Tactics for resolving a loud music problem successfully

[mlkik]

I live in a small village in Issan and it took me a while to adjust to the neighbours playing music very loud.

At first it would wind me up but now I just accept it along with the dogs barking all night and the cockerals crowing all day and night.

I have a good stereo which I like to listen to at reasonably loud levels however it can not compete with the locals sound system who have the biggest speakers that they can get hold of.

For them it seems quality listening is not for them but only the ability of the speakers to make your neighbours windows rattle in important 555.

Unfortunately it is something you should learn to put up with as by constantly being anoyed by it you run the risk of exacebating the situation.

I agree it can be very annoying and it would not be acceptable in our home countries. I have had the following said to me before - This is Thailand and you are only farang and have no rights to interfere.

Grin and bare it, or like it or lump it. It is the only way in this situation. I would be very carefull about upsetting the locals.

[Orton Rd]

10 hours ago, Matzzon said:

Same same....

Nothing like each other

[canopy]

3 minutes ago, mlkik said:

At first it would wind me up but now I just accept it along with the dogs barking all night and the cockerals crowing all day and night.

That's actually a bad thing. Even if you are sleeping the brain is monitoring and decoding all the noise going on. That's why if someone says your name you wake up. The brain needs quiet times to recuperate and replenish and this is essential to our health. Our species from the beginning of time enjoyed quiet all the way until our generation in the developing world with these ultra loud speakers and vehicles all around us. We are only now learning just how harmful denying our brain the quiet times it needs is. Studies show people that live closer to busy roads have a higher incidence of heart attacks. Just your whole physical and mental health deteriorate. Anyone in rural Thailnd will notice the people living there typically don't live long and suffer from many health issues from a young age. It's not uncommon for people in their 50's to die, even some in their 40's. Places where noise is kept in check the life expectancy is much longer. If your body tells you something is wrong, listen to it. Never ignore what your body is telling you is wrong. It's like putting your hand over a flame hurts, but you condition yourself to take the pain. It's a nonsense solution.

 

[mlkik]

16 minutes ago, canopy said:

That's actually a bad thing. Even if you are sleeping the brain is monitoring and decoding all the noise going on. That's why if someone says your name you wake up. The brain needs quiet times to recuperate and replenish and this is essential to our health. Our species from the beginning of time enjoyed quiet all the way until our generation in the developing world with these ultra loud speakers and vehicles all around us. We are only now learning just how harmful denying our brain the quiet times it needs is. Studies show people that live closer to busy roads have a higher incidence of heart attacks. Just your whole physical and mental health deteriorate. Anyone in rural Thailnd will notice the people living there typically don't live long and suffer from many health issues from a young age. It's not uncommon for people in their 50's to die, even some in their 40's. Places where noise is kept in check the life expectancy is much longer. If your body tells you something is wrong, listen to it. Never ignore what your body is telling you is wrong. It's like putting your hand over a flame hurts, but you condition yourself to take the pain. It's a nonsense solution.

 

You will enjoy your life a lot more if you accept you are in Thailand and not in your country of origin.

You will die sooner of stress or a big hatchet from a young neighbour if you refuse to adjust !

 

[EricTh]

It's this inside a condo or a village house?

 

I used to have crazy people living next to my rented condo who thinks that the walls are soundproof.

 

 

Edited October 23, 2019 by EricTh

[Chazar]

Do what the Thai  guy  did years ago , a  story  on Thai  Visa I  believe, he asked them for years to turn it  down, they didnt, one  day he went round and shot them all dead.

[Chazar]

50 minutes ago, mlkik said:

Unfortunately it is something you should learn to put up with

Youre  mistaken, a  Thai a few years back shot  all his neighbours  family  dead after years of  loud  music, many Thai I suspect DONT  like it  but wont say anything through FEAR. What a way to  live.

[canopy]

9 minutes ago, mlkik said:

You will enjoy your life a lot more if you accept you are in Thailand and not in your country of origin.

There is another way. I didn't choose to fight it. I didn't choose to put up with it. I didn't choose to leave. I took the other lesser known 4th option. My house has double pane windows with full weatherstripping, 9-inch thick walls, and soundproofing top to bottom. When I close the house, the loud speakers and motorcycle noise is all gone. It's silence. I sleep like a baby, wake as late as my body wants to. Can concentrate or have a game of chess anytime of the day or night. I have to open the door and stick my head out to quantify the noise the idiots are making outside. It's like two worlds--mine and theirs. My house is like my heaven and I am like a god having complete control over their noise. I just love it and count my lucky stars everyday that I went with this approach.

 

[Tayaout]

https://s.lazada.co.th/s.ZoZM9

 

If they don't stream their music it won't work but if they can't use their phone they will leave sooner than later. 

Edited October 23, 2019 by Tayaout

[moe666]

13 hours ago, madmen said:

avoid living in a thai ghetto at all costs. Why would anybody surround themselves with uneducated hill Billy's?

I live in a farang ghetto with civilized people. In 12 years never had a single noise complaint!

Yeah good luck with that I lived next to 5 farangs they loved to go out and come home and talk and drink till 6am when my wife got up after a night of no sleep to go to work. Faranga can be jerks just like Thais it is called being human. The wife talked to the landlord explained the situation if something wasn't done we would moveout, land lady set a midnight curfew which was fine with me and the wife. After this afew nolonger talked too me which is fine I do not need to talk to inconsiderate people.

[brianthainess]

My wife would sort it, talk to the adults first, if that didn't work go to the poo yia ban and talk to him, if that didn't work she would go around all surrounding neighbors and start a petition and present that to the poo yia ban, that works normally coz he wants to be re-elected next time.  

[Matzzon]

4 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

Nothing like each other

I am tone deaf.

[emptypockets]

9 hours ago, canopy said:

When you dialed the 1111 hotline for foreigners to resolve noise complaints what did they say? Surely that was the very first thing you tried.

 

They said "speak louder I can't hear you!"

[Gecko123]

11 hours ago, mlkik said:

You will enjoy your life a lot more if you accept you are in Thailand and not in your country of origin.

You will die sooner of stress or a big hatchet from a young neighbour if you refuse to adjust !

My research has led me to conclude that indiscriminately playing loud music at home is far from a bedrock trait of Thai culture and it is highly questionable whether it deserves the deference that some foreigners seem to have concluded it deserves.

 

I have canvassed hundreds of Thais on this subject and most Thais recognize that consideration for others needs to be taken into account in regards to playing loud music. For years I have also been on the lookout for other examples in neighboring towns and villages of people with jumbo sound systems who regularly blast music to everyone in the neighborhood. Only rarely have I found other examples.

 

Of course loud music sometimes comes from temples, large events, school PA systems, poo yai announcements, etc., and I recognize that in general Thais are more tolerant of public music than many Westerners. But if one were to say that playing super loud music from your private residence with total disregard for your neighbors is a part of Thai culture, I would seriously question the accuracy of such an assessment. Dozens and dozens of Thais have told me that that type of behavior would be problematic if it was happening near them, and that they do not view doing this as in step with Thai culture. As I said earlier, nor have I been able to find many examples of people doing this in my general area. At the very least, I think it is safe to say that there is a range of Thai public opinion on this issue.

Edited October 23, 2019 by Gecko123

[fhickson]

john silber long beaner?

 

Edited October 23, 2019 by fhickson

[Thongkorn]

15 hours ago, Chazar said:

Do what the Thai  guy  did years ago , a  story  on Thai  Visa I  believe, he asked them for years to turn it  down, they didnt, one  day he went round and shot them all dead.

Was the Music Max Bygraves by any chance or Vera lynn.

[CNXexpat]

I am living in a Moo Baan which is built around a lake. One day a Thai neighbor 4 houses away from mine was listening very loud music and because the echo from the lake I heard it very loud on my terrace. I walked to his house and told him that, because the echo, I can hear his music at the same loudness as he hear it. He apologized and turned it less loud.

[canopy]

10 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

My research has led me to conclude that indiscriminately playing loud music at home is far from a bedrock trait of Thai culture

Your research is interesting and surprising, thanks for providing the data point. My observations are much different than yours. I like to ride a bicycle. Not being sheltered in a sound dampening vehicle gives me the opportunity to gauge just how loud and widespread the noise really is at a grass roots level and that it goes on at all times of the day. The number of sources of unnecessary noise is astonishing. Not counting every ordination, funeral and wedding there are the schools, the trucks trolling everywhere selling stuff by loudspeaker, the village heads blabbering, the market places are always red hot with noise, the resorts, the motorcycles, the temples, and of course the village drunks with the huge stereos that always seem to be right next to the farangs. As someone said such noises travel for literally KILOMETERS. Each uncaring noise maker can be be impacting the health and well being of thousands of people and what's left of the wildlife around them. It's cranked up maximum at illegally high decibels and pointed out at these poor folks who are supposed to just take it which they do. A sad time in human history.

 

In my area there is one public school next to the amphur and another school next to the orbitdor. The school speakers systems are predictably pointed AWAY from the school and instead point across the street at government buildings and villages. I noted both of these government offices like to keep the windows open during the day and it is incredibly loud inside them. How could anyone in an office job be productive with that going on? If these high ups have decided the best course of action is to do nothing about the noise in their face what chance does a peon have of making the noise go away? Apparently no one at any level would dare complain even though each day at the schools are more like a big outdoor noisy rock concert that goes for hours rather then the kids being quietly inside learning something.

 

Rural Thai's (not educated urban types) believe they have the right to do whatever they want and enjoy exercising these god given rights. They'll burn their plastics, spray their poisons, make their noises, and trample on those around them indiscriminately and enjoy every bit of it. If you were to impede that right by asking them to turn the noise down a bit they will become furious and think you are a bad person because up until you barged into their life everything was just fine and so clearly you are the trouble maker, not them because they never do anything wrong. This is the psychology you often will have to cope with.

 

Anyone who underestimates the noise that goes on in the villages and countrysides in general is in for a big wake up call. And god forbid you go to Tesco, Makro or such for a peaceful shopping experience. The torture of noise can start with the parking lot speakers blaring at you and increase to ear splitting levels with more powerful loud speaker promotions going on around the food.

 

[mlkik]

11 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

My research has led me to conclude that indiscriminately playing loud music at home is far from a bedrock trait of Thai culture and it is highly questionable whether it deserves the deference that some foreigners seem to have concluded it deserves.

 

I have canvassed hundreds of Thais on this subject

 

Dozens and dozens of Thais have told me that that type of behavior would be problematic if it was happening near them,

So you have canvassed hundreds of Thais and only dozens have said it was a problem.

Therefore your own research confirms the vast majority do not and are prepared fo tollerate it.

 

Loud music is certainly part of the culture when it comes to funerals in Issan. From dawn to dusk loud music will be played from huge speakers for the entire 5 day funeral.

 

This is village life in Issan I am talking about not in a big city. 

 

[Gecko123]

@canopy

 

I'm virtually in total agreement with what you wrote. When I said that I couldn't find very many examples of loud music being played in surrounding communities I was talking about people doing it at home. If you re-examine closely where the music is coming from in your area, I suspect that you will find very few examples of people habitually playing loud music from home, but I acknowledge that things may be different in your area.

 

By the way, just to compare notes, when I wrote that I have been scouting around for examples of people playing loud music in my area, I, too, have been doing this by bicycle. The only other example of a loud home system in my area I have found is a barber shop with outdoor speakers the size of a clothes dryer. I rode my bike past his shop all the time, never hearing music coming from his shop, and I finally asked him why I never heard him playing music. He said he maybe turned up the music "half an hour a week" when he and a few buddies had a beer or two. Many people, of course, have modest home stereo systems, and you can sometimes hear music wafting out from homes, but this is almost never super intrusive or coming from those huge stadium-sized speakers.

 

I agree with you that anyone who thinks that rural Thailand is an oasis of quiet is in for a rude awakening. Especially in the last 10 years, farming operations have become more and more mechanized, the size of the trucks and equipment has grown as well. Ten years ago, much of the corn was harvested by hand; now most of it is harvested with combines. My only point was that I haven't found habitually playing super loud music at home to be very prevalent in rural Thailand, and question whether this truly qualifies as a Thai cultural norm. 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2019 by Gecko123

[guzzi850m2]

In my village near Pattaya loud music is very seldom a problem.

 

The one giving problems (not for me) was a US guy playing a bit loud out at his swimming pool but after his neighbors talked to him, he dimmed it down. The many Thai doctors in the village never party but live quiet life's.

 

A open market app 2-3 km away have annoying loud speakers but it's not something that really bothers me. 

 

Some cars/pick-up trucks plays extremely load music, the occupants must be deaf or they will be hearing damaged very quickly.  

 

 

[canopy]

Yeah Gecko I can go along with that. There aren't many but it's maybe a case of one bad apple spoils the whole bunch. Cycling I can hear the odd one here or there rather than a chorus. In the nearest village to me I note there are 2 people with loud stereos who play regularly. One is an older Thai school teacher. Saturdays, Sundays, and days off he cranks this old fashioned thai funeral music so loud you can't talk to him if you go to his house. God forbid he retires it might then be every single day. The other is a field hand who cranks up at least a few songs a day with massive bass. Everyone knows when he turns on the music. Typical for Thailand, both point the speakers out away from their house putting innocent people in the direct line of fire rather than pointing the speakers at their own house. I don't get this. They also both listen to music completely alone. Again I don't get why a pair of headphones wouldn't be sufficient for these type of people. Maybe only a psychologist could answer these questions.

 

[Gecko123]

50 minutes ago, guzzi850m2 said:

In my village near Pattaya loud music is very seldom a problem.

 

The one giving problems (not for me) was a US guy playing a bit loud out at his swimming pool but after his neighbors talked to him, he dimmed it down. The many Thai doctors in the village never party but live quiet life's.

 

A open market app 2-3 km away have annoying loud speakers but it's not something that really bothers me. 

 

Some cars/pick-up trucks plays extremely load music, the occupants must be deaf or they will be hearing damaged very quickly.  

 

 

I've thought a lot about why my neighbor's music bothers me so much, while other sources of music/noise I seem to be able to filter out fairly easily. A lot seems to have to do with the predictability of how long the music will continue. Whether you're talking about puu yai announcements, temple rituals, talaad nats, school PA systems or even ngan liangs, you generally have a rough idea about when they will start and how long they'll last, which usually isn't that long. So that gives you a measure of peace of mind. The reason my neighbor was driving me crazy was not only because it was so loud and the bass was so penetrating that it not only made it hard to think, read a book, and overrode the normal volume of the TV in my house, but it also made it impossible to sleep. When and for how long it would go on for was very unpredictable. Sometimes it was just for a few songs, but other times it could go on for hours.

 

Basically I fully appreciate and even embrace that Thais use amplified music to create a sense of communal gathering and occasion, much in the same way it is used in the West. It quite often adds to the ambiance of the community, and I agree 100% that this is part of traditional Thai culture and should be respected by visitors and the expat community. But what I think has happened is that the traditional use of amplified music for communal gatherings or to mark special occasions has begun to proliferate into home and personal vehicles. When people use this technology in pursuit of  individual gratification and selfishly start abusing the rights of others, I am challenging the notion that this is in line with traditional Thai cultural norms.

Edited October 24, 2019 by Gecko123

[fhickson]

 

48 minutes ago, canopy said:

Typical for Thailand, both point the speakers out away from their house putting innocent people in the direct line of fire rather than pointing the speakers at their own house. I don't get this. They also both listen to music completely alone. Again I don't get why a pair of headphones wouldn't be sufficient for these type of people. Maybe only a psychologist could answer these questions.

 

bingo. the music would be louder and more acoustic in an enclosed space.

 

read up on "pissing" behavior of animals. music is a way of "pissing" on your neighbors yard without risking actually going over there.

 

its territorial thingy. especially the dynamic where one guy turns his up louder, or blares speakers back to the offender. very primitive stuff. just like a dog pissing on the urine of another dog to mark territory and dominance. theres also your reason why its almost always guys doing it, not females.

 

Edited October 24, 2019 by fhickson

[johnny49r]

Trying to stop loud music in Thailand is a futile exercise. If you succeed with one, another will takes its place shortly.

We used to have locals that drank all night and played loud music. They finally moved but a woman moved in who performs Karaoke - all night, every night. In her mind she is a virtuoso and her voice should be heard by all. 

Others stage large parties as often as possible because its a way to make extra money. Then there are the parties for the son becoming a monk. How many times can the same son become a monk? Several at least.

Then the cowboys come into town to do their all-night rodeo with loud music and betting until 7AM the next morning.

 

Thais don't seem to be bothered by the din but I think they avoid confrontation at all costs.

So the way to control loud music is to make it against the law. But then you would need to have the police become involved in law enforcement. Think that might happen? Snowball's chance in hell...

 

[unamazedloso]

get a db meter and if its over the limit of whats acceptable tell the mayor.

one things for sure is if you manage to stop the loud music something else will annoy you. Your neighbours will make sure of it. Its what childish Thais do.

Thais dont have to listen to farang and the police will side with them but smile and be polite to you. If the DB meter doesnt work you can take it to civil court or try complaints hotline to complain that officials arent doing their jobs which will take time but eventually work.

 

[J Town]

In EVERY situation you have three choices:

1) Change it

2) Accept it

3) Move away from it

You aren't likely to change it, so 2 or 3 are your only REAL options.

[Krataiboy]

 

"Sorry to be a nuisance, old boy, but would you mind awfully turning down the volume a trifle".

 

Works like a charm. I've still got the scars to prove it.

 

Edited October 24, 2019 by Krataiboy

[PETERTHEEATER]

On 10/22/2019 at 8:03 PM, ukrules said:

Every time you hear the music from now on it means he's hungry

Forget him, he's a has bean.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MAGA 2020]

On 10/22/2019 at 8:13 PM, Kwasaki said:

I use to cut unused power cables with this.

I used insulated wire cutters once. Make 2 cuts, cutting a section out so can't be easily spliced