Securely Mailing A Letter To The U.s. -- Best Options?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Since tax season is approaching for U.S. folks, and since I had some banking documents I needed to send back to the States, I decided lately to check on some of the various ways of sending documents securely from here to there. Pretty interesting results.

If anyone has different experiences with this or has other/different suggestions, please do post them here. I'm pretty well versed in mailing from the U.S. to Thailand, but far less so going from Thailand to the U.S. But here's what I encountered.

--Thai Post registered mail:

It can be tracked inside Thailand, and supposedly at the U.S. end via the U.S.P.S. system. But it seems there are lots of complaints from members here about the tracking failing at the U.S. end. That said, most of those complaints seem to also say their documents did arrive.

My local Thai Post Office advised typical 1 to 2 weeks delivery time to the U.S., and said the rates might be around 100 to 150 baht.

--EMS:

It can be tracked both in Thailand and in the U.S., and seems to be pretty secure and reliable. All the past documents I've sent via EMS to the U.S. have arrived in less than a week. Standard fee for a document envelope is 600 baht. Nice to see there wasn't a price increase with the start of a new calendar year.

Then there are the three main express courier services, all of which offer comprehensive tracking and I'd assume secure, reliable delivery:

DHL:

Went to the local DHL office near my home, and they have what they call their Express Envelope that will accept up to 0.5 kilograms weight. Promised delivery time 2 business days. Flat price 1,890 baht.

FedEx:

Checked the FedEx Thailand website for a quote, and got two quoted prices, about 964 baht for a FedEx International Priority envelope, and almost 1,400 baht for a FedEx International Economy envelope. Both will accept weight up to 0.5 kilograms. Delivery time to the U.S. 2 to 3 business days.

But when I went to check with my local FedEx office, the guy there said they didn't offer the higher priced International Economy method, and only offered the International Priority method for 964 baht. Couldn't get an explanation of why.

UPS:

Their Thailand website quoted me three very different prices for mailing a documents envelope, with guaranteed second business day delivery. Worldwide Express Plus offered early morning delivery for 3,764 baht. Worldwide Express offered midmorning delivery for 1,414 baht. And Express Saver offered end of the day delivery for 1,340 baht.

Most of my past tax and business document mailings have been done via the 600 baht EMS method, and I've never had any problems going that route. But I was surprised to find the 964 baht pricing for the FedEx International Priority envelope, especially when it's half the price of a comparable DHL service and significantly less than UPS' comparable offerings.

Still, nearly 1000 baht is a lot to pay for mailing an envelope to the U.S. Any better ways to go that still provide real tracking and quick delivery times at any more economical prices???

[Lefty]

Last 3 envelopes each sent via DHL in Korat cost Baht 1048-all received in texas in 3 days.

Lefty

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Curious how you got that pricing...

I used the DHL Thailand website to price 8.5 x 11 size document shipments from BKK to LA and TX, with weights of 0.1 and 0.2 Lbs...

I got identical pricing results for both destinations, with three different prices/timings for each. The middle one was the same price I was quoted in the DHL shop here, while the online version gave me added options of earlier in the day/higher price or later in the day/lower price. But all were higher than the rate you posted.

Same pricing, BTW, when I reduced the envelope size to just that of a business envelope, not a full 8.5 X 11 sheet.

[Lefty]

Price was quoted and paid at the Korat DHL office and included vat,

Lefty

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Another of the vendors out there I'd been meaning to check about is TNT, which pretty much serves countries around the world.

But to my surprise, the agent I spoke with on the phone explained that ONLY for shipments going to the U.S.A., they would NOT send envelopes or boxes from individuals. They'd only send envelopes or packages to the U.S. from entities with TNT accounts, and the rep claimed they'd only set up accounts for companies, not individuals.

But the more surprising part was, then the CSR guy explained that that restriction only applied to envelopes or boxes being sent thru TNT to the U.S. To any other country they serve, they'd be happy to send the item from Thailand on behalf of individuals who don't have TNT accounts.

I asked why the different treatment for U.S. bound items, and of course, the rep couldn't explain/didn't know why.