Fastest mail to USA

[hound]

What is the fastest way to get a letter to the USA.  I sent a letter by registered mail almost a month ago.  The letter shows as arrived and dispatched in the US for 14 days now.   It still has not arrived. I am thinking it may never arrive. 

 

It contained a document I got at the US embassy so it will be a pain to get another one.  How do I get it to the US by the fastest method?

[jimmyyy]

Federal Express, takes 4 days i believe the last time i did it.  Set up a Fed Ex account online, attach a credit card to it, and then drop it off.  It will deliver and then a few days later your bill will post.  Never had fed ex loose a package on me.

[jgold]

I ship to US all the time, the Thai mail service is extremely reliable. If they gave you a tracking number that starts with RR and ends with TH you can go to the USPS.COM website and track it there IF it already arrived in the US. It takes about 20 days to be delivered.

[THAIPHUKET]

  what are the experiences with

EMS

DHL 

[cnx355]

1 hour ago, jgold said:

I ship to US all the time, the Thai mail service is extremely reliable. If they gave you a tracking number that starts with RR and ends with TH you can go to the USPS.COM website and track it there IF it already arrived in the US. It takes about 20 days to be delivered.

I send registered mail to Delta Office in USA.  IT was tracked both on THai Post and USPS.  Final tracking was at Atlanta Post Office but never got the delivery status.   Took about 20 days like you said. But even  with no final tracking they got the letter.

 

It was a PO Box so maybe they do not worry about signature.

[craigt3365]

I tried DHL recently, not so fast. FedEx seems to be the best.

 

If it's not super time critical,  nor something that can't be replaced, I use EMS.

[Jeffkp]

43 minutes ago, THAIPHUKET said:

  what are the experiences with

EMS

DHL 

I use DHL for letters. Expensive, but very reliable. Usually take 3-4 days. 

[THAIPHUKET]

the comment about replacing is interesting, 

Is something gets lost, the problem of replacing is still yours,

You may have proof by either one EMS,DHL;or FEDEX, you may even be insured for xx amount.

But the hassel of replacing is still yours,  Right?

[craigt3365]

1 minute ago, THAIPHUKET said:

the comment about replacing is interesting, 

Is something gets lost, the problem of replacing is still yours,

You may have proof by either one EMS,DHL;or FEDEX, you may even be insured for xx amount.

But the hassel of replacing is still yours,  Right?

I've shipped hundreds of times with FedEx.  Never lost anything.  The same can not be said of the Thai post.  Several items have not been received here,  or arrived in the US later than expected.

[Jeffkp]

I have a Thai friend who is a tour guide. He had a wealthy American client. When his client returned to the US, he realized he still had 10,000 THB. Threw in an envelope and mailed it to my friend.

He sent him an email telling him the money was coming. My Thai friend told him he would never receive it. He didn't.

He told me never to send anything valuable or important via Thai mail.

 

P.S. I used UPS to ship some personal items (nothing if any value) to me in Thailand. It was a nightmare. I had to finally send an email to the President of UPS complaining to get my shipment delivered. Never again!

[flexomike]

Send it EMS, five days or less to the US, expensive but worth it, regular registered mail gets hung up in New York for long periods of time cheap but slow

[Pib]

Maybe it did arrive and it just not showing in the tracking because the Thai Postal System tracking don't work well after the letter/box leaves Thailand....great for in-Thailand shipping/tracking but when sending to other countries a lot depends on how each countries' postal system tracking interfaces/updates each other.

 

Have you or can you contact the intended receiver to see if they did indeed get the letter?

[Dan5]

Just go to any Thai post office and sent it EMS. I've used it a lot over the years and have never had a problem. Generally takes less than a week. And you can track it through the Thailand post office and then through USPS once it gets to the US. 

[bendejo]

On 11/2/2016 at 2:38 AM, Jeffkp said:

I have a Thai friend who is a tour guide. He had a wealthy American client. When his client returned to the US, he realized he still had 10,000 THB. Threw in an envelope and mailed it to my friend.

He sent him an email telling him the money was coming. My Thai friend told him he would never receive it. He didn't.

 

This is a bad idea anywhere in the world.  Even domestic mail in the USA.

 

 

[dddave]

Registering mail always slows it way down because it must be logged in and out and kept in controlled custody at every step enroute.  Certified is almost as safe but usually twice as fast.

I try to always use EMS and over the last ten years, have never had a lost or severely delayed item.

[hound]

The letter finally arrived after almost 1 month.  I was told by friends in America that homeland security had caused the slowdown once the mail arrived in America.  If this is the case, I am wondering how EMS or anyone else can get the mail delivered in 3 or 4 days.

 

btw. The Thai mail service said certified, registered or airmail all took about the same time - 10 days to 2 weeks..  The holdup was in the US.

[GinBoy2]

I've used them all over the years.

 

Fedex seems to be the fastest, but not he cheapest.

 

Thai Post EMS, via USPS, albeit the cheapest seems to get hung up in NY, Jamaica Plains for customs clearance, typically for 3 days before it gets released into the general mail system

Edited November 13, 2016 by GinBoy2

[bendejo]

On 11/13/2016 at 3:48 AM, GinBoy2 said:

I've used them all over the years.

 

Fedex seems to be the fastest, but not he cheapest.

 

Thai Post EMS, via USPS, albeit the cheapest seems to get hung up in NY, Jamaica Plains for customs clearance, typically for 3 days before it gets released into the general mail system

 

Jamaica, NY is where JFK airport is, so the location makes sense.  I guess all EMS letters and packages enter the US there, and then on to the final destination.

 

(Jamaica Plain is in Boston)

 

 

[GinBoy2]

 
Jamaica, NY is where JFK airport is, so the location makes sense.  I guess all EMS letters and packages enter the US there, and then on to the final destination.
 
(Jamaica Plain is in Boston)
 
 

I realised that after I posted it. My daughter lives in Boston, hence brain fixation lol

[flexomike]

17 hours ago, bendejo said:

 

Jamaica, NY is where JFK airport is, so the location makes sense.  I guess all EMS letters and packages enter the US there, and then on to the final destination.

 

(Jamaica Plain is in Boston)

 

 

I sent registered letters to MN, regular registered goes through Jamaica NY, sometimes gets stuck there from 7-10 days, EMS registered goes through Chicago, no hangup there, in and out within 1 day, this has been my experience from over five years of mailing from Thailand

[GinBoy2]

14 minutes ago, flexomike said:

I sent registered letters to MN, regular registered goes through Jamaica NY, sometimes gets stuck there from 7-10 days, EMS registered goes through Chicago, no hangup there, in and out within 1 day, this has been my experience from over five years of mailing from Thailand

Thats good info.

 

Never knew that