After a long solid sleep with no interruptions, I woke up and it was 6:30am.  Perfect then, let's get going.  For the entire trip I wasn't using alarm clocks and just waking up naturally with the sun.  If the body was saying this is the time to wake up, then this was it.  

So after a leisurely breakfast ans reading, I got packing and told the front desk I was checking out again.  They were hardly surprised, this was not the first time.  They said be careful on the roads as usual and I would be back next week.

Despite a so-called holiday, traffic was busy and things seemed back to normal.  It was a headphones and loud music bike rise into the city on very congested roads.  Not the most pleasant cycling, but ever since discovering the music it made things much more bearable.

First stop was Probike and this is where things went super well.  The security guard offered to wheel the bike in, the clerk was all smiles as she remembered me, and the assistant very chatty as he had a lot to say about the bike.  They did great work in fixing the breaks as well as the derailleur.  While partially cleaning the bike myself using tissue and covid hand sanitizer, the assistant suggested bike shampoo instead.  I bought a bottle for 500 baht and he came up with ideas for cleaning:  brushes and cloths which can be found at Mr. DIY.  He also said the bike was super rare and he hadn't seen a Montague since over 4 years ago.  They are apparently given as a gift to those in the military, both US and Thai military.  He also mentioned there were less and less folding bikes in general.

I told him all about the Laos trip on dirt roads and he said, "Wow that's good, and I see the bike survived."  Indeed it did.  We also talked about distributors for Montague bikes.  The closest is in Malaysia.  They are trying to open one in Thailand but he was the first one to say the bureaucracy here is shit and he gave it two big thumbs down.  It will take a very long time to happen.  I couldn't agree more.

Next I tried my luck with banks near tourist areas.  Khaosan Road was the destination.  I set up a circuit of banks to attempt an account opening.

I parked the bike and took a long walk around the area.  It felt deserted.  Khaosan was where my Thailand adventures all began, but now it was like a ghost of the past.  There were few tourists lurking around.  Many of the shops had closed down.  Others were still running of course, but the vibe was lacking.  On the other hand, it could simply be this was a Monday at noon, and not exactly peak Khaosan time.  

I found a restaurant near a pool and wanted to chill ther.  But he said, "If you want to sit by the pool it's an extra 150 baht."  Fine then, I'll sit at a table very close to the pool where I can see it.  That turned out to be a good call because all the splashing from the pool got the tables right beside it wet.  Next, I got changed into something better dressed and walked my circuit.

All the banks were a fail.  The reasons they gave for not being able to open an account were different at each one.  It seemed they were just making it up as they went along.  Still, I was able to piece together a bunch of clues and sift through all the information they told me to come up with some patterns.

The biggest issue seems to be the 30-day stamp.  One bank even said that in itself is ok, but I need to show up with a fresh one that has at least a month remaining, and not only 13 days as it is now.

The condo document certainly helps, but one bank said I need to apply in Chonburi province as that's the one Pattaya belongs to.  The only problem is I tried that already.  However, a possible idea emerged:  maybe Chonburi town is a better place to try because very few foreigners pass through there.  It could be that all my attempts so far are in areas with high farang density and that's why it isn't working out.

They also kept talking about a 'long term visa'.  I did more research on that, and apparently there is a 10-year visa, like a digital nomad visa that started during covid.  I might be eligible for that.  

Bangkok Bank is a total fail.  This was where I first opened it up ages ago and it expired in 2021.  I explained to the clerk that I couldn't travel during covid to update my information and that's why the account closed.  She seemed to get it, but there was nothing that could be done to re-open the account.

Other banks said I needed a Thai drivers license.  

The one that seemed to be the closest to a success asked me why I wanted to open the account and asked many questions.  I simply explained that I need to pay electricity bills, deal with rental payments, and sell the condo.  She totally understood and then asked for documents about long-term residency and if I was married to a Thai.  When I said no, that was likely the reason for the rejection.  

Having completed the Khaosan circuit, a decision had to be made:  keep going, or fold.  I chose to fold.  Despite the failure, this was a good exercise in 'jai yen' (cool heart) because not once did I get angry with the staff or get into an argument.  That accomplishes nothing in Thai culture.  The staff themselves have no decision making power, and their managers not much either.  It's the politicians who make the rules.  They are the real assholes and they hide behind their ivory towers so as not to be accountable to the people.  The staff probably can't stand them just as well, but they can't do anything about the situation.

This was also a good exercise in regrouping and being persistent when faced with failure, to come back and have another crack at it later.  

So for now it made more sense to grab a coffee, chill out for a bit, and bike back to the guesthouse near Sukumvhit before heading to my fitness class.