Iolona

Hi guys!

I am in Asia and will be still travelling for a long time. As I bought loads of stuff planning to send some of it home, I was trying to find out the postal charges via sea for Europe (particularly Italy). Does anyone know where to find them? The Vietnamese post website does not work in English unfortunately, so I am not able to understand where to find the info.

I'm looking to send something like 10 /15Kg to Italy via sea. Anyone has any idea please?

Thanks a lot in advance.

Yoli

Kathie

Go to the closest post office and talk with them. There is also DHL, but they are very expensive.

MmePerdu

The routine is this. Go to the post office with your things, unwrapped, in bags as they will pack them in a box. As they do they will inspect your items to determine if you may send them out of the country. There's no way to know what they may decide is "forbidden". For instance, I'd bought some very ordinary kitchen items and all were "approved" except one, a cleaver, which was handed back to me. No discussion is permitted, it seems sort of arbitrary. So most, if not all of your items will be boxed up, weighed, and the price given. I was sending a box to the US, as I've often done, by sea, and it wasn't particularly expensive. Vague, I know but I think you may just need to go through the process. You can always opt to remove items if the cost is too much. I kept the cleaver in my checked bag and mailed it with other things from the next stop.

sartoric

Mme Perdu

You seem to have experience with postage in S E Asia. I posted a parcel from Chiang Rai in Thailand on 16 Feb, to Australia. Still not arrived, and no answers from Thai post to emails I've sent. Does 4 weeks sound like a reasonable time to you ? It was sent surface mail.

Excuse me for hijacking your thread Iolona.

Many thanks
Caroline

NoFlyZone

There are also, mostly in cities, small shops which will do the same as the post office. Friends there have indicated that the service and packing is better and at a lower cost. There often seems to be at least one near hotels.

crellston

We sent a package back from Saigon and just went into the Central Post office in District 1 ( worth a visit anyway!). The staff there were really helpful. As Mme Perdu suggests, best take the stuff in unwrapped so they can check it before packing up. I don't recall it being particularly expensive for sea mail for a decent sized package, maybe $10 or so.

Sartoric . I have sent several packages by sea mail from Thailand, usually from Chiang Mai. All arrived safely in the UK between 6 and 12 weeks after sending. Good luck emailing Thai postal service they never answered any of my emails!
Also used DHL once and the package and contents arrived damaged a real pain trying to get insurance compensation from them. Their customer service was awful.

MmePerdu

Sartoric, as crellston says, they always seem to arrive, sooner or later. I've usually forgotten all about them and when they appear it's Christmas! Such fun to open the box and see what I've got. Everything I've mailed, from China, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, India, has always gotten to me. A lot of boxes, all have arrived eventually. Have no fear. They get there when they get there.

Iolona

Thanks guys!
I am now in Cambodia and I'm trying to actually figure out if it would be cheaper to send the parcel from here or Vietnam.. In Cambodia they do have a list of prices which is very handy, and I have a picture of it. I was wondering if anyone had the same thing for Vietnam so I could figure out the prices per Kg.

MmePerdu

I don't look for the prices ahead of my visit to the P.O., sorry. Whatever the price, it's worth it to lighten my load. Even in Singapore (THIS IS A WARNING) where it costs a great deal more than other places. Whenever I buy something, I ask myself, "do I want this enough to mail it home" and if the answer is yes, I buy it.

sartoric

Thanks guys, shall have to don my patient hat.

Iolona, if it helps, our box sent from Thailand weighed 4kilos and cost 980 baht, about $30.

Cheers

sartoric

Hey Crellston

I just got a reply to my email sent 3 days ago to Thai Post.
They advised 45 - 60 days by sea, and asked me to be patient.

Cool that they replied, I wasn't expecting anything after your comment, but good to hear that service levels (in respect to answering emails) are improving.

Cheers
Caroline

sartoric

If anyone's interested, my parcel arrived today. That means it took 10 weeks in total, but hey, at least it's here.

Kathie

Glad to hear that your package arrived safely. It does take a long time!

sartoric

Yes, and the anticipation of seeing what's in it is killing me - delivered to hubby's office, so he's stringing me along until lunchtime.

I thought after the fact, that it would have been a good idea to take a photo of the contents ! Aaargh.

MmePerdu

"...it would have been a good idea to take a photo of the contents ! "

To what end? I figure it gets there or it doesn't. If it doesn't, I don't believe it'd be worth pursuing. And who would we pursue? But they've always arrived, little or no damage. I believe in miracles, when it comes to mail!

sartoric

Not to pursue anyone MmePerdu, to replace on another mission

MmePerdu

When my grandmother would forget what she was going to say, she'd say "I guess it wasn't very important". It may apply in this case too. But if we forget what we bought last time, there's no shortage of things for next.

sartoric

Agree there's always next time, but here's the rub, I remember at least three items that are important to me ! Only 30 minutes or so now......