Can someone check this electricity bill is legit and reasonable?

[thailand492]

Alright, I know this is gonna come across like I need to get my tinfoil hat back on, but I'm paranoid with anything to do with Thais and money.

Electricity bill came through today and it seems a bit high. Now OK, it looks like an official bill from the electric company, but I'm wondering if maybe my condo owner has altered a few figures to make himself a bit of extra profit. Sounds paranoid I know, but well...it's not paranoia if they really are out to get you! Anyway, here's a copy of the bill:

Now I can't read Thai, but I asked a Thai friend and he said everything seems reasonable enough. My main questions are:

- I understand I've used 263 units of electric this month. I was under the impression the government rate is 4 baht per unit, so this would mean a bill of around 1050 baht. Instead it's 1637 baht. So there's some pretty big increases added on somewhere. In particular, I'm wondering why it appears for the first 150 units I've been charged 579.75 baht, but for the 86 units after that I appear to have been charged 549.74 baht. Does the government rate really go from just under 4 baht a unit to 6.4 baht a unit after you use over 150 units??

- What is this 362 baht "FT" charge on my bill? I've no idea what it is and my Thai friend didn't provide a clear explanation. For those who do know what FT stands for, does 362 baht seem reasonable?

- Overall from looking at the bill, can you guys see anything that stands out as been 'wrong' or out of the ordinary?

If I need to get the tinfoil hat back on fair enough but thought it was best to check.

[seajae]

mate, its bigger than ours for a 3 bedroom house.

[Briggsy]

After the first 150 units, the rate ramps up to way higher than 4 baht per unit.

Then you add on standing charge, ft charge and VAT.

So that is why it is much higher than you expect.

I note the MEA have changed their bill design. PEA still use the old style.

Upon reviewing it, it looks like they have only charged you for 236 units not 263 units. I don't understand that.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Briggsy

[Naam]

What is this 362 baht "FT" charge on my bill?

a fuel surcharge that varies depending on general enery cost.

[Seastallion]

Shall I send you my answer by post direct to your door?

Seems all legit.

First line is units used, second line is service charge, then sub-total, Don't know what ft is, then subtotal, then 7% tax, then grand total.

[Upnotover]

150+86 = 236.

[Tywais]

It appears you are paying above government rates which is not uncommon for condos. In this case it looks like around 6 Baht/unit but all inclusive FT+VAT+Charge. FT is Fuel Tax (surcharge) and that should only be .69 Baht/unit which based on your usage of 263 is 181.47 Baht.

//edit - the only thing that appears off is the FT.

[Briggsy]

The ft charge is linked to how much Thailand pays for its energy production and is linked to the oil price. It is a complicated formula.

[wow64]

It looks like the condo owner has changed it.. Don't stand for it go have it out with him. Let us know how it goes.

It's 25% if my bill I wish mine was that low

[Briggsy]

Has the condo faked the MEA logo on its own bill? Who issued the bill?

[Tywais]

Here is a breakdown of my electric bill over two years. Two story 4-bedroom, two bath 5 AC, 2 frig, 2 plasma panels, etc. About 4.4 baht all inclusive average over the two years.

[Briggsy]

Official Tariff

As you can see, you are in the 1.2 tariff which increases the unit cost at 150 units and again at 400 units.

Your bill is still over though. I don't know why.

[ukrules]

Here is a breakdown of my electric bill over two years. Two story 4-bedroom, two bath 5 AC, 2 frig, 2 plasma panels, etc. About 4.4 baht all inclusive average over the two years.

elec.JPG

Something tells me you don't use those 5 A/C units too much or if you do you have them set to a pretty high temperature.

My bill comes in at between 4000-8000 depending on the month with only 3 A/C units and I generally only use two of them at once for any extended period of time.

[Tywais]

Here is a breakdown of my electric bill over two years. Two story 4-bedroom, two bath 5 AC, 2 frig, 2 plasma panels, etc. About 4.4 baht all inclusive average over the two years.

elec.JPG

Something tells me you don't use those 5 A/C units too much or if you do you have them set to a pretty high temperature.

We generally use only two of them and set normally around 27-28 degrees. Two on all night during the week day and one large one all day Sat/Sun and holidays. The large living room one, rare occasions. Didn't mean to imply full use of all of them.

[Costas2008]

Ft, means Float time.

As per the internet.

Amount of time between an individual submitting a payment via check and the time that individual's bank gets the approval to move funds from the individual's account.

Except if there is another meaning.

Anybody else knows?

[TobiasML]

Alright, I know this is gonna come across like I need to get my tinfoil hat back on, but I'm paranoid with anything to do with Thais and money.

Electricity bill came through today and it seems a bit high. Now OK, it looks like an official bill from the electric company, but I'm wondering if maybe my condo owner has altered a few figures to make himself a bit of extra profit. Sounds paranoid I know, but well...it's not paranoia if they really are out to get you! Anyway, here's a copy of the bill:

Now I can't read Thai, but I asked a Thai friend and he said everything seems reasonable enough. My main questions are:

- I understand I've used 263 units of electric this month. I was under the impression the government rate is 4 baht per unit, so this would mean a bill of around 1050 baht. Instead it's 1637 baht. So there's some pretty big increases added on somewhere. In particular, I'm wondering why it appears for the first 150 units I've been charged 579.75 baht, but for the 86 units after that I appear to have been charged 549.74 baht. Does the government rate really go from just under 4 baht a unit to 6.4 baht a unit after you use over 150 units??

- What is this 362 baht "FT" charge on my bill? I've no idea what it is and my Thai friend didn't provide a clear explanation. For those who do know what FT stands for, does 362 baht seem reasonable?

- Overall from looking at the bill, can you guys see anything that stands out as been 'wrong' or out of the ordinary?

If I need to get the tinfoil hat back on fair enough but thought it was best to check.

The calculation seems to be off. According to MEA calculator you should pay THB 874.83 based on the 1.2 tariff.

You can check yourself under www.mea.or.th/aboutelectric

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Tywais]

The calculation seems to be off. According to MEA calculator you should pay THB 874.83 based on the 1.2 tariff.

You can check yourself under www.mea.or.th/aboutelectric

I found the 1.2 does not match up correctly with my usage while the 1.1 does and also other members reporting in other topics their experience. In which case based on my final bill an all inclusive charge of 4.688 baht/unit, 263units x 4.688 = 1233 Baht. His all inclusive charge (base charge + FT + VAT) is a little over 6 baht per unit.

His base charge is 4.29 baht/unit as mine is 3.69 baht/unit.

[kjhbigv]

Forget the nitty gritty, I reckon if you use an air conditioner every night and you live in a rented apartment that is about right.

Condo's generally have a higher tariff, never understood why, but they do. Very common practice....I think it was explained to me once that it was to help towards the upkeep of the building!!

I just looked at my rent and bill and if combined was acceptable, no problem.

Try and see a neighbours bill!

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Edited July 1, 2014 by kjhbigv

[Rooo]

Ft, means Float time.

As per the internet.

Amount of time between an individual submitting a payment via check and the time that individual's bank gets the approval to move funds from the individual's account.

Except if there is another meaning.

Anybody else knows?

FT is fuel tax, it fluctuates with the price of fuel.

[Jessi]

You are not being paranoid at all. Some Thai's will cheat if they get the chance. Just look at the double pricing in this country.

I took the kids to Korat Zoo a few months ago.....Thai price 70B Farang price 500B. Ok I get in for Thai price by showing my D.L but this is still very wrong. Other Thai's see this and they think its just open season on Farang.

I am being ripped off in my condo my elect + Water for May was 2,500B. Its a 45 SM condo with 2 people living in it.

I rent, not own but even the owners here are paying the same rates because they are not allowed to put in their own meters.

Its just another scam in LOS.

[KittenKong]

Condo's generally have a higher tariff, never understood why, but they do. Very common practice....I think it was explained to me once that it was to help towards the upkeep of the building!!

This should not be the case. The common fee covers building upkeep.

Last month in my condo (open-plan 60+sqm, air-con on constantly at 28 degrees, big TV, big PC on constantly, fridge, water heater, washing machine, oven etc) I used 387 units and I paid a total of 1676B, or 4.33B/unit all-in. My bill comes from the PEA, of course.

Prior to getting a new inverter aircon a few months ago the same month's bill would have been over 4000B.

[Tiang]

You are not being paranoid at all. Some Thai's will cheat if they get the chance. Just look at the double pricing in this country.

I took the kids to Korat Zoo a few months ago.....Thai price 70B Farang price 500B. Ok I get in for Thai price by showing my D.L but this is still very wrong. Other Thai's see this and they think its just open season on Farang.

I am being ripped off in my condo my elect + Water for May was 2,500B. Its a 45 SM condo with 2 people living in it.

I rent, not own but even the owners here are paying the same rates because they are not allowed to put in their own meters.

Its just another scam in LOS.

OP's bill is legit but your water bills is a little too excessive, and if the owner of the building is paying the same amount, check for leaks. I've had similar problem before.

Edited July 2, 2014 by Tiang

[Jessi]

Everyone in the building is complaining about the outrageous charges but nothing gets done TiT.

[Briggsy]

MEA's website is in English and Thai. All tariffs are posted there. It is very easy to calculate.

Link here to MEA site

I suspect the condo has created a fake bill purporting to be from MEA.

I think this because

1. The stated number of units is wrong (typo probably).

2. The tariff is wrong.

3. The bill design is non-standard.

[kkerry]

If it's a fake bill then pretty silly to include a Call Centre number. Get someone to give the MEA Call Centre for you and see what they have to say. Otherwise, for a condo with A/C then the price doesn't seem outrageous. I've heard of a couple of Bangkok condos where tenants get charged by the landlord at nearly three times the official rate.

[BudRight]

Where is the bar code? Why is it printed on that big piece of paper instead of the small one? Take it to 7-11 and try to pay it.

If it's fake, take it to the police. Making fake government documents is definitely illegal.

Edited July 2, 2014 by BudRight

[neverdie]

I'd be taking that bill to the nearest MEA pay centre first.

1. There would appear to be a data entry error on it, regarding the usage of electricity

2. The payment bar code seems to be missing

3. Before you goto the MEA, take a snap shot of your meter at today's reading & in the future get into the habit of looking at your meter monthly (even though the reading may be taken a few days earlier, it will give you a general idea if it's a consistent reading).

It's easy for the meter guys to make a mistake when putting the information into their devices.

My FIL works for this organisation, but I'm not at home to show him but I agree with others here, the calculations seem incorrect......perhaps a comedy or errors in data entry. (& it's happened to me before too).

Best. of luck.

[Connection]

Looks like a fake to me, the top logo looks like it has been scanned and photoshopped. Also the amount of units used is incorrect. Here is a link to a sample electric bill on the MEA website. http://www.mea.or.th/upload/editor-pic/46/photo2556/sola_bills1556917.jpg

[firebasejay]

I also noticed a huge jump in my electric bill the past few months. Normally we'd pay around 1700thb and suddenly it was 2100. I was out of town, but just got a bill today, again for the inflated price (my wife blamed the rise on consumption increases, but she was wrong). I used to scan bills and receipts etc and checked one from 2012. There was no FT charge on it. I noticed that now there was an FT charge of 323 baht, which is added to the price before VAT is calculated, which is another jump. I didn't know it was FT until I came to this thread, it was only identified in Thai and with the rate of .6900 baht. The following confirms what it is.

I visited the site linked to from this thread and found this page about the current FT rate, and it says as such:

The Lastest Ft during January 2014 – April 2014

The Electricity Regulatory Commission passed a resolution concurring the Fuel adjustment charge (Ft) is going to be collected in electrical invoice during May 2014 – August 2014 at 0.6900 baht/kWh

Further information needed , contact MEA Call Center Tel. 1130

It's my hope that the FT will be dropped from the bill again on my next bill and things will get back to normal. http://www.mea.or.th/profile/index.php?l=en&tid=3&mid=2986&pid=2985

My wife as such has a reluctance to confront anyone about the increase in the bill, which is very Thai of her, so hopefuly it will resolve itself. If i'm misreading what the site says, however, I need to head down there and find out why we no longer have the FT exemption.

We own a residential home in Isaan with one A/C unit that isn't very normally used except in the hot season.

Thanks for the info

Edited July 27, 2014 by firebasejay