Day C7: What a Mess

July 26, 2023

I got off the bicycle, collected my stuff, and got out the keycard to enter the condo premesis. The very first thing I noticed was a sign in English, Thai, Chinese, and Russian stating "All guests must stay a minimum of 30 days. Any short time stays are illegal."

I tried the keycard at the door. It wouldn't work. So I rang the bell and the front desk opened it. I walked in and much to my surprise and delight he was friendly. He was all smiles and he also seemed surprised that I was the owner. Well I was and had all the documents to back it up. To be fair, your typical owner of a unit doesn't exactly rock up on a fucking bicycle.

Right away he was able to make the keycard work again and asked, "How long was it since you last came here?" I said, "3 years" and he just laughed because we all know what means. That was just the beginning. Apparently I was one of many other owners coming back after covid and getting ready to face whatever disasters were waiting after years of neglect to the unit.

Next it was the juristic office. The staff were totally brand new. Mind you this happens every time I visit since they rotate through staff faster than white teachers in China. But this time Mr. Khu had been there for almost two years and was the key person who anchored the fort during covid. He was super helpful and friendly and put my mind at ease when he made it clear I was not the only guy coming back after 3+ years away. He invited me to sit down and helped me deal with things one by one.

First of all he said I needed to pay tax. Say what? Apparently a new law had been passed, during covid of course, that condo owners needed to pay tax in person every year at city hall. Riddle me this, but how was I supposed to have managed that? Surely there is going to be a massive penalty coming my way too. Next he said they were going to install alarms in October and I needed to pay for that. Ok fair enough.

Thankfully I had kept up with all the maintenance fees and other annual fees with online bank payments during the pandemic. There was even a surplus in my account which could be used for paying the water bill every month. I gave him my consent to do that.

Next it was time to check the room. The issue was whether the keycard battery would be dead or not. Miraculously it was still alive. The keycard itself worked perfectly fine to open the door, otherwise it would have to be keys which I had lost.

But once in the room, the first thing that got me was the overpowering smell of mold. There was dust everywhere on the floor and cockroaches. It was a filthy disgusting mess. I nearly keeled over and threw up.

After 3 years of neglect it degenerates fast. Still it could have been a lot worse

Mr. Khu just laughed after seeing my reaction and said, "It's been a long time since you came here." He was more concerned about the fact the electricity was totally cut off and there was no way to flip a switch to get it going again like on previous visits. He said, "First thing you need to do is go to the electricity office and pay the overdue bills. That's the only way to solve this. Then go to city hall and pay the tax."

I took a closer look at all the other stuff in the room and was horrified. My home, my condo had transformed from a beautiful minimalist's dream into a disgusting ratbag that was falling apart. And all in the span of a few years when this pandemic had ruined all my hopes and dreams. I wanted to curse covid 1000 times over for all the trouble it had brought.

I was relaying all this to my wife and she wisely told me to calm down and chill out, these things could be solved. One thing at a time, it could get done. Mr. Khu was also being helpful and he said, "Don't worry, just start with the electricity and the tax. We can get someone to clean the room tomorrow. The furniture is still ok and there is no rain damage. Other owners in the same situation as you had the rain destroy all their furniture and need to replace it. So yours is a bit lucky." He was in fact correct, I was blowing things out of proportion and this could have been a lot worse.

Next I bumped into my neighbor who happens to own three condos and is on the bulding committee. It is a semi-democratic process like everything else in Thailand where he sort of gets a vote. He explained in detail about how the committee works and how they voted him out because he was being too vocal about making changes. At the same time, this guy was really key to know. He was 100 times more personally invested in this place than any other guy I met, including the consortium of owners in the past who had a meeting to gripe (correctly mind you) about all the things that management was doing wrong.

He explained to me that there were apps to pay the electricity bill and the tax online and showed me how to get started. I had mentioned to him earlier, "I was stuck in China during covid and couldn't pay these bills." He said, "Not correct, you could have." He then explained in detail how to do it and I will try to remember. Unfortunately I was already exhausted from the bike ride and the initial shock at seeing this room that I couldn't remember the massive volume of information he told me. Still he was super helpful. He had gone through a major breakup with his Thai ex-wife and was dealing with the fallout. Yes, *another* one of those. The difference compared to other men is that he was super young, rich, and smart. Based on his horror stories that made me glad I never married a Thai. If that drama happens to guys like him, good luck for the rest of us.

I finally got back downstairs and Mr. Khu wondered what took me so long. My neighbor had talked my ear off but it was all a very good chance encounter. Next, since I didn't have any keys, he offered to break the mailbox and offload a whole shitload of documents.

One thing at a time. Let's start with that lawyers notice

The first had him shocked, it was a lawyers notice. Apparently a Thai woman had stayed in my condo illegally during covid and there were some repercussions with that. Oh boy, what fun. Then there were of course unpaid bills and tax notices. My neighbor had warned me this could all end up costing a fortune in penalties. It seems I have to adjust my budget and find a way to deal with all this.

Mr Khu then offered to replace the lock and key for the mailbox as well as for my door unit. This is all going to add up in costs, but thankfully I was so under budget for the trip earlier, this is now where the money has to go.

So to recap he said, "Tomorrow, first tax office then electricity. Then come back to meet me at 2pm and we'll get someone to clean the room." Besides that I'm also going to swing by the bank and try my luck again with re-opening the account. The argument is quite simple really, I need a bank account to pay the electricity bills.

Mr Khu even asked me, "Why you didn't find an agent to help manage this place and get people to rent it?" I told him that I had in the past, but the agents weren't reliable. He then offered two choices of his own agents. What can you do, really. Since I'm planning to sell the condo anyway, might as well just go with his agents rather than bike around the city trying to find others. The rental fee is peanuts anyway, I might only get 7000 baht a month. Selling it is a higher priority, that is if a buyer can be found.

Look on the bright side it's a beautiful sunny day. Haven't seen weather like this the entire rainy season

With all that done, I figured it best to find a nearby restaurant, get something to eat, then assess the situation.

Never give up. You can't. Failure is feedback, it is only failure if you allow it to hold you back

My backup plan was easily enacted which was to stay in Mind Resort across the street which is exactly what happened last time when there was an uninvited guest staying in my condo and we all had that impromptu meeting on Sunday night with the other co-owners griping about management.

So yeah, just another day on the bike.

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	0
Comment on this entry	Comment	0