Australian non tax resident- non-financial issues.

[vagabond48]

I decided to send my letter using registered airmail. The last tracking entry on the Thai EMS website shows the following April 7, 2012

11:23:04 SUVARNABHUMI MAIL CENTRE Outgoing International

Should I be concerned that there is not further entry?

Is there another US website to track my letter once it hits the USA?

I would have thought that it would have arrived at the 1st US delivery point by now?

That is the last entry you will see on the Thai site. You now need to start looking for it on the US side:

https://tools.usps.c...on!input.action

Use the same RRxxxxxxxxxTH number you used on the Thai side.

About 20% of the time in my experience it never gets scanned in on the US side, but rarely have I seen a letter not get delivered. So if it doesn't show up on the USPS you need to wait a while and then check with the IRS before you assume it was not delivered.

Thanks. I did already try the above website with my RR number but got this status message,

"Delivery status information is not available for your item via this web site. A return receipt after mailing may be available through your local Post Office."

[vagabond48]

Just a couple of questions please for those of you that sent your mail back to the US using regular Thai registered airmail postage not EMS.

Can you normally track the letter in the US or is registering a letter a small waste of money.

Someone wrote here that it takes 3 week for airmail to be delivered. Why would airmail take that long to be delivered to the US? I know my normal mail which by default is sent by plane takes about 10 days to arrive here from the US.

[pmarlin]

Just a couple of questions please for those of you that sent your mail back to the US using regular Thai registered airmail postage not EMS.

Can you normally track the letter in the US or is registering a letter a small waste of money.

Someone wrote here that it takes 3 week for airmail to be delivered. Why would airmail take that long to be delivered to the US? I know my normal mail which by default is sent by plane takes about 10 days to arrive here from the US.

Yes you can track it in the US using the US postal service track and trace function. I have used it several times. My stuff arrives to the final destination in less than a week. Never had a problem.

[vagabond48]

Just a couple of questions please for those of you that sent your mail back to the US using regular Thai registered airmail postage not EMS.

Can you normally track the letter in the US or is registering a letter a small waste of money.

Someone wrote here that it takes 3 week for airmail to be delivered. Why would airmail take that long to be delivered to the US? I know my normal mail which by default is sent by plane takes about 10 days to arrive here from the US.

Yes you can track it in the US using the US postal service track and trace function. I have used it several times. My stuff arrives to the final destination in less than a week. Never had a problem.

I mailed mine letter April 5th and it was tracked until April7th 11:23AM with the following message "SUVARNABHUMI MAIL CENTRE Outgoing International"

That's 6 business days ago and still nothing on the US website https://tools.usps.c...rmAction.action . I was wondering how often can you track a letter. It is obvious that my letter is not being tracked in the US as of yet. Perhaps there is another website that I need to use?

Edited April 15, 2012 by vagabond48

[tutsiwarrior]

if you have used the Thailand EMS service and know that the letter/parcel has arrived in the US then use the following for tracking purposes:

http://usps.ems-tracking.net/

items that are dispatched from outside the US have a different tracking arrangement when they arrive to the US but the same tracking number is used...

[Lancelot]

I mailed several US tax returns using only Thai Post Air Mail (from BKK, Pattaya, Chiang Mai) They all reached the US, no problema. I did keep the postage receipt for several years after mailing.

[Lancelot]

I mailed several US tax returns using only Thai Post Air Mail (from BKK, Pattaya, Chiang Mai) They all reached the US, no problema. I did keep the postage receipt for several years after mailing.

[gregb]

Just a couple of questions please for those of you that sent your mail back to the US using regular Thai registered airmail postage not EMS.

Can you normally track the letter in the US or is registering a letter a small waste of money.

Someone wrote here that it takes 3 week for airmail to be delivered. Why would airmail take that long to be delivered to the US? I know my normal mail which by default is sent by plane takes about 10 days to arrive here from the US.

Yes you can track it in the US using the US postal service track and trace function. I have used it several times. My stuff arrives to the final destination in less than a week. Never had a problem.

I mailed mine letter April 5th and it was tracked until April7th 11:23AM with the following message "SUVARNABHUMI MAIL CENTRE Outgoing International"

That's 6 business days ago and still nothing on the US website https://tools.usps.c...rmAction.action . I was wondering how often can you track a letter. It is obvious that my letter is not being tracked in the US as of yet. Perhaps there is another website that I need to use?

I've sent several hundred letters registered mail to the US from Thailand. You can expect about 20% of them to NEVER show up on the US side, however most show up within a week of the outbound scan at Suvarnabhumi. Despite the number that don't get scanned though, I have only had 1 letter actually not get delivered (and that is out of several hundred. So much less than 1%). I'm not sure why the USPS can't seem to scan so many letters, but they are very reliable for delivery.

In the last 12 years, I have only had 1 instance where an EMS letter did not appear, and it turned out that it really was lost. So if you are looking for certainty, then use EMS. If all you want is "good enough", the registered airmail is probably acceptable. Standard delivery time to the US is about 10 days.

[asiaexpat]

Sent my IRS return via Thai EMS registered mail for 600 Baht. Tracked it with the EMS system and verified IRS received it in 8 days. No problems.

[vagabond48]

I guess I'll have to keep my fingers crossed and give it a month to check online if my return was received.

Thanks for all the comments.