Welcome to Thailandblog.nl
With 275.000 visits per month, Thailandblog is the largest Thailand community in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Sign up for our free e-mail newsletter and stay informed!
Newsletter
Language setting
Rate Thai Baht
Sponsor
Latest comments
- Paul glory: Usually book a 2 to 2.1/2 month. VTV, but look for a cheap direct flight or a one-time transfer with not too long a wait
- Glass : They do have a vision: Fill their own pockets, as quickly as possible.
- THNL: completely correct, probably valid for 6 months. When I went back to the Netherlands, the immigration officer told me
- Barry: Statistically speaking, it can be 2-4 months in advance, but that is now completely outdated. For certain periods
- RonnyLatYa: Not changed. It was never a requirement of Thailand that your passport had to be valid for 6 months when you leave the country.
- Jan: It is of course a difference whether you are looking for tickets for the high or low season.
- Josh M: I have read that there will be 3 different toilets in the new second room building. Man, woman and something in between, g
- Georgee: Through the company it is often not much more expensive. Search via Momondo. No travel insurance through the booking site. Have travel insurance b
- Elder Tiele: Koh Si Chang surprised us. It is a boat trip of about 1 hour from the pier, navigating between the large sea-going vessels that sail there
- Hugo: We are tempted to buy all kinds of gadgets and once we embrace them en masse (stupidly) we are exploited. Just like that
- Cornelis: It completely depends on ticket sales. Last week I found tickets for departure in mid-May, so 3 weeks in advance - no
- Cornelis: It is not correct that your Dutch passport must be valid for 6 months upon return to the Netherlands. As a Dutch person you even come with one
- RonnyLatYa: For a Visa exemption, 6 months upon arrival is sufficient. “Please make sure that you are in possession of a valid passport
- Aylin: moderator: reader questions must go through the editors
- Eric Kuypers: René, I see that the Dutch government now also writes that way. I saw the other story on a site that may be a bit older. It's d
Sponsor
Bangkok again
Menu
Arrivals Bangkok Airport
DOSSIERS
Learning objectives and topics
- Background
- Activities
- Advertorial
- Diary
- Tax question
- Belgium question
- Sights
- Bizarre
- Buddhism
- Book reviews
- Column
- Corona crisis
- The Culture
- Diary
- Dating
- The week of
- Dossier
- To dive
- Economy
- A day in the life of…..
- Islands
- Food and drink
- Events and festivals
- Balloon Festival
- Bo Sang Umbrella Festival
- Buffalo races
- Chiang Mai Flower Festival
- Chinese New Year
- Full Moon Party
- Christmas
- Lotus Festival – Rub Bua
- Loy Krathong
- Naga Fireball Festival
- New Years Eve celebration
- Phi ta khon
- Phuket Vegetarian Festival
- Rocket festival – Bun Bang Fai
- Songkran – Thai New Year
- Fireworks Festival Pattaya
- Expats and retirees
- state pension
- Car insurance
- Banking
- Tax in the Netherlands
- Thailand tax
- Belgian Embassy
- Belgian tax authorities
- Proof of life
- DigiD
- emigrate
- To rent a house
- Buy a house
- In memoriam
- Income statement
- King's day
- Cost of living
- Dutch embassy
- Dutch government
- Dutch Association
- News
- Passing away
- Passport
- Retirement
- Drivers license
- Distributions
- Elections
- Insurance in general
- Visa
- work
- Hospital
- Health insurance
- Flora and fauna
- Photo of the week
- Gadgets
- Money and finance
- History
- Health
- Charities
- Hotels
- Looking at houses
- Isaan
- Khan Peter
- Koh Mook
- King Bhumibol
- Living in Thailand
- Reader Submission
- Reader call
- Reader tips
- Reader question
- Society
- marketplace
- Medical tourism
- Environment
- Nightlife
- News from the Netherlands and Belgium
- News from Thailand
- Entrepreneurs and companies
- Education
- Research
- Discover Thailand
- Opinions
- Remarkable
- Calls
- Floods 2011
- Floods 2012
- Floods 2013
- Floods 2014
- Winter prices
- Politics
- Poll
- Travel stories
- Travel
- Organizations
- Shopping
- Social media
- Spa & wellness
- Sport
- Cities
- Position of the week
- The beach
- Language
- For sale
- TEV procedure
- Thailand in general
- Thailand with children
- thai tips
- Thai massage
- Tourism
- Going out
- Currency – Thai Baht
- From the editors
- Real estate law; and
- Traffic and transport
- Visa Short Stay
- Long stay visa
- Visa question
- Flight tickets
- Question of the week
- Weather and climate
Sponsor
Disclaimer translations
Thailandblog uses machine translations in multiple languages. Use of translated information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for errors in translations.
Read our full here disclaimer.
Royalty
© Copyright Thailandblog 2024. All rights reserved. Unless stated otherwise, all rights to information (text, image, sound, video, etc.) that you find on this site rest with Thailandblog.nl and its authors (bloggers).
Whole or partial takeover, placement on other sites, reproduction in any other way and/or commercial use of this information is not permitted, unless express written permission has been granted by Thailandblog.
Linking and referring to the pages on this website is permitted.
Home » Reader question » Reader question: Postcards from Thailand not arriving?
Reader question: Postcards from Thailand not arriving?
Dear readers,
For the second year in a row, the cards sent from Thailand have not arrived. Last year from Phuket, this year from Pattaya. Is this the new trend?
Previously they arrived late, but they arrived.
Regards,
Erik
Here's the solution they take the stamps off. Take them to the post office yourself and wait for the person you help to put the stamp on them. Then the addressee can receive his card.
success assured. It's not only Thailand Indonesia they do it even if you post them in the hotels.
Indeed. In mid-2016, a number of employees of the Thai Post found out that you can loosen stamps. This knowledge has spread rapidly among the staff and since then many post offices have been busy with wet towels and kettles. The fraudulently obtained stamps are offered far below face value via the Internet to the countless poor people who write each other letters, but have no money for the postage. There is also a lively intermediary trade that also provides the stamps with a new layer of gum, because if someone were to use bison sealant or something similar, the stamps would no longer be easy to wipe off and the market mechanism would be seriously disrupted. How the trade secret got into the hotels in Indonesia remains a mystery for the time being.
I also noticed this a few years ago. They did not even arrive in an envelope, (more than) with the necessary stamps and hand-delivered in the local post office. Conclusion: since then no postcards have been sent, but a message via email, text message or WhatsApp. Doesn't have the same charm, of course, but everyone is happy.
I have been sending cards for Christmas to the family for many, many years -greetings+wishes, postage 15 bt (approx. within 40 week, but sent in BKK. And just on the bus, not as exaggerated as chr. above thinks he should copy from other countries.
my sister's Christmas card, in the NL the week before Christmas, arrived last week………..
Christmas card in envelope Dec 17, 2017 posted in Bussum went via Zwolle according to postmark and came
Jan 13, 2018 in Thailand on!
In the Ned. newspaper stated that the mail processing in the Netherlands could not cope with the large crowds and had suffered major delays!
Mail in Thailand is a drama! Several friends have sent Christmas cards to us, not ONE has arrived. Inquiries at the post office gave no answer. The other way around, to the Netherlands, arrived within a week even!
You are not alone. Received 2 card 1 years ago, 8 cards the following year, now 3 cards again. I tell people don't do it again next year. waste of money
I have never seen such good mail as in Thailand everything arrives neatly also in the Netherlands and Belgium, very quickly and well, my wife takes it to the post office because I don't see mailboxes anywhere here, I also give it to the postman once if I happen to see him, if you don't trust it, don't hold the stamps.
My experience with Thai post is, put the card in an envelope and hand it over to the counter without a stamp, send it by airmail, they then stick a normal neutral post sticker on it, always comes across,
khunjohn
I send a postcard to family all over the world about every 2 weeks… I post them and buy them at Big C Extra in Pattaya… they all arrive.
Last year almost weekly cards were sent to a sick child in NL….to be sure I numbered them and skipped number 13 as a joke…promptly received a complaint from NL that nr 13 was missing.
So for me the Thai post is totally reliable
Piet
mail in thailand no good service, send a card or letter you never know if it will reach its destination, a conclusion (solution) no longer send anything via thai post, better via email or something else.
We have also had this problem for a number of years. Buy stamps now, stick them on yourself and wait for them to be stamped.
Then everything arrives. Parcels are a problem, sometimes it arrives and then things have been removed. So no more sending parcels. Take it home yourself and then send it.
Success assured.
Postcards are not that easy to find in these times of social media posting. Sent from Trat, they have so far always reached the recipients within and outside Europe.
Bring the letter without a stamp to the post office. Mention that it is a normal shipment. Get yourself a receipt that you have paid. Stamp it ready.
It occurs in almost all Asian countries, even in Persia. And indeed, if you don't speak the language, use sign language to show that you want a 'tjop'. If they think you are aware, you sometimes see them stamping very demonstratively. I'll give you some then.
Every year I send our cards to Belgium a week before Christmas (we are in Thailand for 2 months every year during this period). I always ask for different but beautiful stamps by letter, for example, there must be 24 Baht on it, then they find out which stamps, 1 of 9 Baht 1 of 5 Baht and one of 10 Baht. You sometimes have to help them a bit because for about 35 tickets that is quite a task for the person at the counter pffff. I then sit down at a table and stick the stamps nicely on it (the addresses are written in advance) and then hand them over to the counter clerk. Usually they arrive in Belgium around 4 or 5 January. Rarely does one fail. I always send them from an office in a city (Bangkok, Surin or whatever suits me best) not from the village where we live.
I also have this experience. My solution: via the internet Halmarks or ticket2go make a box with a photo from Thailand! Guaranteed next day delivery.
@Ria
Yes I do too, especially for my grandsons 7 and 8 years old. They feel very important when they get mail.
But I also send mail to the Netherlands at the post office.
And NEVER use stamps.
Everything goes through the PC with a sticker at the Postman. And I get a receipt.
Because I receive a lot of Mail from the world outside Thailand at my home address, I am happy with the Current Postman on his motorcycle with huge bags and towering packages on the back.
On New Year's Eve I always give him a Card with a tip in it! He is grateful, and I am grateful.
In Isaan it comes down to trust.
But rotten apples are everywhere.
In the past a lot of Christmas mail also never arrived in Holland. I lived elsewhere then.
When sending cards/mail/parcels TO Thailand it is very important to correctly state the full address in Thai and the sender in the language of the country of origin. When sending FROM Thailand it is important to state the sender completely and correctly in Thai. If someone doesn't know what to do with it, it can at least be returned. Scam theories can then hopefully be relegated to the Land of Fables.
When I see the postmen at work in Pattaya during my holidays I don't get the impression that they are cutting corners and a friend of mine who does some extra work in selling truly incredible gluten soaps online would have long since stopped if it was one big gang of thieves was at the post.
In my next vacation I will send some nice postcards to myself, acquaintances, farmers and home folks in the Netherlands and announce the results on this blog.
We sent a wooden panel to the Netherlands about 5 years ago. We took it to a post office in Changmai. It had track and trace on it. We were never able to track it and never received it. Unfortunately, it was too big to take with us so never buy anything too big again, only what fits in the bag or suitcase. I suspect that it has not been a reliable office. It used to be located on the square of the night bazaar, but suddenly gone.
Yes the post, I've already had 4x problems, but I sent mail from Belgium to Thailand.
2 x never arrived.
1 x a medicine sent from Belgium, been on the road for at least 7 weeks.
Now I'm waiting behind a credit card from Belgium, it's been over 9 weeks now and still nothing
receive.
It's not pleasant.
I have sent a birthday card with content (20 euros) to my grandchild. It arrived well.
Coincidentally, I received a Christmas card from the Netherlands the day before yesterday, of course sent before Christmas
Always go in english, even some of my thai post like from insurer and credit card me
Always arrive
It sometimes goes wrong, this Christmas card seems to have been sent by boat
As a radio amateur I receive and send many confirmation cards to many countries all over the world. I also receive and send a postpack to the agency in Japan and Belgium almost every month. Not a single packet failed to arrive. On 100 sent cards, I very exceptionally receive a message that my sent card was not received. The addresses are always very legible because I use printed labels. When I see how unclear some people write, I'm even surprised that it arrives.
Nowadays with post.nl it may also be the case that the problem is not in Thailand but in the Netherlands.
For example, some time ago I sent a package to the Netherlands. After a long time, the packages were suddenly back in my bus in Thailand. The packages had been in the Netherlands to a collection point at the addressee in the Netherlands around the corner. The delivery person had not even bothered to put a note in the mailbox where it could be picked up and was then simply sent back to the sender after some time.
1) Do the senders write the destination country in Thai characters?
Have you ever thought that not every Thai sorter can read our letters? Suppose a shipment is posted in Belgium or in the Netherlands with the destination address only in Thai letters. How many Belgian or Dutch postal workers will be able to determine where this shipment should go? So write the country of destination + e.g. Europe, in our letters AND in Thai! Perfect to look up on Google translate:
Belgium – เบลเยียม
Netherlands – เนเธอร์แลนด์
Europe – ยุโรป
2) Post correctly (1 Bath too little and the shipment will not arrive) and stick (if applicable) a THAI label “Airmail”. Get these labels in a Thai post office, or in a Thai shop (for free). The Thai label is NOT the same as a Belgian or Dutch label.
Rates can be looked up online http://www.thailandpost.co.th/index.php?page=searchresult&scope=all&q=&language=en . Left column, menu option “Calculate fee”. Enter the weight and country of destination. Thailand has a rather complicated rate system, but it is very cheap.
Explanation of some main terms used:
– Picture Card : view card, picture card. NOT in cover.
– Postcard: Something like the yellow postcard we used to use.
– Letter: shipment in closed envelope.
– Air: air mail.
– Surface: do not post by airmail. Can be full itinerary by ship.
– SAL: Sea And Land. Partly by land. Slightly faster than Surface
– EMS: Express Mail Service (Snelpost – An international collaboration between different postal companies)
– M bag: (little known) Closed bag. Books as content. Pack the books very tightly! No guarantee that books will arrive in one piece.
Newspapers and books have special rates.
The other possibilities are not perfectly clear to me. If you wish to use this, it is best to ask for correct information in a large post office in a tourist town. Even then, the chance is small that you will find a counter clerk who can provide the correct information in English.
3) Following the previous comments:
Indeed, in a post office, “postage impressions” are printed on labels. This is the most reliable form of postage. You can NOT buy these in advance, since they already mention the date. As a result, they are only usable for one day, and therefore never a victim of "reuse". They don't need to get the black date stamp imprint.
Tony
Former Belgian postal expert.
Needed homeopathic medicines that come by post from Belgium to NL. Arrived after our departure to Thailand and were sent back. Never arrived! Then directly from Belgium to Thailand, but then REGISTERED. arrived exactly after 10 days.
Packages from NL have always arrived. One time, however, with a delay of 2 months. In order not to have to pay import duties, I always put very low amounts on the customs declaration and sent them unregistered, as a kind of emphasis on the low value. Never paid import duties and always arrived. After a package with PostNL also recently disappeared in NL, I am now thinking about insuring packages to Thailand anyway.
In my hometown of Pasang in the Lamphun province I have so far had few problems with the post.
I've been renting a postbox there for years, it's not that expensive.
And the people who work at the post office know me .
Even during the holidays around Christmas and New Year , the mail arrived both ways .
From the Netherlands it took about 9 days.
I even received a letter with the return envelope from that great ABNAMRO bank sent back to my address in Thailand.
By the way, I had sent this return envelope registered.
Since the address on the return envelope was incorrect, it said it had moved and could not be delivered.
So made a return trip Thailand Netherlands and back.
As for stamp stealing, most postage goes with a stamp on the letter or Christmas card.
Rarely do I see the use of postage stamps here , when I send something .
I used to send my 90 day notification via the post office also registered, usually came back to my mailbox after about 7 days.
Now that we also have an immigration office in Lamphun I go on the motorbike.
Jan Beute.