Bill Paying

Paying bills here in the land of smiles is a bit different than back in the U.S.  In the U.S., Tim and I would usually pay our bills either electronically or via mail.  Like many banks, our bank in the U.S. has an online bill paying system.   Occasionally we would drop an envelope into the mail with a check, although that is was becoming much less frequent since we could simply enter the data in the online payment system and have the bank cut and mail the check.

Here in Thailand, paying bills using a website or via mail is not the norm.  Some of the banks may have online payment systems, but a lot of customers probably do not have regular access to computers.  I do not want to libel the Thai postal service, but I think its safe to say that it may not be quite as reliable as its counterpart back in the U.S.  I would not want to send checks in the mail.  Our electric bill, for example, could easily be as much as an average Thai worker's salary for a month.  I think there would be a lot of temptation along the way as the check made its journey from sender to recipient.  

One way to pay bills here is to go to an agent designated to collect for the billing entity.  7-11 is an example of this.  You can go into 7-11 and pay your phone, cable, utility and perhaps other bills.  That is convenient for bill payers, because unlike in Ohio, there are an enormous number of 7-11's in Thailand.  While it is convenient for paying bills, it can be rather frustrating waiting in line to buy a Gatorade while some one is paying utility bills with loose change.  Imagine standing in line behind someone paying for a $40 item with a bag of unwrapped quarters and dimes and you get the picture.  Its happened to me before, and on at least one occasion, I put my items down and left the store.

Another very popular way to pay bills here is via ATM transfer.  The biller will give you their account number, and you make a funds transfer at the ATM.   Your bank then transfers the money from your account to theirs.  The recipient will know the account number of the person sending the payment, but not necessarily the name or the billing invoice number.  This means that you will often need to make a copy of the ATM receipt, and fax it to the recipient with your name and invoice number.  That way they know where to credit the payment.  Surprisingly the ATM lines aren't longer here, but one of life's true joys is to get behind someone paying some bills at the ATM. 

One thing that I do not think that I have seen here is a drive up ATM.  I've seen a lot of ATM's in Thailand, but I don't think that I've seen a single one with a drive up window or ATM.  Then again, I do not recall seeing a stand alone bank, although it is certainly possible.  I've seen banks in office buildings and malls, but not just its own little building like you might see in Anderson Township for example.  Of course, there is a lot of Thailand and Bangkok that I haven't seen. 

Some bills are paid in cash.  For example, the water delivery company picks up money when they deliver the water. If no-one is home, they leave the bill and collect it on a future delivery. 

Fortunately for me, Tim pays most of the bills.  Actually, she has one of her employees make the ATM transfers, which makes it easier on us.