Any problems with mail delivery

[watgate]

I was wondering if anyone has encountered any problems with mail delivery to Thailand. Maybe when first moving to Chiang Mai or periodic times during the course of ones living here. Are folks who live here full-time concerned about potential non-delivery of mail, especially if the mail might be important or of a sensitive nature?Has anyone ever experienced criminal acts related to mail delivery or have suspected mail being stolen? What sort of safeguards are in place to ensure folks who reside in Chiang Mai get their mail delivered? I am not insinuating that the Post Office is full of corrupt and dishonest workers. I am just interested in hearing about the experiences of folks who live here permanently and whever they have encountered any problems with mail delivery while living in Chiang Mai. Hopefully it is a non-issue and not something one should be overly concerned with.

[masuk]

I've had books and things from Amazon sent to me, and never a problem. My weekly paper is irregular, but that's happened in other places too.

[trainman34014]

Never had a problem in 7 years. I get mail from Europe including parcels every month and everything arrives in 7-10 days. Only longer delivery time was due to strike action by UK Royal Mail workers. Only people i've met who have had problems with Thai postal service are those who live in Condo's, for several different reasons.

[Seligne2]

Several years ago I shipped 5 parcels from Vancouver to myself poste restante in Phuket. Took forever but I got everything OK.

More recently I have had issues with letter post. My credit card expired in March. A friend repackaged and sent it to me here in CM. Never received. Ordered another card. Sent in a paperback book and never received. Here it is almost Sep and I still have no credit card (which makes it tough to fly, rent cars, etc.) The reporting/complaint procedure at Thailand Post is fairly opaque and not reassuring.

I think problems very much depend on where you live. I think I might have a corrupt postman.

[worgeordie]

If you don't get mail sent to you don't think right away its the Thai posties,

seen a program once about Royal Mail UK, they have too many ,shall

i say immigrants,who cannot even read English, working for them,and

i have a friend working at Parcel Force, he said some of them were sticking

labels addressed to themselves over the originals,done only on expensive

gear though.

Over the years i have had no problem with the Thai post,but i do give the

postman a card and 300THB every new year ,maybe that helps.

regards worgeordie

P>S.never get credit cards sent here its too tempting,someone once sent

me a credit sized card,the envelope had been slit open and resealed when

they realized it was worthless.

[paulchiangmai]

If you don't get mail sent to you don't think right away its the Thai posties,

seen a program once about Royal Mail UK, they have too many ,shall

i say immigrants,who cannot even read English, working for them,and

i have a friend working at Parcel Force, he said some of them were sticking

labels addressed to themselves over the originals,done only on expensive

gear though.

Over the years i have had no problem with the Thai post,but i do give the

postman a card and 300THB every new year ,maybe that helps.

regards worgeordie

P>S.never get credit cards sent here its too tempting,someone once sent

me a credit sized card,the envelope had been slit open and resealed when

they realized it was worthless.

About three months ago a credit type card was sent to me airmail from Australia, never arrived. In 16 years here I am not aware of any other mail not arriving. Is there a procedure with the post office if mail does not arrive? I would like to hear from anyone if there is. Thanks in advance.

[jerrybeirne]

i am still waiting for a parcel and cards which were sent from u.k. last october.

apart from that everything,including bank cards, has turned up o.k.

where i stay if it is anything bigger than an envelope, a card is put in the mailbox advising me to collect the package at a nearby post office.

[iainiain101]

A parcel sent to us from Australia was actually returned to the sender in Sydney by the Thai post office as the moo ban address was wrong. They corrected it and we eventually received it.

[FolkGuitar]

This past week I received two large mailing envelopes from the US. Both were mailed 8 and 9 weeks ago respectively. These are regular monthly mailings that usually get to me in 10 days... I don't know what happened this time.

Edited August 30, 2014 by FolkGuitar

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Why don't you guys use registered mail with tracking number? Always arrives, and Thailand Post has a really good Android (and probably iPhone) app that notifies you every time the package moves.

[T_Dog]

In eight years, only one letter ever got lost. Just received two packages from Michigan that only took six days to get here. That is a record, as normally it is around 15 days.

[FolkGuitar]

Why don't you guys use registered mail with tracking number? Always arrives, and Thailand Post has a really good Android (and probably iPhone) app that notifies you every time the package moves.

I usually do when I send out something important. EMS (Express Mail Service) through Thailand Post has never let me down, with consistent 7-10 day delivery anywhere in the world. It's mail coming in that's occasionally a problem. My regular monthly mail forwarding 'usually' doesn't contain anything particularly important, so no need to spend 4x the postage. But for things I order sent to my stateside mailing address and have forwarded, they are usually sent EMS so I can track them. The tracking sight even says who signed for them when delivered to my condo building!

[bristolgeoff]

tried sending post to Thailand with nothing in it and it still goes missing.i gave up in the end and send nothing now

[hml367]

I trust ThaiPost much more than US Postal Service for the last couple of years.

I mailed something to the USA on June 5, through ThaiPost, registered/return receipt. It was tracked through ThaiPost until departure from Thailand. USPS tracked it (not nearly as current as ThaiPost) until leaving a sort facility on June 16....... until now, nothing else.

[Travelighlty]

i had two packages sent from the US to Chiang Mai. (One Dec 1. 2014 Another Dec 15. 2014) As of Feb 8. 2015 I've received neither. A legal sized envelope was delivered after two weeks early 2015. I'm figuring the two packages will never be seen.

Edited February 8, 2015 by Travelighlty

[umbanda]

Yes. I had few, unfortunately.

It not a problem restricted to Thailand. Its happens in most "3rd world" countries where postal workers, even airlines workers, will get tented in stole money or valuable things send from or to foreign countries. The sad part it is that, if nothing of value is found, the mail will be trashed.

Anyway. Sending mail, is better to use the big post office and not the small post and stores, specially in tourist areas. In one small store, on the market street, steps from the Phae Gate in Chiang Mai, I had my first expensive experience. I noticed, too late, that the attendant didn't posted the envelope. Just got the money and placed it over other envelopes. I come back to check it minutes later, and she said that was already deliver, but I noticed that was a pile of envelopes without post on her desk. I was sending a gift that never arrived. Coincidence?

Better to use UPS, AMEX, etc...but it is a lot more expensive.

[uptheos]

Never had a problem since the new millennium.

Quite a few before then, it must be in the stars.

[rabid old goat]

.I am not insinuating that the Post Office is full of corrupt and dishonest workers

these dont exist. but exhibitions of thainess are common place

[naboo]

5 week delivery time on things posted from the UK before Christmas, of the four, three arrived. I have prevously hada Christmas card delivered mid-May, and it wasn't even for the Christmas immediatelty prior.

[Dante99]

Keep the faith, your stuff may arrive someday. Today I received two letters both US post marked May 29, 2012.

[pgrahmm]

In Hang Dong and use the wife's name showing first..... no problems for years......

About 50/50 for the last 6 months....either being miss-delivered or stolen (small ordered stuff)

[simoncnx]

If you don't get mail sent to you don't think right away its the Thai posties,

seen a program once about Royal Mail UK, they have too many ,shall

i say immigrants,who cannot even read English, working for them,and

i have a friend working at Parcel Force, he said some of them were sticking

labels addressed to themselves over the originals,done only on expensive

gear though.

Over the years i have had no problem with the Thai post,but i do give the

postman a card and 300THB every new year ,maybe that helps.

regards worgeordie

P>S.never get credit cards sent here its too tempting,someone once sent

me a credit sized card,the envelope had been slit open and resealed when

they realized it was worthless.

About three months ago a credit type card was sent to me airmail from Australia, never arrived. In 16 years here I am not aware of any other mail not arriving. Is there a procedure with the post office if mail does not arrive? I would like to hear from anyone if there is. Thanks in advance.

I had to get my third credit card sent by DHL as the previous 2 never appeared

[LivinLOS]

I have actually lost a bunch of thing in the last year.. both to and from Thailand.. Even had a letter posted from the uk almost 4 weeks ago that had nothing valuable in but seems to have gone..

Here I think its just incompetence. I have been to the post office a few times with a pink card to collect an item and they cant find it in the box room, then a few days later they deliver or leave another card !! On Phuket where I lived before it was well known and understood the mailmen just stole anything that looked halfway potentially valuable.

Now recorded only if its not disposable.

[northernjohn]

Several years ago I shipped 5 parcels from Vancouver to myself poste restante in Phuket. Took forever but I got everything OK.

More recently I have had issues with letter post. My credit card expired in March. A friend repackaged and sent it to me here in CM. Never received. Ordered another card. Sent in a paperback book and never received. Here it is almost Sep and I still have no credit card (which makes it tough to fly, rent cars, etc.) The reporting/complaint procedure at Thailand Post is fairly opaque and not reassuring.

I think problems very much depend on where you live. I think I might have a corrupt postman.

I have had bad luck receiving mail from Surrey B. C. Also from Seattle. I had a Wells Fargo credit card delivered in 3 months. My Royal Bank cards come here no problem. I have received every thing I ordered from iHerb it was from 78 to 21 days but they all came here in the mail and I only had to pay 490 baht duty on a $74 U S one the rest no problem.

When I first came here I sent many post cards out. Twenty of them were received and two went missing. Not sure who is at fault.

[northernjohn]

Keep the faith, your stuff may arrive someday. Today I received two letters both US post marked May 29, 2012.

Did they have enough stamps on them. Or did you have to pay a little bit. Two of my packages from iHerb were short postage and I had to pay the difference. It was only 10 baht once and the other was .08 baht.

[Dante99]

Keep the faith, your stuff may arrive someday. Today I received two letters both US post marked May 29, 2012.

Did they have enough stamps on them. Or did you have to pay a little bit. Two of my packages from iHerb were short postage and I had to pay the difference. It was only 10 baht once and the other was .08 baht.

They were metered postage $1.05, marked "Par Avion" and I was not asked to pay any additional.

Three years for delivery, I found it quite funny.

[iainiain101]

In 8 years we had never had a package sent by normal mail from the UK go missing. In the last year we have had 4 go missing. We only receive about 8 a year, so have had to stop sending.

[LivinLOS]

In 8 years we had never had a package sent by normal mail from the UK go missing. In the last year we have had 4 go missing. We only receive about 8 a year, so have had to stop sending.

I would say that mirrors my shorter experience window.. Last few years was great, I was far happier after phukets thievery.. This year a bunch of stuff, non valuable and valuable, has vanished..

Your not in san kampeang are you ?? As they have the whole moving office, redevelop old office, move back.. which Probably played havoc with existing systems.

[Puwa]

For many years, I could rely on 6-10 days by USPS from the East Coast. Now waiting for a letter-sized package which, according to tracking, left the West Coast 19 days ago, with no further info available.

[eaglesflight]

I never had anything go missing in the six years I lived in Bangkok or the year I spent in Nakhon Sawan, or indeed the first couple of years that I lived in Chiang Mai. However, in the last couple of years I have had three items go astray - two in the last six months. The first item to go astray was a laptop battery ordered from a Chinese ebay seller so I don't think I can draw any conclusions from that episode. The second item to go missing was six sheets of aluminium oxide film, used to sharpen razors. Small value, posted from the USA last October as far as I recall, never arrived. The second item was only posted on May 11th so I guess a more optimistic person might still hold out some hope of it arriving but I'm not that hopeful. Posted from UK, contents unknown - birthday present for daughter.

The main post office in Pra Singh does behave rather strangely. I had a registered parcel, which took six days to get from Lincolnshire in the UK to Lamphun sorting office then another 6 days to get from there to my house in Chiang Mai. Tracking info showed it leaving Lamphun for Chiang Mai 4 days before I called to ask where it was - they didn't know - then I called again the next day and it had suddenly turned up. Every single other time, parcels have been delivered the day after leaving Lamphun. They don't scan items until they are taking them out for delivery from Pra Singh so once a tracked parcel or letter leaves Lamphun it enters a kind of black hole. They should obviously scan items when they receive them but I guess they are trying to avoid making their incompetence and laziness public knowledge.

Edited June 4, 2015 by eaglesflight