather and the holidays. TNT have just emailed me that a package from Europe which should be her 2 days ago, will not arrive until 4/January earliest.

[astral]

I think you may find a problem with all tracked mail, as a signature is required

at the receiving end, and this is impossible at a PO Box.

[dancw3]

In a few days....

EMS is your best choice for door-to-door tracking. Also the most costly. But it gets there in about 2-4 business days guaranteed. USA would be 4 business days. Do your best to avoid shipping on saturday. Not sure if that counts as a day. You can estimate costs here: http://www.thailandp...vicerate_en.php

I believe you can ship to PO Boxes.

And track here: http://track.thailan...et/Default.aspx

But I found that you can also track with this:

www.track-trace.com and get quicker updates once it leaves Thailand.

They offered a registered mail option for non-expedited services, but the tracking for those are lacking, especially once the package leaves thailand.

EMS looks like the way to go. As long as its reliable and only takes a few business days, it works for me. Thanks.

[4evermaat]

If you can, I would suggest waiting until the 2nd week in the New Year as all parcels are being stock-piled due to bad weather and the holidays. TNT have just emailed me that a package from Europe which should be her 2 days ago, will not arrive until 4/January earliest.

Did she send it EMS or other guaranteed express carrier? Weather delays are outside their control, and I know that FedEx/UPS usually suspends their service guarantee (at least in the states, not sure about int'l packages). The EMS is the only ones that guarantee all the time. Similar with the United States Post Office express mail.

I think you may find a problem with all tracked mail, as a signature is required

at the receiving end, and this is impossible at a PO Box.

You would sign for it when you go and pick it up. But it would scan as being arrived at desination. I would recommend NOT using a P.O. Box, but if this is unavoidable, then EMS is still sufficient.

EMS looks like the way to go. As long as its reliable and only takes a few business days, it works for me. Thanks.

Let me know how it goes. I sent an EMS package to England. Sent on Monday, it got there Thursday morning. This was 2 months ago or so.

2 more tips.

1) Make sure you use a Thailand Post in a tourist area. They will speak English and will be aware of all the services available to all countries. They even have free packing service (if you purchase a box, which is cheap) If you use one in a non-tourist area, you may get a lot of strange looks if you attempt to send non-ems package. Even when I inquired about EMS at the Lang Suan Thailand Post, they pulled out the regulations book . Imagine their look when I requested Printed Matter (Air) special rate. It took 80 minutes to sort it all out and the pickup truck ended up leaving and it delayed my package another day at that office. They may have waited if it were EMS, but dam_n. In Patong Beach, I would have been in and out of there in 15 minutes.

2) Keep your receipt. You should get 2 if you send EMS or parcel. One receipt for the payment, the other one with the contents of the package. Both should have the tracking number.

If you could keep up updated on the progress, that would be great.

[jfchandler]

I made the mistake of sending my U.S. federal tax returns last year from Thailand via Thai Post's "registered mail" service, which supposedly included tracking... It was a total waste...

The tracking capability only went as far as the envelope reaching Suvarnabhumi airport... It took about three weeks for it to arrive at its destination in Texas... And then, even though I had paid for and included a self-addressed return receipt card, that didn't arrive back to me in Bangkok until many months later...long after I had already given up on it...

EMS is more expensive, starting at 600 baht for a standard letter sized envelope to the U.S. But I've never had any problem with EMS items not arriving or arriving late. And the receipt you get, which includes your own clearly written sending and destination addresses, is a much better receipt and record that the register receipt that comes with registered mail.

[jfchandler]

On the same general subject, I noticed this note (attached below) the other day on the counter when I was at the Nana Post Office... I asked the counter staff guy about it, but he seemed to say it meant nothing. But frankly, if you read it, it doesn't mean nothing.

It basically says you can't send EMS over 500g to the U.S. during the holiday season because of Homeland Security regulations... And that they're only allowing deathly slow surface mail 2-3 months) for that size package or above. That was the first I'd seen or heard of that...

[4evermaat]

On the same general subject, I noticed this note (attached below) the other day on the counter when I was at the Nana Post Office... I asked the counter staff guy about it, but he seemed to say it meant nothing. But frankly, if you read it, it doesn't mean nothing.

It basically says you can't send EMS over 500g to the U.S. during the holiday season because of Homeland Security regulations... And that they're only allowing deathly slow surface mail 2-3 months) for that size package or above. That was the first I'd seen or heard of that...

Lang Suan Post was bickering about something similar from 2008 from Dept of Homeland Security. It specifically mentioned EMS but not necessarily airmail. The postmaster / supervisor really had to get involved there. And after 20 minutes of interpretation, they said "no problem".

I never saw that one banning all airmail over 500 g. USA has really gotten ridiculous, and Controlled News Network....CNN did not report any such restrictions.

[jfchandler]

I'm assuming it was a reaction to the recent mailed attempted bomb in printer toner cartridges episode...

But perhaps, it's just a standard holiday season thing when the mail volume increases substantially...

In either case, I've never seen that kind of advisory before...

That day, I only had a light envelope to mail EMS. But if I had had something bigger/heavier, I'm not sure what they would have done.

[TravelerEastWest]

Current rules to the USA until sometime in February are up to 500 grams via airmail are OK - note Registered mail takes around 3 weeks.

Note this is different than the preveious rules from a month or so ago.

EMS does not have weight limits - in theory....

EMS (same as express mail) to the USA take around one week unless it is a document only which may be faster.

EMS goes to PO Boxes no problem. Signatures are still required. They put a delivery slip in the box and you go to the counter and show your ID