There was a primary reason why I was in Bangkok in the first place, and why I left the bike behind in Khon Kaen.  I was attempting to make an express trip to Malaysia before they closed the border.

But to do that I needed to start the ball rolling on a replacement passport at my Embassy.  I could request to pick it up in Malaysia later to start the work permit and still fly with my current passport to my new employer.  Then we would figure something out.

The problem is that my current passport was only valid for two years as a result of the fiasco from last summer's trip where the old one was stolen.  They refused to issue a longer valid one because I didn't have a birth certificate at the time.  As I found out today they still held to the same rule.  Without a birth certificate on hand there was nothing they could do.  And who carries one around on trips anyway?

Despite two attempts, one on Monday and the other on Tuesday, they stalled the application and the passport renewal wasn't going to happen.  I also found out that back home they no longer issue wallet sized birth certificates.  It is only the large inconvenient ones so you keep them in a safe place.  The passport office wouldn't budge at all, not even during this pandemic.  I tried the second time by asking if someone else in Vancouver could submit that on my behalf.  They sort of said yes but then they stalled for a different reason because they weren't satisfied with the Thai references I had picked on the form.

There was no way to win, and this was going nowhere.  I could see from all the other applicants in the room that most were trying to get emergency documents to fly back to Canada.  Indeed it seemed that was the priority and the Embassy was trying to steer me in this direction too.  They told me rather predictably to avoid large crowds and be safe.  I asked them if they wanted us to travel back to Canada and they said yes.  But for now, the only thing to do was leave Bangkok rather quickly and lingering was not an option.

While at the Sananwan Palace where I usually stay, I was filling out some paperwork for another futile attempt at this passport.   The husband of the owner came up to tell me, "Buri Ram locked down the province.  I'm not sure how that's going to affect your biking."

I nearly threw up my breakfast.  I had been biking through there just last week or less.  Checking the news he was right, they were the first to do it.  If you entered the province it was an automatic quarantine.  They were basically trying to protect the province because there were zero cases, and the governor used an ancient Chinese saying  "We have to sacrifice organs to save lives"

Naturally if Buri Ram could do this, then so could Khon Kaen just next door as a cascade effect, and this is where the Montague Paratrooper Pro was parked at the 185 Residence Hotel.  I had to act fast.

While in Bangkok I managed to get my hands on a few masks for 50 cents, and the owners of the Sananwan threw some more in also.  They wished me well and said, "This is always your home you know, you are welcome any time."  I thanked them and they helped store another bike behind where it still is to this day.  They wished me good luck as I told them the plan.  "Not the best idea" they said, "Why not go to Phuket or Krabi?"  Anyhow I had a choice to go for Chiang Mai

Before leaving I gave them a bottle of Canadian whisky as a gift of appreciation.

[Update November 2022]  There were in fact many workable options I could have done at that point.  The Malaysia trip was in fact still possible to do back then.  It would have meant abandoning the bike however.  When the brain is stressed it tends to miss a lot of information.