I'm planning on getting some stuff sent over from the EU and North America, but was wondering about how long they might take to get here. I know online approximated times from the UK say 10-14 days, and similarly from Canada and the US, but what should i realistically expect? Is there any way to make the time as short as possible?

How long is a piece of string ? Depends entirely on content, value, size, weight, packaging and which service you choose.

Way too many variables to answer your question, you need to be more specific to get reasonable responses and guidelines.

An envelope is very different to a cubic metre box containing excise qualifying goods, just as an example.

It depends on which country you're sending from/to.

Spain for example is extremely slow to BKK, even with EMS.

Normal mail takes around 14 days but for Spain much much longer (up to 3 months!).

EMS takes about 7-10 days but if it takes longer then you should complaint about it and the Thai postal service will also complaint to the destined country. There are rules for sending by EMS and all country's have to deliver within that period, i thought it was 10 days but not sure.

Edited August 20, 201510 yr by Thian

From Germany 10 days are not unusual (for an ordinary airmail letter).

Much of the time is wasted at central customs office in Frankfurt

Edited August 20, 201510 yr by KhunBENQ

Standard letter from Seattle is 18-22 days. Sometimes longer.

Getting it at all, uncrushed or picked over, is a plus but if you want it , for sure, undamaged and fast the pay a bundle to Fed ex or Dhl. etc.

I expected 2 parcels from UK ... never saw any of them so stopped getting things send

I have twice monthly mailings from the USA. They usually take about 8-10 days.

As Charlie noted above, it's simply a question of how fast you want something to arrive and how much you're willing to pay to accomplish that.

There are available shipping methods from a couple of days all the way to a couple of weeks or more. I'm rarely in a rush, so I usually prefer slower and cheaper, like regular first class airmail or USPS Priority Global, where you'll often pay no duty/VAT or perhaps only 7% VAT.

The fastest shippers, like FedEx and DHL, are the ones where you're likely to get hit more often with the higher/highest duty/VAT assessments, in part depending on what kinds of items you're sending. Things like clothes and shoes often literally get killed if sending into Thailand via FedEx/DHL, whereas electronics might only be an added 7% VAT.

Some small packages (2 books) arrived from the US after 11 month...

Same with 2 books from Germany.

Why? What can't you buy here ?

Why? What can't you buy here ?

plenty.

Signed for on delivery from the UK will take about 7 days, and I have never lost anything

Un-signed for can take between 14 and 30 days and also I never have lost any.

Presume about the same from Canada

(But there is always a first time......)

Edited August 21, 201510 yr by Jiggo

Getting it at all, uncrushed or picked over, is a plus but if you want it , for sure, undamaged and fast the pay a bundle to Fed ex or Dhl. etc.

Many times, my sister uses regular US postal service to send me packages, which come by EMS.

About 8-10 days is normal as someone else said.

But FedEx can be a heartbreaker (for me anyway)

I've had 3 packages come via Fed Ex.:

NEVER have they gotten here.

Each time I had to go pick them up. (only once out of the 3 did they even contact me that they have a package for me) (the other times, luckily I knew they were coming)

They can't seem to find my house although UPS, DHL and EMS has no trouble.

When I go there, they seem to act like it's my fault. (OK, I live in Rawai which is about as far away from their HQ near the big SuperCheap as you can get, but laziness shouldn't be the reason with the most expensive carrier)

And of course they are the most expensive.

Go figure!