I have heard of these things existing elsewhere but never lived in a place that ever had it. I found out about it today when walking down the street and what an amazing business to be able to take advantage of.
Mobike is a bicycle sharing program / app where if you are a member you have unlimited access to the bikes that are parked in random locations all throughout the city. Obviously this would only work in major metro areas but now I finally live in one.
You install the app pay an extraordinarily small fee of 250B for a month access (around $7.50) and then pull up your map and find one nearby. Once at the bike you scan a QR code and it does something in the sky and unlocks the back tire of the bike. After that, away you go!
Back in Krabi they will never have this program, the places you might want to go are entirely too far apart from one another and these bikes are very simple and have only one gear. Abandon all hopes of setting any lands speed records on these things and just accept the fact that it is more enjoyable than walking.
Some areas of town are "hubs" where there are always a bunch of them but it isn't even against the rules to just leave them wherever you want. There are certain restrictions such as taking them out of town but like i said, you are not getting very far on these things - I rode about 10 miles or so and yeah, i was ready to get off of it.
I think the best thing for me about all of this is sometimes I think I have more energy than I actually do, or maybe I get drunk somewhere and I don't really have to worry about returning it. If i don't feel like riding home I don't have to and I also dont have to worry about anyone stealing it because provided I lock it back before I walk away, it is no longer my responsibility.
There are only 2 cities in Thailand that currently have this business and I am fortunate enough to live in one of them. I am also the kind of person that really doesn't want to be a fat ass so maybe this can help me achieve that goal.