Thai Postal service 100% failure

[falangadang]

I had a A4 size registered envelope with some manuscript in it sent to me in Chiangmai from Australia. It had about 100 pages in it so was fairly thick.

It never arrived. Some weeks later I asked my dad to inquire at the post office and they said it was delivered to BKK within 48 hours of being registered at the post office. From there they said they had no way of tracing it as Thailand doesn't run any trace or reciprocal program where transit process can be monitored.

The local Chiangmai post office made inquiries and discovered it had been delivered to some sub office processing point north of BKK and that's where it went missing.

Fortunately it was only an inconvenience as it contained no money and the manuscript was later replicated and resent but I tend to think that it may have found its way into someones duffle bag for later opening as there could have been a perception that money was inside.

Since then had no dramas but have had some other brown envelopes (Manila size) opened and resealed (no notification from anyone that the envelope had been opened.

I now tell people not to send via registered mail as that tends to signal "value" to some employees at this end who then take the liberty of hijacking the parcel for themselves.

My wife recently had some vitamins sent in a padded bag from Australia by a Thai friend there (so all address etc was in Thai) but the customs label description in English "Vitamins/Gift",.... and amazingly it arrived no problem despite the contents being worth $100 which also was declared on the customs label.

[fxe1200]

I sent a 50 baht note to my family in Australia and it never arrived. How did they know it was in there???

Letters are being scanned. It is illegal in Thailand to send banknotes by mail.

[maake55555]

My mail has gone missing several times and man does it take a long time for the mail that you do get. 4 to 6 weeks, that is madding, and don't even try to get a post office to trace regular mail as they say they cannot track it even though it costs $14 to $18 to mail it here.

Something needs to be done, but what????????? MYSTERY to me what happens to it.

[Garry]

I must be lucky, as I've never had a problem with incoming and outgoing mail deliveries. Most to CONUS (Y)

edit: all my post office use has been in Chiang Rai and the Thai Customs department in BKK

Edited December 16, 2013 by Garry

[fxe1200]

I am living here in Southern TH for 11 years, and I never ever had any problem with the Thailand Post. Everything was delivered, funds were returned, when I paid some money in advance, to possibly forward a letter for me by EMS to Germany. The staff is always friendly and helpful. It's chocolate and compliments every year for "my" local post office.

I only had problems with the German Mail, but that is common in Germany. Their service, if there is any, is the worst. If one of our "krauts" want to read:

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/geld/zustellpraxis-von-paketdiensten-lieferstatus-empfaenger-ist-mit-den-nerven-fertig-1.1837901?commentspage=all:2:#comments

[nongsangcity]

had many many letters opened, they arrive at my house with blue tape sticking the opened envelope together....sometimes just get the envelope.....recently nothing has arrived whatso ever from the UK even though I know stuff has been sent....damned annoying

[Suradit69]

what is going on with the Thai postal service, been here 10 years and never had a problem until the last 6 months were 3 items sent to me have gone missing

I haven't had any problems in the last ten years or the last 6 months.

Not sure how this merits the "100% failure" comment.

Were the things sent from within Thailand or are you just assuming if they were sent internationally that it must be Thailand's Postal Service that's to blame?

[Muhendis]

I live about a kilometre outside my village and the post lady/person, being of a lazy disposition, would give my mail to my wifes sister rather than ride out to my house. This went on for a few weeks until I suggested that I might complain to the Buri Ram post office. Now everything is hunky dory.

My friend in Hua Hin got quite upset because his kids failed to send birthday cards to him. It turned out, after a phone call to the kids in the UK, that they were sitting in a corner of the local post office in Hua Hin. The excuse was that there were some neglectful students working in the PO at the time.

This sort of failing boils down to poor management and lack of procedural monitoring and unless backsides get kicked occasionally it will not change.

[circusman]

I sent a 50 baht note to my family in Australia and it never arrived. How did they know it was in there???

Perhaps you should not have used transparent envelope.

[BrooklynNY]

There have been complaints about Thai postal service on Thai webboard too. All complaints were packages mailed from abroad that their packages were missing and if delivered either the packages were opened and items were missing. People have made complaints but to no avail. The postal workers took the complaints but did nothing to improve. Any postal workers who stole packages and got caught, they would not be fired but they would either face temporary suspension and return to work shortly or to be transfer to somewhere else.

I read one Thai post that there is a village postal worker, a female who has been stealing packages. She rang the recipient's door bell once and when no one opened the door, she claimed the packages were hers. After having traced the package, the woman worker admitted that she took the packages and she did many times. Her punishment was only a temporary suspension which was like giving her a month off.

[Ulic]

Usually it's the mailman getting lazy. When the have had enough the just start dumping stuff and taking the afternoon off.

[DGIE]

you are dreaming, nobody has lost his job, at most they moved.

I think the same. How do you know if they are fired? Maybe they just say that so that you believe that they punish those who have wrong doings but actually they are not fired.

[DGIE]

I mailed 4 big cartons to Peru by ocean freight on August 29, 2013. Up to now it has not yet reached the addressee.

I believed that the parcels have been lost. It is already almost 4 months.

I complained by email November 9,2013 to their website and a certain Customer Service AL replied me.

He asked me the postal receipt, the triplicate of the ones pasted on the box. I misplaced them but I said I have the

tracking numbers because I emailed them to the addressee when I just mailed the parcels. I added that the post office Prakanong has the copies of course. They later found the post office copies.

The customer service said (by email) that it takes 30-60 days for them to get information from people concerned.

I made follow-ups but now the customer service stops answering my email.

Today, December 16, 2013 is the 37th day of my complaint and there is no information as to whereabouts of the parcels.

Is there anybody who made a claim for lost parcels?

Edited December 16, 2013 by DGIE

[kurnell]

kurnell, on 16 Dec 2013 - 04:50, said:

I sent a 50 baht note to my family in Australia and it never arrived. How did they know it was in there???

Please, don't spoil your family.....anyway don't think they missed it!!!!!!!!

It was the new plastic 50 baht note...supposedly made in Australia and they wanted to see it

[kurnell]

I sent a 50 baht note to my family in Australia and it never arrived. How did they know it was in there???

Metal strip in notes, goes 'ping' as the letter goes though the sorting machine.

It was a plastic note

[paz]

I mailed 4 big cartons to Peru by ocean freight on August 29, 2013. Up to now it has not yet reached the addressee.

I believed that the parcels have been lost. It is already almost 4 months.

Shipments like that are pure bets and I don't think you will see the goods or any of your money again.

I've seen goods unloaded at the wrong port and left there because the shipping company could not care less. That using a private handler, not postal service. My friend shipped cartons from Japan to Thailand, took like three months but it arrived in the end, I think he just got lucky. Outside Thailand, I've got a pushbike stolen, again private company, no insurance, no refund.

Sad reality is that for low/medium value, heavvy or bulky items, etc, it make no sense to ship internationally, better to sell, donate or burn it.

Edited December 16, 2013 by paz

[Bpuumike]

I had the same problem a few years ago, a lot of stuff did not arrive by mail. I went to the post office in our Amphur and fied a complain, also on paper (Thai and English). Nothing happend and a lot of my mail was still missing.

I contacted the posal service in Bangkok, talked with them and emailed and faxed my all the details. It took about two weeks of phone calls up and down, but it was solved.

The mailman was fired for not delivering the mail. And the lady I talked to at the postoffice did not forward my complain. She was the wife of my mailman. Shelost her job to.

A month or so later I had a visted at my house from a postal inspector from Bangkok and the manager from the postoffice. They where sorry and wanted to kow if everithing was ok now.

So if you have problems with your mail, contact the postal service in Bangkok, be as detailed as possible and it will work out.

Have had 2 go astray recently.

I was blaming the UK Royal Mail but in view of this will chase up Thailand Post, who I have always considered excellent.

[Bpuumike]

I sent a 50 baht note to my family in Australia and it never arrived. How did they know it was in there???

Perhaps you should not have used transparent envelope.

+1 Ha ha

[thailandbeachisland]

I sent a 50 baht note to my family in Australia and it never arrived. How did they know it was in there???

Letters are being scanned. It is illegal in Thailand to send banknotes by mail.

You are really funny if you really believe that they can scan and check all letters 555+

[fxe1200]

I sent a 50 baht note to my family in Australia and it never arrived. How did they know it was in there???

Letters are being scanned. It is illegal in Thailand to send banknotes by mail.

You are really funny if you really believe that they can scan and check all letters 555+

Keep on trying, then you will find out how many bank notes make it to Australia, and how many will disappear.

[jsflynn603]

I sent a 50 baht note to my family in Australia and it never arrived. How did they know it was in there???

They have dogs trained to sniff out money. Most money, especially new money is quite odiferous. It is common that books with money between pages disappears not only in Thailand but also in Philippines and I imagine other places. It's the perfect crime (for them, and I suppose--for the dog who gets lots of treats).

[bobbyd1]

I agree, no oversight. I had a Samsung smart phone stolen here that was shipped from USA. Did necessary follow ups with no joy. It is what it is as they say.

[A1Str8]

Once I sent 7 11 stamps to a friend of mine in Bkk. A lot, in an envelope. They never arrived. After realizing that they steal even the fu_kin stamps I decided to start using other means of delivery especially because the thai post has nothing to do with delivery. It's all about stealery.

[spidermike007]

I have exactly the opposite experience. As long as I ship using EMS it ALWAYS arrives, and the speed with which it arrives surprises me every time. Beats the hell out of the US Postal Service. And for a fraction of the price. I ship documents using EMS, and they arrive either the next day, or within two days, always. For $1 or $2. Same with packages within Thailand. I think the Thai post office is exceptional.

[connda]

I've had a PO box at the main Chiang Mai Post Office for the last 5 years. I have not had any problems (knock on wood). However, I have had a number of items sent from the US using USPS Express International that have taken up to two weeks to arrive. You'd assume the problem would be on the Thai end. That hasn't been so. When I check tracking, the delay comes from the point of origin in the US until it hits Suvarnabhumi. Once at the airport, it clears customs and reaches the CM post office within 2 days. I've also had packages sent by normal USPS first class international mail (untrackable, I just say a 'Hail Mary') and the packages normally arrive faster than the USPS Express International (go figure).

With all this said, I don't have anything mailed to my physical address. I don't trust the mail carriers, especially the rural carriers. If you send stuff to a PO box, you eliminate one last place where things can (and do) go wrong.

Sending mail outbound, I send via EMS mail (if it's important enough). Mail generally makes it to Suvarnabhumi in two days or less. The only problem is tracking. Once it leaves Suvarnabhumi, tracking is really hit or miss. That has only concerned me when sending FBAR reports to the US Treasury each year. I did this one year and I save the receipts from the Thai PO and put it with my yearly tax documents. After that I've sent them via DHL so I can track the document to their doorstep. Penalties for non-filing are just Machiavellian, really harsh. Thank god they're going to an electronic system this year! As far a letters, I just sent them via Thai first class international and they have always made it.

Again, knock on wood, no problems.

[connda]

I have a house in Phuket. Through personal experience, I found out that mail posted in Phuket and sent to Europe, arrives ok. Parcels sent from Europe to Phuket, arrive ok. Letters sent from Europe to Phuket, never arrive. Letters sent from Singapore, always arrive.

My assumption is that letters from Europe is always opened in BKK or Phuket in the hope of money being inside. Parcels are sorted separately and harder to discretely search for valuables such as money or cheques. Mail from Singapore maybe goes through a separate sorting line and/or there isn't a natural assumption that cash or cheques are inside an envelope.

I also have a house in a village outsideUdon. I never have mail or bills sent there. Any address written in English means the mail won't arrive. Just incompetence though rather than corruption.

I'm in my 60's, and I learned from my parents about 45 years ago one simple lesson in life: "Never send money thru the mail - ever!!!"

That's just asking for problems.

[Tchooptip]

I had the same problem a few years ago, a lot of stuff did not arrive by mail. I went to the post office in our Amphur and fied a complain, also on paper (Thai and English). Nothing happend and a lot of my mail was still missing.

I contacted the posal service in Bangkok, talked with them and emailed and faxed my all the details. It took about two weeks of phone calls up and down, but it was solved.

The mailman was fired for not delivering the mail. And the lady I talked to at the postoffice did not forward my complain. She was the wife of my mailman. Shelost her job to.

A month or so later I had a visted at my house from a postal inspector from Bangkok and the manager from the postoffice. They where sorry and wanted to kow if everithing was ok now.

So if you have problems with your mail, contact the postal service in Bangkok, be as detailed as possible and it will work out.

So not everything is roten in the Kingdom of Siam, and congratulation for not give up Good lesson for many farangs!