Yangoners who have been queuing up in long lines around the clock to withdraw cash from ATMs have found a way around the overnight curfew.
Due to a cash crunch that has limited withdrawals to only MMK200,000 (US$130) per day, people have been hauling plastic stools that are left to hold their places in line from 10pm to 4am, at which point the return and resume their wait.
One such scene was found around a KBZ ATM near the city’s Myanmar Plaza, where hundreds of stools held vigil in what may be less of a run on the banks than a squat around them.
Three months after the military coup, depositors have had to wait in line hours every day since withdrawals were throttled to prevent the bottom from falling out due to a lack of confidence in the system and ruling junta.
“Nobody trusts them,” Oak Soe, a 27-year-old marketing manager told Coconuts. I am not depositing my money under the military regime. They are running out of cash.”
Some people are now unable to withdraw even the minimum amount because ATMs are running out of cash. KBZ, a private domestic bank, stopped restocking its ATMs with currency on Tuesday.
Other people have turned the crisis into opportunity, with enterprising Yangoners queuing at an ATM only to sell their spots.
“Every other day, my sister and I go to the ATM across the street, and we sell our places for 10,000 kyats (US$6) per each. We need to go at 5am to get there first,” Khin Win, 52 of Mingaladon Township, told Coconuts.
This has not gone over well with others, such as Htein Linn Aung, who posted pictures of stools used to keep places for sale.
“10,000 MMK per place … What a shame, people,” he wrote.
Others have brought floor mats and lunch boxes to wait at some locations, creating strange sidewalk scenes.
“Only in Myanmar, the bank comes with a beach,” someone captioned a photo of a man reclining in front of a KBZ ATM downtown.
