Post

My partner and I plan to travel around Thailand and other SE Asian countries for initially a year. We need to have our mail forwarded, but aren't staying long enough in one place to re-direct mail to a specific address. We could use a post-restante service, but they only keep mail for two months before returning to sender .Does anyone have any ideas...maybe equivalent of a PO Box in UK. Apologies for dull post, but practicalities need to be sorted :cheese:

We need to have our mail forwarded

Why? If you got utility bills then you must have a residence so why not just let it pile up there?

If you don't have utility type bills then you shouldn't need to tend to things manually. You should be able to handle everything by internet/direct deposits/etc these days. Just let the mail pile up somewhere and tend to it every 6 or 12 months. (Actually I've seen utilities get the internet act lately as well).

If I had someone forward all the "transfer balances" offers I got from WaMu last year I'd go under in mailing costs. Instead the earth sank in US somewhere.

Thanks for your response. Why......well it's a little more complex than utility bills. We are renting our home in London out and can't tie up the loose ends particularly with regard to my work...not going into too much detail.

Get all possible routine stuff handled by direct debits & web based billing (ie no post).
Then you need a friendly & trustworthy relative to receive the remaining post, then scan it & e-mail to you. Obviously you should do everything possible to minimise the quantity of post.

In my experience, the Royal Mail will redirect mail to a fixed overseas address for a fee, but occasionally something goes missing, so it's not entirely reliable.

I suggest you investigate Mail Boxes Etc. which in some countries has been taken over by UPS. As I understand it, you can get your home mail diverted to a local MBE/UPS and then periodically you instruct them to forward the accumulated mail elsewhere. There are a number of MBE in the UK - I use the one nearest Buck House

http://www.mbe.co.uk/

Thanks....Mail Box Etc sounds like the solution I was looking for. Thought about a relative, but receiving mail for a year is quite an ask.

[Wesley]

We need to have our mail forwarded

Why? If you got utility bills then you must have a residence so why not just let it pile up there?

If you don't have utility type bills then you shouldn't need to tend to things manually. You should be able to handle everything by internet/direct deposits/etc these days. Just let the mail pile up somewhere and tend to it every 6 or 12 months. (Actually I've seen utilities get the internet act lately as well).

If I had someone forward all the "transfer balances" offers I got from WaMu last year I'd go under in mailing costs. Instead the earth sank in US somewhere.

I am out of the country 10 months out of the year, ususally. I have family that takes care of most of it and I pay everythign by internet to minimize what they have to do by mail. Some by natue have to be done by hand but most of it can be done by internet now days. Persoanl stuff may be forwarded to you at an address by DHL in a few days. So in combination I use family , internet and DHL to keep up with my stuff in the USA. The junk mail I can live with out.

Wesley

One further note, just for those pondering all of this, is the reverse situation that I find IN Thailand for those who take extended vacations 'overseas'.

You can pay many of your internet/utility bills online now in Thailand. However, you cannot pay many of these bills unless you physically see the bill and get from that bill the billing reference number. You only get that number in the mail as far as I know for many things that could be paid online.

Also, watch out for making bank transfers, eg from passbook to current online when you are outside Thailand. I did this once and the transaction "disappeared" causing the maid's New Yera's check to bounce (she eventually tolds me that her brother lost it in a motorcycle accident on the way to the bank - how nice they would lie like that to save me the "bad face" of having to look like I wrote a bad check - which in itself can have severe consequences in Thailand, be warned). Since there was no transaction number given online and the confirmation page couldn't print (do they go through trouble to design things this way?) I could never question it except to say I know I looked two days later and the transfer was there. The bank wouldn't answer my questions as to my suspicion as to whether it was cancelled when someone found out it was done from outside Thailand - the laws of physical presence are uncertain in Thailand as to how they apply to online transactions. I was ashamed to think that my desires to maximize a few baht of interest between passbook and savings did cause her a lot of trouble.

I suppose most posters here in Thailand have their b/fs handle these things while they are on extended trips overseas.

You can pay many of your internet/utility bills online now in Thailand. However, you cannot pay many of these bills unless you physically see the bill and get from that bill the billing reference number. You only get that number in the mail as far as I know for many things that could be paid online.I pay my Internet and UBC bills via Direct Debit; I can pay my TOT and True mobile bills online via preview (I have a reminder in my calendar to go online). The landlord bills me for water and electricity on the monthly rent invoice. The maid services many of the apartments in the building so I just give one of the others her money and they pass it on. I don't see any bills to get a reference number before they get paid. I've never had a problem accessing online banking and making payments from outside Thailand. That's me done

I pay my Internet and UBC bills via Direct Debit;

I don't watch television, let alone waste money on week old moronicity from the west. The last I looked I couldn't get the billing reference number online (or billing amount) from True necessary to put in the form at Epay online (and would not recommend trying without it). My TOT and water are billed monthly through the juristic. I never use CAT since internet. TA was a problem, too, but the maid would handle that with cash and I haven't looked in 2 years as my deposit is paying it off now.

Anyone pay your MEA through the internet and without a billing reference number?

I don't watch television, let alone waste money on week old moronicity from the west. It's easy to tell you're an educated man

It's easy to tell you're an educated man

Us within the intelligencia roll our own from time to time.

It's easy to tell you're an educated manUs within the intelligencia roll our own from time to time.I'm assuming you're an American (or someone else on whom irony is wasted)

When I was abroad 4 years ago, I had all my regular domestic utility bills paid by direct debit or online banking.
Credit cards, banking etc can be done online.
If you cannot escape paying it, council tax & so on can either be paid online or by direct debit.

In recent times I find I can go well over a year without ever writing a cheque.

Things get more difficult when your bank card or credit card requires renewal.
I guess you could check the expiry dates & get then renewed in advance if necessary.

I even managed to open UK online savings accounts whilst abroad.