Prachuap postman quits after hoarding mail for six months

[PeteC]

Missing anything???

PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN — The national post service on Wednesday apologized for not delivering letters and packages to homes in Prachuap Khiri Khan province for six months.

The admission came after residents of Bang Saphan Noi district complained online that they had not received any mail. An investigation revealed piles of undelivered mail hoarded at the postman’s home, an official from Thailand Post said today.

Teerapong Thepmanee, in charge of mail service in Prachuap, did not identify the postman in question, but said he quit his job following the discovery.

The complaints affected residents posted said they missed many important documents such as tax forms and even court warrants. One of them posted online that they had to travel to these agencies by themselves to receive documents.

“I was criticized by my clients. The bank documents went missing. I tried to track them down many times. I complained in many channels but they all went silent,” Santat Detkerd wrote. “In the end, I had to drive 400 or 500 kilometers to get the new documents.”

Teerapong said all hoarded mail will be delivered to the intended recipients.

The news is likely of little surprise for those familiar with Thailand Post’s track record. In December, the state enterprise apologized after one of its mailmen dropped packages at a local grocery store instead of delivering them.

Earlier last year, a woman also complained to the media that boxes of chocolate mailed by her Canadian husband were opened and damaged by Thailand Post staff, who reportedly refused to pay compensation.

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crim ... ix-months/

[HHTel]

Collected his salary for 6 months while hoarding the mail. The postman quit after being found out.

He quit! Oh that's alright then.

[robcar]

I'm still awaiting delivery of a small 'jiffy bag' posted on October 24th last year from UK with a couple of small items that were required for Christmas.

I've given up hope on that one

[Nereus]

Mountain of undelivered mail found at postman's house

https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/genera ... recent_box

PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN: A postman in Bang Saphan Noi district faces the axe after thousands of undelivered letters were found in his home.

Pictures of the hoard of undelivered mail were recently posted on Khon Rak Bang Saphan (Bang Saphan Lovers) Facebook page and quickly grabbed news headlines.

Santhad Thad Detkerd, a page administrator, also posted a message saying “Is this Thailand Post?
After waiting for important documents such as bank letters, tax payment forms, cheques and others for months, I have to travel for a long distance to get my mail.
Let’s take a look. Undelivered letters are piled up inside a house at Ban Chong Lom village, Moo 8 in tambon Chang Raek, Bang Saphan Noi district. A staffer tasked with delivering mail shows no responsibility. What is his office doing? Complaints were lodged several times, but they fell on deaf ears.’’

Photos of thousands of letters left undelivered at the postman’s house drew comments from several page followers who had shared the same plight -- no mail from the postman for several months.

Mr Santhad told the Bangkok Post that he had not received letters from the post office since November last year. He had to travel to the offices and banks which had sent documents via mail to collect them himself.

The undelivered mail had badly affected him and others, he said. Some local residents were sent court warrants they never received, almost landing them in jail.

Mr Santhad said he had filed complaints with Bang Saphan Noi post office, but no action had been taken. He had to turn to social media to force concerned agencies to address the issue.

The Bangkok Post contacted the head of Bang Saphan Noi post office about the undelivered mail, but was told that he could not give a press interview. He suggested that the media should contact the provincial post office for accurate information.

Theerapong Thepmanee, head of Prachuap Khiri Khan post office, on Wednesday apologised to all affected Thailand Post customers for the undelivered mail.

He admitted he was shocked to hear about the hoard of undelivered letters.

An investigation found the postman who did not deliver them had worked at the district post office for seven months. The office had to evaluate the performance of staff every six months -- and he would not pass the next evaluation, Mr Theerapong said.

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[dtaai-maai]

This is bizarre, even by Thai standards. Not the incident itself, but the response to it. In the UK there is an offence called 'interfering with the mail', which applies specifically to postal workers. Even if Thailand has no such specific criminal offence, this bloke must have committed multiple offences of theft - one for each item of mail.

No mention of a crime, however, just an upcoming staff appraisal, which won't have much impact on an employee who has already resigned!!

Thailand - curiouser and curiouser...

[STEVE G]

This is bizarre, even by Thai standards. Not the incident itself, but the response to it. In the UK there is an offence called 'interfering with the mail', which applies specifically to postal workers. Even if Thailand has no such specific criminal offence, this bloke must have committed multiple offences of theft - one for each item of mail.

No mention of a crime, however, just an upcoming staff appraisal, which won't have much impact on an employee who has already resigned!!

Thailand - curiouser and curiouser...

Yes, it's a criminal offence in the UK but it doesn't stop it happening:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/jan/19/post.ukcrime

[caller]

Yes, it's a criminal offence in the UK but it doesn't stop it happening:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/jan/19/post.ukcrime

That report is over 10 years old!

But yes, it will happen everywhere. The difference is how it's dealt with. In the UK the Post Office have specialist investigations teams, CCTV and take other actions that target those that commit fraud and theft, including organised gangs. It's far from perfect, but it's a problem that is taken seriously, as are the consequences for any mail employee caught cheating.

Here, as with other public services, it seems they are a power until themslves and show complete disregard for the general public, which of course, is the expectation of the average Thai.

[STEVE G]

Yes, it's a criminal offence in the UK but it doesn't stop it happening:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/jan/19/post.ukcrime

That report is over 10 years old!

But yes, it will happen everywhere. The difference is how it's dealt with. In the UK the Post Office have specialist investigations teams, CCTV and take other actions that target those that commit fraud and theft, including organised gangs. It's far from perfect, but it's a problem that is taken seriously, as are the consequences for any mail employee caught cheating.

Here, as with other public services, it seems they are a power until themslves and show complete disregard for the general public, which of course, is the expectation of the average Thai.

Yes, it's an old story but I remembered reading it at the time and it seems to be the same as the Thai postman in that they weren't motivated by theft, just too lazy to deliver their post.

[handdrummer]

Motto of the US post office: Neither rain nor sleet, snow nor hail, shall ever stop the US mail.

I suppose that includes the postman?

[charlesh]

He will probably get an award at the next handout.