Disappearing ATMs

[prawnograph]

I had a bad day a week ago in search of a functioning Kasikorn ATM.

Outside the bank - out of cash
Outside local Lotus - I was there to see it being wheeled away on a trolley
Outside police station (love this concept, perfect for those cash payments, surely this one has to stay) - sign 'out of order'
Outside PTT - open and had money!

These things happen. But the two outside our Lotus, Kasikorn and Krungsri now permanently removed, as are the two at a 7-11 in town.

Lotus in Chanthaburi city this morning - all ATMs removed, previously two areas with multiple ATMs, only one now inside the Bangkok bank foyer.

Are they becoming extinct as phone app usage takes over?

Saw a mobile barbecue chicken motorbike sidecar set up today with a 'scan me' sign on the front, easier than handling money/change.

"We don’t like change. We don’t even give change” - Tubbs and Edward

[armstrong]

Hardly any near me which can be a pain.

[Takeovers]

Here in Germany ATMs are becoming rare. But we can get money at many supermarkets, with the requirement of some purchase there, mostly they want purchases worth 5€, not a problem. Very convenient too.

[taxexile]

its the same in the UK, ATM machines are hard to find and often poorly maintained.

cash does seem to be disappearing, thanks to the slow and ominous creep of payment apps, all aided and abetted by the grasping banks who are closing branches by the dozen.

apps and scannable QR codes, in fact anything electronic based , are a free pass for ever more resourceful scammers, who continue to milk the unwary. the banks and the police cant keep up with it all. it just needs a foreign instigated mass hack and any country lacking a workable backup plan will be on its knees.

best to keep a big fat wad under the mattress. just in case.

[Edmond]

Hardly any near me which can be a pain.

Yup.

Both the closest 7 and the closest gas station which also has a 7 don't have one.

We sometimes like to walk to the 7 in the evening and get a snack with the kid, which now involves first checking if we have cash, and if not, me swearing a bit and kicking a bookshelf, then Edith having to drive to the closest one first.


First World living ain't all it's built up to be.