Incorrect Billing Address

[McGarty]

Because I need to give my son in the UK my new address for delivery of that new ATM card, I looked at some of my recent bills for water, electric and TOT for the correct address with area code. Not all the bills have the same address.

TOT give the correct house number and the wrong area code. Sometimes it is 20150 area and sometimes 20140.

Electric bills vary from ***/53 and ***/51 house number some with an area code and some with no area code.

Water bills also vary between ***/53 and ***/51 house number with no area code at all.

Is this commom practice here in Pattaya?

It also makes me realise now that I might well have been getting the incorrect bills for water and for electricity sometimes because they have the wrong house number.

There are 3 electric meters on a concrete post outside my house. Easy enough to make a mistake with those as none have a house number associated with them but have a code written on each meter. One meter belongs to a salon so their reading is much higer. The other belongs to a house where they run the air con a lot and has 3 people in it. Looking at the electric bills they can vary by 300 Baht (not a lot, but if not my electric then I do not want to pay it).

The water meter is seperate and on its own. Yet the billing address is not always the same. Neither is the cost of the bill. The cost can vary from 150 - 300 Baht

One time i had 3 electric bills in my letterbox. One for 8000 Baht, one for 1500 Baht and one for 1100 Baht. That came as a surprise initially until I checked the addresses. Mine was the cheaper one

This may not be a huge amount of money every month but I do object to possibly paying for someone elses water and electric. This may be happening to you too, so it might be worth looking at the billing address. I certainly will in the future and making some calls to the relevent utility company. Not that I expect them to be too helpful But we will wait and see.

[PattayaParent]

If you own the house the number will be on the chanote.

If not then ask the owner.

Edit: formatting, anyone else having a problem?

Edited October 4, 2011 by PattayaParent

[nullx8]

51 and 53 maybe resulting your house is on 2 blocks of land (its quite common)

so your phone line is attached to 51 but the electric to 53 or somethings.

if its a smaller house or a condo then its just a typo.

postcode ? well its the same as in europe ... the post-man knows where you live anyway .. so they will deliver to your house anyway because they know you.

letters without post code and from outside the district may take longer .. but arrive anyway.

out of personal experience ... 5 out of 10 landlords may also not know the correct address ... (just last week i had this where i meet a customer ... living at the same place for 32 years .. and he does not know his soi has a name)

so as PattayaParent say's .. the only document you can really trust is the Chanot.

well the Electric bill is a good second choice since the electricity is applied while the house was build .. so they probably use the Chanot or house registration to apply for it (assuming at this time there was nobody drunk or misspelled somethings) .. thats the place to look

[BB1950]

Actually the house number is usually not on the Chanote unless it's registered with the land office. Most Chanotes do not have house numbers. The house number will be in the House Book (Tambien Ban). Every blue house book (Tambien Ban) has a unique address associated with it. They are assigned by the city hall (Thechaban) and have no relation to the post office or land office.

The range of numbers XXX/51 and XXX/53 may be applicable, because they apply to multiple house books such as in a condo, apartment, town house, shop house, village (Moo Ban), etc... The developer requested the XXX/XX numbers. But many times the units are combined and are often written as XXX/51-53. I have two buildings, a main house with a guest house. Each dwelling has a separate house book. One 99/8 and the other 99/9 hence I use the address 99/8-9. The address numbers assigned to the house books (Tambien Ban) by the city (Thechaban) seem to have no rhyme or reasoning to the way they are assigned. For example one time the postman came to me asking if I knew where 99/7 was. It was no where near me! Houses near me have numbers like 22/X, 25/X, 102/X , and 106/X. the only thing that is consistent is the Moo (short for Moo Ban/village) number (e.g. Moo 12) The only thing I can ascertain is that it has something to do with the census. In my area, the addresses with 99/X all seem to be owned by foreigners registered with Thai corporations.

The area code may not be the same because when people in an office do not know where the address is in Pattaya, they often use 20150 for Amphur Banglamung. The area code 20260 is the correct area code for addresses in Jomtien, but many people use 20150. The 20140 maybe the correct area code for you, but most likely it is a typo. 20140 applies to Amphur Phanat Nikhom which is not anywhere close to Pattaya, it's in the northern part of Chonburi Province/Changwat. It applies to the post office where the mail is delivered from. For example I live in Huai Yai which is Amphur Banglamung, but the mail is delivered from the Ban Amphur/Na Jomtien post office in Amphur Sattahip.

PEA (Provincial Electric Authority) does not send bills through the mail. They are provided by the meter reader when the meter is read.The PEA uses the meter/account number to determine where the meter is located and the meter reader usually places the bill close to the meter. In my case they often staple the bill around the cable going into the ground or the gate.

The same is true with the water company. The meter reader provides the bill or someone from the water company goes around and delivers the bills. It depends on the water company that provides water to you.

As you can see, addressing in Thailand has no real meaning. That's why when you have items delivered to you, they often want you to draw a map! Always have plenty of maps on hand.

To make sure mail is correctly delivered to you, you need to go to the post office where your mail is delivered from, and draw a map for the letter carrier to use. This may have already been done by the developer or builder, but not guaranteed. If this is not done you need to periodically go to the post office that serves you and pick up your mail. If it is not delivered or picked up it gets returned to the sender.

Edited October 4, 2011 by BB1950

[BB1950]

out of personal experience ... 5 out of 10 landlords may also not know the correct address ... (just last week i had this where i meet a customer ... living at the same place for 32 years .. and he does not know his soi has a name)

Absolutely true...

There are many Soi's in the Pattaya area that do not have official names. I would suspect 32 years ago, most Soi's in Pattaya did not have names. Many times the Soi name is inherited from a land mark used by the locals to indentify the Soi. The are many Soi's that have multiple names. Sometimes they are different from each end of the Soi. One very confusing Soi, is Soi 17.

Anyway, Soi's are not actually part of the official address. The official address will have the house number, the Moo number (Tambon Nongprue has 12 Moo's), the Tambon name, the Amphur name, the Chang Wat (Province) name, and the area code. Any other information is optionally used to help identify the location. Pattaya (Phatthaya) or Jomtien (Chom Thian) is not a Tambon name or an offical part of an address.

Most likely the official address is:

XXX/XX Moo XX

Tambon: Nongprue

Amphur: Banglamung

Chang Wat: Chonburi

Area code 20150.

I personally know many local residents who don't even know their area code!

The issue of addresses in Thailand is very confusing and complicated for many foreigners. It is developed from ancient tribal and political traditions. Transliteration issues also adds to the confusion.

Edited October 4, 2011 by BB1950

[McGarty]

BB1950.

Some very good information there. No wonder confusion reigns

I am in a town house and all have numbers. I find it difficult to discern from the electic meters whose is whose because they are not numbered in relation to the house. presumably the meter reader is supposed to know this but when I get electric bills for a house with a different number I do wonder if it is MY bill I am getting or the one for next door.

Looking at the wiring the wires from 2 of the meters run through the same wall between two of the houses. I will have to turn off all my electric at the meter and look to see which meter is not running and take those readings to ensure I am getting the correct bill.

Same with the water.

We may not be talking large sums of money here but from the bills I have checked it amounts to between 300 & 500 baht a month difference. Up to £10. Or 8 bottle os large Chang / Leo a month in my nearest bar!!!

My landlord did not even give the correct addres when I signed the rental agreement. Luckily TOT had my phone number and I was able to direct them to the house. I had paid over the odds for the installation of my internet going by the information he supplied which was for a more out of the way house that would need extra cable etc.

Humour aside I appreciate the helpful comments given

Thanks folks.

[PattayaParent]

Anyway, Soi's are not actually part of the official address. The official address will have the house number, the Moo number (Tambon Nongprue has 12 Moo's), the Tambon name, the Amphur name, the Chang Wat (Province) name, and the area code. Any other information is optionally used to help identify the location. Pattaya (Phatthaya) or Jomtien (Chom Thian) is not a Tambon name or an offical part of an address.

Most likely the official address is:

XXX/XX Moo XX

Tambon: Nongprue

Amphur: Banglamung

Chang Wat: Chonburi

Area code 20150.

That's because they use the plot number, your XXX would be the plot number (as shown on the Chanote) and the XX the number of the building on that plot, which is assigned in application order so may not be in consecutive numbers.

It's easy if there is one house on 1 plot of land, the address is the plot number and in a subdivided estate development which it sounds like the OP is in it should still be the original plot number as the XXX with the XX being the subdivided plot but in this case they would be consecutively numbered as shown on the estate plan. The individual chanote should show that XXX/XX number.

[PattayaParent]

I will have to turn off all my electric at the meter and look to see which meter is not running and take those readings to ensure I am getting the correct bill.

Same with the water.

That's how I figured out which is mine.

[Chang_paarp]

I will have to turn off all my electric at the meter and look to see which meter is not running and take those readings to ensure I am getting the correct bill.

Same with the water.

That's how I figured out which is mine.

Just take the one with the smallest bill. This requires getting in first.

[McGarty]

I will have to turn off all my electric at the meter and look to see which meter is not running and take those readings to ensure I am getting the correct bill.

Same with the water.

That's how I figured out which is mine.

Just take the one with the smallest bill. This requires getting in first.

I would but it seems my bills are going to other addresses. I just got my TOT bill 1 week after the pay by date. Sigh.

[BB1950]

That's because they use the plot number, your XXX would be the plot number (as shown on the Chanote) and the XX the number of the building on that plot, which is assigned in application order so may not be in consecutive numbers.

It's easy if there is one house on 1 plot of land, the address is the plot number and in a subdivided estate development which it sounds like the OP is in it should still be the original plot number as the XXX with the XX being the subdivided plot but in this case they would be consecutively numbered as shown on the estate plan. The individual chanote should show that XXX/XX number.

Might be true for you, but not true for any of my previous houses.or current houses. Nor for.my friends or neighbors. Both in an estate and on individual plots.

Presently all my plots are 3 digit numbers. Yet the house numbers are XX/X. Not any of the house books or chanotes have any numbers in common. In fact, I was given the house books and was told "Up to you" or "Leotae Koon". They weren't assigned to a particular dwelling or building.

BTW, I know on the chanote the plot numbers are in Thai script. I can read the Thai script myself and have verified it with a Thai. On my Chanotes, only the boundary marker numbers aren't in Thai script. So don't accuse me that I don't know how to read a chanote. I also have the master chanote from which the sub plots were divided from. I also went through the process of dividing up the land myself.

I suspect you might be talking about a planned development where the developer worked with the Land Office and the Thechaban. Like I said before, unless the house is registered with the land office, it does not appear on the chanote. The land and house are two separate entities.

Edited October 4, 2011 by BB1950

[PattayaParent]

I suspect you might be talking about a planned development where the developer worked with the Land Office and the Thechaban. Like I said before, unless the house is registered with the land office, it does not appear on the chanote. The land and house are two separate entities.

which is why the post is delivered to the plot number, which can be found on the chanote.