Mail from Thailand

[Skymaster 0]

Does anyone in the states recieve postal mail from Thailand? I understand the the mail system lacks in big ways. How long does mail take to get from Thailand to the states?

[jtiger 9]

It seems to take a week to get letter from Thailand to California.

[Leadbelly 0]

I corresponded by letter back and forth from California to Pattaya for a couple of years with an expat in Pattaya before he got hooked up with email, have sent packages to Pattaya Orphanage since 2001 for a child's birthdays and Christmas gifts, received thank you acknowledgements from there, gotten monthly reports from the orphanage, and have sent post cards to friends back in the U.S. from Pattaya and everything has been received on both ends so far, so my experiences have been good with the mail system. I've never tucked two or three $100 bills in a card and mailed it off to Pattaya for a bar girl, however...that would have to make it through both the U.S. Postal services and the Thai system...I don't like those odds...

[Bagwan 0]

A couple of years ago Banglamung Mail Office was notorious for removing cash tucked inside letters. Letters to BGs from friends (I was acting as a forwarding agent) all arrived in a polythene bag with a note saying that the letter had arrived at Banglamung opened. My take is that postal authorities at Don Muang and the main sorting office in BKK would be too busy to be the culprits.

[torrenova 644]

A lot of stuff never leaves Pattaya I am sure and a hell of a lot of stuff never arrives. I know that from personal experience.

 

The last packet i sent to Holland took nearly 2 weeks airmail. Why I don't know.

[wansman 0]

I mail things to Thailand all the time from east coast USA to Udon. Never had a problem after I started addressing the packages/letters in Thai. I supposed things in english will get to Pty or Bkk without too much difficulty but for other places I would address them in Thai. US postal service does not care what language it is addressed in as long as the country is written in english. Also, for packages ensure that you fill out a customs declaration (for US customs not Thai) or the package will never leave the US and not be returned to you.

[wacmedia 277]

All Rubbish

[Sailfast 503]

Not a letter, but...

 

A box of suits shipped on or about (the tailor shipped them) the 18th arrived the 28th. Standard shipping, so not bad considering the holiday weekend here in the US.

 

Sailfast

[wrassell 0]

The following is just a theory of mine and I have absolutely nothing to back this up with, so you be the judge.

 

Here is the theory, when you take stuff to a postal service, from there I think some of it never makes it to the real government post office to be sent out. You have paid them, the service, to send the package on your behalf but then the postal service has to pay the post office postage to finally get your package sent off. If your package never gets to the real post office then they, the service, can save a lot of money, also if something you are sending appears to have value then that may give it even less chance. I am sure that most all of these postal mail services provide good dependable honest service, but the few that may be dishonest make it bad for everyone else.

 

Many of these postal services look a lot like official post offices but are really privately owned. I always take anything I send out to the official government owned post office. I also think it is cheaper since there is no middle man. I have never had a problem with delivery but then again I don’t really send that much stuff out…