Is The Post Office Reliable?

[roly]

Went to the post office the other day to post a letter - the choice was either an 89 baht standard rate, or 800+ baht for some sort of special guaranteed delivery etc. Obviously I took the 89 baht rate, but just wondering whether the post office is reliable or letters ever get 'lost'..? it's just a UK driving license that needed to be cancelled and they requested it was sent back cut in two.

The main reason I'm asking is that I need to send a letter to my bank in the UK and not sure whether to use the post office 89 baht service for a letter that contains bank account details, although it's just sort code and account number and indicating an address change. I know I could print, sign, scan and email the letter to a family member in UK but the bank might need an original signature not a copy, and obviously I don't want to pay 800 baht just to inform them of an address change - you'd think you could do this online these days but it has to be in writing apparently. The fecks!

[1huahin]

From our experience the post from here to the UK is not very reliable at all - unless it is a post card and they arrive in about 5 days. If we have anything that is important that needs to be posted to the UK we always try and find someone who is going there and ask them to post the letter.

[ableguy]

Cannot imagine what the 800 baht was for as a regular letter sent registered costs around 90 baht. I have never had a letter arrive any where unless posted registered, I suspect the english writing is license to steal the stamp. However i have a letter sent registered a month ago to UK not arrive yet but that is the first one. I was cheated out of a hundred baht note in the post office by a high member of the staff so I trust nobody in there which pretty much goes for the rest of Thailand too.

[katabeachbum]

I have found both the cheap post and the more expensive EMS lost during my 9 years here. No value, only docs and CD

So, cheap registered post with your signature on a blanc document, email the rest and have it printed on signed doc in recieving country

[justcruisin]

The Postal service here is totally unreliable,both in and outbound mail "disapears".

I recently had a registered parcel from Singapore which did arrive eventually after 6 weeks.

Only 4 hours by aircraft but the parcel spent 1 month in Bkk and was opened and re-sealed twice,It contained 2 motorcycle sprockets which I imagine can easily be identifiied by normal X-Ray.

[PETERTHEEATER]

The 800 ThB rate is EMS express delivery for documents, tracked at each stage and progress viewable on-line using the unique EMS Number printed on the receipt.

I find incoming letter mail (ex UK) generally reliable with 3 to 5 day transit time but, the hold-up is at Lak Si (Bangkok) central sorting office. The postmarks can show up to a ten day transit from BKK.

What I am missing is data (historical document copies) sent on CD, DVD or thumb-drives from UK. I get the impression that the packets are being intercepted either by customs or by thieves. This is not supported because I have received unsolicited gifts of some value without problem.

The Thai Post Office has (in my opinion) an excellent Domestic service both letter and - in particular - small packet that is well used by the general public; it is the incoming International mail service that needs explanation.

[TongueThaied]

I have used Thai Post many many times both to send and receive letters and packages to and from the US. I have NEVER had a problem, nor have I lost anything. Also, Thai customs has never snagged anything sent to me by Post from the US and I have received over $10,000US worth of stuff. Thai Post has been golden for me.

You can send letters internationally by regular mail fairly cheaply. I have used this method many times and have never had a problem. Or, you can use EMS, which is expensive for international, but you can track your item on the Internet and know when it is delivered. I only use this method when I need proof of delivery or ship something valuable. I have also used the international book rate, which is very slow, but cheap. Domestically, I always use Thai Post for my 90 reports and have had no problems. I send in the report by EMS (so I have proof) and receive the slip back by regular mail (3 baht).

Many people on this forum have had problems with Thai Post and I can only speculate as to the reason. I live in a very small town and the people and the Post Office know me. I am always absolutely courteous with them and bring them fruit sometimes. Every farang from which I have heard a complaint has lived in one of the Big Four: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pataya or Phuket. I suspect that things that disappear are stolen in the victim's local Post Office, which is big and impersonal and the people there may have had numerous bad experiences with farangs, so they just don't give a shit and steal whatever they want. Like I said, with probably over 100 letters and packages, I have never lost a thing.

[katabeachbum]

I have used Thai Post many many times both to send and receive letters and packages to and from the US. I have NEVER had a problem, nor have I lost anything. Also, Thai customs has never snagged anything sent to me by Post from the US and I have received over $10,000US worth of stuff. Thai Post has been golden for me.

You can send letters internationally by regular mail fairly cheaply. I have used this method many times and have never had a problem. Or, you can use EMS, which is expensive for international, but you can track your item on the Internet and know when it is delivered. I only use this method when I need proof of delivery or ship something valuable. I have also used the international book rate, which is very slow, but cheap. Domestically, I always use Thai Post for my 90 reports and have had no problems. I send in the report by EMS (so I have proof) and receive the slip back by regular mail (3 baht).

Many people on this forum have had problems with Thai Post and I can only speculate as to the reason. I live in a very small town and the people and the Post Office know me. I am always absolutely courteous with them and bring them fruit sometimes. Every farang from which I have heard a complaint has lived in one of the Big Four: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pataya or Phuket. I suspect that things that disappear are stolen in the victim's local Post Office, which is big and impersonal and the people there may have had numerous bad experiences with farangs, so they just don't give a shit and steal whatever they want. Like I said, with probably over 100 letters and packages, I have never lost a thing.

should have mentioned, last tracking of lost EMS, both inbound and outbound International and domestic, have always been BKK. and here in Kata Beach there are only 6000 residents

for parcels, Post logitec is safer, according to TH Post

[kmj]

I have sent / received many letters & parcels in Cha-am over the past 3 years, with no problems from the UK & HK

maybe I'm just lucky.

[UKJASE]

i have sent about 20 parcels to UK from thailand. mainly from bangkok, but some from samui and phuket

they are usually about 6 - 7 kg and i send using SAL service. it is meant to take one month, but usually takes about 2 weeks.

i have never had anything go missing, or been opened by customs, or damaged in transit.

the mrs swears by thai postal service too...... I have even thought about posting her back up north sometimes, but at 42 kg, the bus works out marginally cheaper

[BazilFox]

Sent loads of padded envelopes and boxed mail using the normal post (not sp delivery) all arrived, longest one took a month. :jap:

[fredob43]

I have used Thai Post many many times both to send and receive letters and packages to and from the US. I have NEVER had a problem, nor have I lost anything. Also, Thai customs has never snagged anything sent to me by Post from the US and I have received over $10,000US worth of stuff. Thai Post has been golden for me.

You can send letters internationally by regular mail fairly cheaply. I have used this method many times and have never had a problem. Or, you can use EMS, which is expensive for international, but you can track your item on the Internet and know when it is delivered. I only use this method when I need proof of delivery or ship something valuable. I have also used the international book rate, which is very slow, but cheap. Domestically, I always use Thai Post for my 90 reports and have had no problems. I send in the report by EMS (so I have proof) and receive the slip back by regular mail (3 baht).

Many people on this forum have had problems with Thai Post and I can only speculate as to the reason. I live in a very small town and the people and the Post Office know me. I am always absolutely courteous with them and bring them fruit sometimes. Every farang from which I have heard a complaint has lived in one of the Big Four: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pataya or Phuket. I suspect that things that disappear are stolen in the victim's local Post Office, which is big and impersonal and the people there may have had numerous bad experiences with farangs, so they just don't give a shit and steal whatever they want. Like I said, with probably over 100 letters and packages, I have never lost a thing.

I can only second your statement about letter's from Pattaya I sent several from their post office in 13/2 only to find not one arrived. So I started to take note of what they were doing. They would take the letter's box's ect and weigh them take out the stamp's and put them on top of the envelope's and place the box's/leter's over the back muttering as they did so that as it was bizzy they would get the man out the back to stick them on. After watching this for the 20 or so Farang punter's that where in front of me, I found a clue I got my bit's weighed and after receiving the stamp's I took the hole lot away with me stuck the stamp's on at a later time and put them in the post box. Now you won't believe this but after I did that not one went astray. I now don't live there and at my new local Post Office not one has ever gone on the missing list. Funny that A. Another Joy of living in Pattaya. Edited November 26, 2011 by fredob43

[katabeachbum]

I have used Thai Post many many times both to send and receive letters and packages to and from the US. I have NEVER had a problem, nor have I lost anything. Also, Thai customs has never snagged anything sent to me by Post from the US and I have received over $10,000US worth of stuff. Thai Post has been golden for me.

You can send letters internationally by regular mail fairly cheaply. I have used this method many times and have never had a problem. Or, you can use EMS, which is expensive for international, but you can track your item on the Internet and know when it is delivered. I only use this method when I need proof of delivery or ship something valuable. I have also used the international book rate, which is very slow, but cheap. Domestically, I always use Thai Post for my 90 reports and have had no problems. I send in the report by EMS (so I have proof) and receive the slip back by regular mail (3 baht).

Many people on this forum have had problems with Thai Post and I can only speculate as to the reason. I live in a very small town and the people and the Post Office know me. I am always absolutely courteous with them and bring them fruit sometimes. Every farang from which I have heard a complaint has lived in one of the Big Four: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pataya or Phuket. I suspect that things that disappear are stolen in the victim's local Post Office, which is big and impersonal and the people there may have had numerous bad experiences with farangs, so they just don't give a shit and steal whatever they want. Like I said, with probably over 100 letters and packages, I have never lost a thing.

should have mentioned, last tracking of lost EMS, both inbound and outbound International and domestic, have always been BKK. and here in Kata Beach there are only 6000 residents

for parcels, Post logitec is safer, according to TH Post

update on Logipost

10 Kg box from Chiang Rai to Phuket

left CR 04 November. left Chumporn and "carded" mid November.

I went to my local post office to try to trace it Nov 18th. "Must be at Logipost terminal on bypassroad". 30 km drive, couldnt find it.

Still no message in my mailbox

Nov 25th box is on its way back to Chumporn to be returned to sender. Logipost claims to have sendt 2 notice cards to me, which have never arrived my mail box. Other mail has in the same timeframe

So now sender has to ship it one more time, at double expenses

Reliable post

[Billmont]

My experience with post to and from the UK has been generally excellent. One letter was delayed about a month and it turned out that our Thai Postman went on a course (private) and nobody replaced him. He delivered all the mail on his return. Recently had two items sent from the UK, one was a small parcel about 0.5kg containing Demi Glase powder and arrived within 5 days. A letter containing documents, a set of accounts took almost two weeks and were posted at the same time as the parcel. It was an A4 size letter and as usual was folded, I think, by the local postman so it would fit in his bag so the spine of the documents was broken. I also get some medicines delivered every two months from the UK without any problems. Before we left the UK my wife wrote our address in Thai and I copied it onto sets of sticky labels. I did the same with our Thai address in English. I then gave everyone who had regular reason to contact us, i.e. Tenants, solicitors, accountants, local chemist for medicine etc sets of these labels with instructions to put one each labels on to letters and parcels and I think this really helps when the mail arrives in Thailand. I have used EMS internally and that also has worked well. Special delivery to the UK does cost about THB800 which I have used when something really important has to be posted and that also worked well. I was expecting delays in Bangkok because of the floods but the post office seems to be working normally. It is a fact that all countries suffers from lost post and I do not think, in my experience, that Thailand is any worse than average, in fact probable better. Recently a UK postmas was arrested for non delivery of mail. They found over 10,000 letters stored in his home, unopened. He said that he could not find the time to deliver them so took them home. When he had a quiet day he delivered some of the backlog. Sh*t happens and postal systems are not exempt! Happy posting!

[Billmont]

Further to my last post I forgot to mention that we receive at least 6 letters each year from HMRC (UK tax authorities), the brown envelopes are hand written, badly I might add with incorrect spelling and they always bloody turn up. Sods Law I expect! Unfortunately my wife and I still have to pay UK tax on rental income from within the UK and if these letter got lost I would not complain, rather I might congratulate the Thai Postal system but these letters are efficiently delivered with English writing that I find hard to decipher.

[Soboringtochooseaname]

Post is reliable, and people are talking about what they don't know.

Only tracking of registered mails to US and Europe is not reliable and almost not available (you pay for registered mail but your mail is only tracked until it reaches SUVARNABHUMI airport...).

For a complete tracking use EMS service, and if you think that 800 thb is expensive just compare with the rate in UK for the same service and you will find it cheap for a 10000 kms trip...

[MAJIC]

Have had many Postage problems over the years,once a small light weight Package to Germany took 20 days to arrive.

Now my wife and I have adopted a new form of overseas Airmail Mailing. i.e she writes the English address in Thai on the left hand side,and I write in English on the right hand side.

So far we have had good success with this method,the theory behind it is: Thais use the left address to clear Thailand, and the English use the right hand address to deal with it,on entry into the UK,

so there is no need of interpretation hold ups.

This method can also be reversed,depending on which country you are posting from.

The MIL got a letter in the Village,from England once,in 5 days by this method!

[MAJIC]

The 800 ThB rate is EMS express delivery for documents, tracked at each stage and progress viewable on-line using the unique EMS Number printed on the receipt.

I find incoming letter mail (ex UK) generally reliable with 3 to 5 day transit time but, the hold-up is at Lak Si (Bangkok) central sorting office. The postmarks can show up to a ten day transit from BKK.

What I am missing is data (historical document copies) sent on CD, DVD or thumb-drives from UK. I get the impression that the packets are being intercepted either by customs or by thieves. This is not supported because I have received unsolicited gifts of some value without problem.

The Thai Post Office has (in my opinion) an excellent Domestic service both letter and - in particular - small packet that is well used by the general public; it is the incoming International mail service that needs explanation.

I dont quite follow your above highlighted comment Peter,surely once the International Mail has arrived in Thailand it must be their responsibility to deliver internally,

or have I missed something?

[MAJIC]

Further to my last post I forgot to mention that we receive at least 6 letters each year from HMRC (UK tax authorities), the brown envelopes are hand written, badly I might add with incorrect spelling and they always bloody turn up. Sods Law I expect! Unfortunately my wife and I still have to pay UK tax on rental income from within the UK and if these letter got lost I would not complain, rather I might congratulate the Thai Postal system but these letters are efficiently delivered with English writing that I find hard to decipher.

Consider yourself honoured Bill,

In all my years of living in the UK,paying my Taxes,and NI, all I ever got was the typed addresses that fit exactly into that little window on the Brown Envelope, (perfectly typed mind you)

Let me know your local Branch of HMRC which is obviously discriminating and denying me my Human Rights of personal contact,and i'm dam_n well going to take this up with my local MP.

And if you like I will mention to my MP,about your Tax problem with your UK Earned Rental Income Taxes,the audacity of these Taxation Penpushers!

For heavens sake,haven't they heard of Farang logic? and Ex Pat Laws?

Now where the hell did I put those compensation forms?

Edited November 27, 2011 by MAJIC

[Billmont]

Further to my last post I forgot to mention that we receive at least 6 letters each year from HMRC (UK tax authorities), the brown envelopes are hand written, badly I might add with incorrect spelling and they always bloody turn up. Sods Law I expect! Unfortunately my wife and I still have to pay UK tax on rental income from within the UK and if these letter got lost I would not complain, rather I might congratulate the Thai Postal system but these letters are efficiently delivered with English writing that I find hard to decipher.

Consider yourself honoured Bill,

In all my years of living in the UK,paying my Taxes,and NI, all I ever got was the typed addresses that fit exactly into that little window on the Brown Envelope, (perfectly typed mind you)

Let me know your local Branch of HMRC which is obviously discriminating and denying me my Human Rights of personal contact,and i'm dam_n well going to take this up with my local MP.

And if you like I will mention to my MP,about your Tax problem with your UK Earned Rental Income Taxes,the audacity of these Taxation Penpushers!

For heavens sake,haven't they heard of Farang logic? and Ex Pat Laws?

Now where the hell did I put those compensation forms?

Well Majic you have got me thinking, maybe HMRC are just out to get my wife and me. The letters are typed including the address but are not put into a window envelope. They are also posted from Amsterdam. Some cost saving some way or another. The problem is the Overseas Landlords Act. One has to apply to pay any tax in the usual way and this PRIVILEGE is only granted if one's tax affairs are fully up to date and you have a good record in paying tax when due. Otherwise HMRC instructs the Tenants to deduct tax at source and then claim any allowances at the end of each year. The Bar Stewards have obviously not heard of Farang Logic, maybe it is their way of off setting QROPS!

[hhfarang]

We had huge problems with the regular local post this month. We got the entire month's mail in one bundle late in the month after all the bills (3BB, TOT, Truevisions, etc.,) were already overdue along with a notice of an important package to be picked up at the Post Office. We went the next day and the package had been sent back because it had been there too long (before we even got the notice that it had arrived)!

Either the Postal Serivce or our local postman (or both) are crap.

[katabeachbum]

Post is reliable, and people are talking about what they don't know.

Only tracking of registered mails to US and Europe is not reliable and almost not available (you pay for registered mail but your mail is only tracked until it reaches SUVARNABHUMI airport...).

For a complete tracking use EMS service, and if you think that 800 thb is expensive just compare with the rate in UK for the same service and you will find it cheap for a 10000 kms trip...

Sure

Yesterday I went to complain at my local post office

I have recently not recieved mail from

Tanachart Bank

Krungsri Aythua bank credit card invoice

TOT

3bb

and 2 notice cards from Thailand Post Logipost

Same name, mail adress and yellow mail box since 2007

[josephinebloggs]

There is no problem with outbound International Registered Post at all..