Thailand Post Apologizes for Dumping Mail at Grocery Store

A box of undelivered mail left at Lamoon Takerdpol’s shop Monday in Buriram province.

BURIRAM — Perhaps not to be outdone by convenience store delivery services, one mailman turned a local grocery store in Buriram into a postal hub for the community – without anyone’s consent.

The national post service on Tuesday apologized to the shopkeeper on behalf of the mailman, who, instead of delivering mail to its proper destination, had been dropping it all off at her shop in the eastern province for three years for her to sort out for the recipients.

The mailman in question, who was not identified, was disciplined and transferred, Thailand Post said in a statement.

“We have reminded every delivery staff member to conduct their duty with honesty, send their mail punctually and give good service to customers,” the statement read.

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The shopkeeper, Lamoon Takerdpol, complained to the media on Monday that the mailman started asking her three years ago to send various packages to area residents.

Lamoon said she didn’t mind it at the time, but the amount of mail kept increasing to the point she could no longer handle it. Lamoon said she had asked the mailman to stop, only to be told to simply dump some letters deemed unimportant into the trash.

“I had to take responsibility for sending mail to the residents. Some thought I was hired by the post. If some letters were delayed or lost, they scolded me,” Lamoon told reporters.

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Asking other people to deliver packages or failing to deliver them to assigned addresses is against Thailand Post’s regulations, a mail official in charge of Buriram reassured the media.

Thailand Post, a state enterprise marred by a record of poor service, drew increased scorn recently for urging Thais to use their service to “show gratitude” to the country.

The slogan was met with criticism online, where many users shared their unpleasant experiences of delays and occasional damage when entrusting their mail to the carrier.