Loud bass sound in the condo

[villageidiotY2K]

Dear All, 

 

In my condo complex, I often hear this loud thumping buzzing bass sound but don't know where it's coming from up, down, right, left. 

I wanna get some decent rest on weekends and it's making me mad. 

I Dun wanna move from this condo as I've got heaps of gears and it's price is pretty decent with its location and size. 

I've got my Thai gf staying with me, so I can't  retariate by pumping my buzz system in the late night early morning like I did in the west. Gooosh I so wanna make this culprit suffer

 

How would you expats handle this calamity? 

[EricTh]

I used to stay in a condo with crazy neighbors blasting their music as if nobody can hear them.

 

The noise can come from upstairs, downstairs or on the same floor. Nothing much we can do except to talk to the neighbor to turn down the volume of the music. 

 

I once talked to a crazy, selfish neighbor (foreigner) in Thailand who gave me two ear-plugs instead. 

 

That's why I am renting a landed house now. There are just too many selfish and crazy people in this world.

 

Edited June 25, 2021 by EricTh

[2 is 1]

Sadly there is not much you can do. In our village house neibor is really loud sometimes and burn garbage all F day long. Cant do nothing only tolerate. In town house has also loud neibor coz close has univercity students rental, Mrs has call few times police who have come to stop that but soon that continue anyway. 

[RichardColeman]

Only ever rented a condo once - neighbours were all fine. It was the outside nightclub daily disco half a KM away with their boom box 10ft high speakers  that was why we left !

 

Now in one of the estates and whilst noisy occasionally, its mostly ok (touch wood)

[Kinnock]

The Juristic Person or managing agent may be able to help.  Often there are condo rules about loud noise and a  ut off time in the evening.

 

Thais do not generally consider noise to be an intrusion, so you may need to push your case.  The managing agent usually listens to owners more than tenants, so try asking your landlord to make the complaint or your behalf.

 

Finding the selfish bas%&#$ may be hard, as bass travels through the structure - but a walk around the corridors should pinpoint the culprit.

 

 

[jak2002003]

I am sorry for you. There is nothing you can do. Either learn to accept the noise or move out.

 

I have moved several times due to noise.  

 

Though I had it right this last time...been good for 2 years. But now have neighbour playing Loud base music from his pickup truck sound system every day from 12 Midday to 8 pm.  Also lots of steel cutting and banging from 2 houses being built on the other side from 7.30 am till late.

 

House in front has the extended family come back home as they lost their jobs due to covid. They spend their time sitting outside all taking loudly, getting drunk and yelling at each other every evening till 2 or 3 am. 

 

I just go out when I can't take it anymore. Close the windows and put in my earplugs when I  go to bed.  Tired of moving and won't do it again. Realise all of Thailand is just noisy. 

Edited June 25, 2021 by jak2002003

[fusion58]

Never a problem with loud music in any of the condos where I've lived (knock on wood) - just constant problems with upstairs neighbors who walk like elephants and who couldn't give a fiddler's <deleted> less whether the noise disturbs anyone else or not.

[Susco]

2 minutes ago, fusion58 said:

Never a problem with loud music in any of the condos where I've lived (knock on wood) - just constant problems with upstairs neighbors who walk like elephants and who couldn't give a fiddler's <deleted> less whether the noise disturbs anyone else or not.

 

So all the condos you have lived had upstairs neighbours that you could hear walking, or is that you selected the cheapest buildings, which obviously also have the lowest build quality?

[riclag]

Welcome to Thailand !

[Ron jeremy]

1 hour ago, jak2002003 said:

I am sorry for you. There is nothing you can do. Either learn to accept the noise or move out.

 

I have moved several times due to noise.  

 

Though I had it right this last time...been good for 2 years. But now have neighbour playing Loud base music from his pickup truck sound system every day from 12 Midday to 8 pm.  Also lots of steel cutting and banging from 2 houses being built on the other side from 7.30 am till late.

 

House in front has the extended family come back home as they lost their jobs due to covid. They spend their time sitting outside all taking loudly, getting drunk and yelling at each other every evening till 2 or 3 am. 

 

I just go out when I can't take it anymore. Close the windows and put in my earplugs when I  go to bed.  Tired of moving and won't do it again. Realise all of Thailand is just noisy. 

Paradise 

[fusion58]

12 hours ago, Susco said:

 

So all the condos you have lived had upstairs neighbours that you could hear walking, or is that you selected the cheapest buildings, which obviously also have the lowest build quality?

 

No cheap buildings for me. Just the luck of the draw, I guess.

 

And, BTW, it's not just that I could "hear them walking" - every step they took was like a bomb exploding. People like these always baffle me as I'm a fairly large person (6'2" / 190 lbs.) and I don't have anything even close to that sort of impact on the floor when I walk. I suppose I'm also mindful of the fact that I don't live in a single family home and that I have neighbors. Moral of the story: Not everyone is taught to have respect for others, and not everyone learns how to walk like a human.

[villageidiotY2K]

4 hours ago, fusion58 said:

 

No cheap buildings for me. Just the luck of the draw, I guess.

 

And, BTW, it's not just that I could "hear them walking" - every step they took was like a bomb exploding. People like these always baffle me as I'm a fairly large person (6'2" / 190 lbs.) and I don't have anything even close to that sort of impact on the floor when I walk. I suppose I'm also mindful of the fact that I don't live in a single family home and that I have neighbors. Moral of the story: Not everyone is taught to have respect for others, and not everyone learns how to walk like a human.

Yeah I got some asdhokes experience as well. Not only foot steps, but sliding of chairs making that screeching noises. 

 

Do u do anything bout it or u just bare with it??

Is this kind of noises can't be avoided when living at condos?? I

[Surelynot]

Bubbling with anger just reading that.....I would quietly find out who was making the noise and pay someone to educate them......seriously......people who play loud music can't be reasoned with.....they are the most ignorant, selfish people on the face of the earth.

[from the home of CC]

9 minutes ago, Surelynot said:

Bubbling with anger just reading that.....I would quietly find out who was making the noise and pay someone to educate them......seriously......people who play loud music can't be reasoned with.....they are the most ignorant, selfish people on the face of the earth.

no, that would be the bnb idiots who rent rooms illegally and treat condos like their own personal hotels, partying all night, moving in and out at all times and breaking all the common area rules..

[misterjames]

18 hours ago, Kinnock said:

Thais do not generally consider noise to be an intrusion, so you may need to push your case.  The managing agent usually listens to owners more than tenants, so try asking your landlord to make the complaint or your behalf.

 

This is the best advice usually the owners all know each other and if the agent tells the landlord he will not want to lose his tenant and so will contact the other owner.

 

Years ago I had some crazy girlfriend that didn't want to leave my condo after I caught her messing around. She was screaming and shouting when I asked her to leave, needless to say it didn't take long for the owner of my condo to whatsapp me to ask me if everything was alright, so the owners do contact each other about this kind of thing.

[Gecko123]

1) identify what unit the music is coming from. I know what you mean about having trouble tracking down the source, but if you prowl around the corridors on adjacent floors you should eventually be able to pinpoint the unit.

 

2) send your girlfriend to explain that you suffer from migraine headaches or you have some type of nervous condition which you have to take medication for, and the loud bass music causes you to have headaches or become very neurotic or stressed out. The idea is to elicit their sympathy and empathy. Bring a small gift of food, perhaps something homemade, to proactively thank them for anything they can do to be more considerate. Under no circumstances make contact either at night or when the music is actually playing. Try to find a time when they are home during the day. If you can't figure out when a good time to approach them would be, consider leaving a note and a gift outside their door. Make the note anonymous, if you think that would be better.

 

3) if the guilty party makes an effort to be more considerate, consider following up in a couple of weeks or a month with a return visit or follow up note to thank them for being considerate, and perhaps another token of your appreciation.

 

4) I'm not in a condo but out in the boonies, but I had a running feud for years with a house down the road because of loud bass music. I tried every tactic in the book: going to the police, asking them to turn down their music, blasting bass music in the direction of their house. Nothing really worked until a few years ago when I finally brought the culprit a kilo of long beans from my garden. After that, we were all buddy-buddy, and there hasn't been a single problem ever since. You cannot treat this as a police action. This will only engender resentment, and oftentimes passive-aggressive deliberate attempts to annoy you further, just for kicks.

 

As many others have pointed out, the concept that music might bother someone else is a little foreign to many Thais, especially younger males. They see efforts to force them to turn down their music as an infringement on their God-given rights, and they see people who try to do this as control freaks and killjoys. If a foreigner is involved, it's even worse, because it's seen as cultural elitism and triggers cultural defensiveness.

 

So I have found that approaching these situation as as an educational process, with plenty of patience, good humor, and positive reinforcement yields the best results. Threats, warnings, shouting matches, pounding on doors, retaliating by blaring music at odd hours, etc., in all likelihood is not going to get you very far, and may result in unexpected escalations and conflict.

Edited June 26, 2021 by Gecko123

[rumak]

29 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

1) identify what unit the music is coming from. I know what you mean about having trouble tracking down the source, but if you prowl around the corridors on adjacent floors you should eventually be able to pinpoint the unit.

 

2) send your girlfriend to explain that you suffer from migraine headaches or you have some type of nervous condition which you have to take medication for, and the loud bass music causes you to have headaches or become very neurotic or stressed out. The idea is to elicit their sympathy and empathy. Bring a small gift of food, perhaps something homemade, to proactively thank them for anything they can do to be more considerate. Under no circumstances make contact either at night or when the music is actually playing. Try to find a time when they are home during the day. If you can't figure out when a good time to approach them would be, consider leaving a note and a gift outside their door. Make the note anonymous, if you think that would be better.

 

3) if the guilty party makes an effort to be more considerate, consider following up in a couple of weeks or a month with a return visit or follow up note to thank them for being considerate, and perhaps another token of your appreciation.

 

4) I'm not in a condo but out in the boonies, but I had a running feud for years with a house down the road because of loud bass music. I tried every tactic in the book: going to the police, asking them to turn down their music, blasting bass music in the direction of their house. Nothing really worked until a few years ago when I finally brought the culprit a kilo of long beans from my garden. After that, we were all buddy-buddy, and there hasn't been a single problem ever since. You cannot treat this as a police action. This will only engender resentment, and oftentimes passive-aggressive deliberate attempts to annoy you further, just for kicks.

 

As many others have pointed out, the concept that music might bother someone else is a little foreign to many Thais, especially younger males. They see efforts to force them to turn down their music as an infringement on their God-given rights, and they see people who try to do this as control freaks and killjoys. If a foreigner is involved, it's even worse, because it's seen as cultural elitism and triggers cultural defensiveness.

 

So I have found that approaching these situation as as an educational process, with plenty of patience, good humor, and positive reinforcement yields the best results. Threats, warnings, shouting matches, pounding on doors, retaliating by blaring music at odd hours, etc., in all likelihood is not going to get you very far, and may result in unexpected escalations and conflict.

 

I find that a kilo of fermented fish paste left at their door makes friends quickly.   "embrace the culture"

Edited June 26, 2021 by rumak

[villageidiotY2K]

1 hour ago, Gecko123 said:

1) identify what unit the music is coming from. I know what you mean about having trouble tracking down the source, but if you prowl around the corridors on adjacent floors you should eventually be able to pinpoint the unit.

 

2) send your girlfriend to explain that you suffer from migraine headaches or you have some type of nervous condition which you have to take medication for, and the loud bass music causes you to have headaches or become very neurotic or stressed out. The idea is to elicit their sympathy and empathy. Bring a small gift of food, perhaps something homemade, to proactively thank them for anything they can do to be more considerate. Under no circumstances make contact either at night or when the music is actually playing. Try to find a time when they are home during the day. If you can't figure out when a good time to approach them would be, consider leaving a note and a gift outside their door. Make the note anonymous, if you think that would be better.

 

3) if the guilty party makes an effort to be more considerate, consider following up in a couple of weeks or a month with a return visit or follow up note to thank them for being considerate, and perhaps another token of your appreciation.

 

4) I'm not in a condo but out in the boonies, but I had a running feud for years with a house down the road because of loud bass music. I tried every tactic in the book: going to the police, asking them to turn down their music, blasting bass music in the direction of their house. Nothing really worked until a few years ago when I finally brought the culprit a kilo of long beans from my garden. After that, we were all buddy-buddy, and there hasn't been a single problem ever since. You cannot treat this as a police action. This will only engender resentment, and oftentimes passive-aggressive deliberate attempts to annoy you further, just for kicks.

 

As many others have pointed out, the concept that music might bother someone else is a little foreign to many Thais, especially younger males. They see efforts to force them to turn down their music as an infringement on their God-given rights, and they see people who try to do this as control freaks and killjoys. If a foreigner is involved, it's even worse, because it's seen as cultural elitism and triggers cultural defensiveness.

 

So I have found that approaching these situation as as an educational process, with plenty of patience, good humor, and positive reinforcement yields the best results. Threats, warnings, shouting matches, pounding on doors, retaliating by blaring music at odd hours, etc., in all likelihood is not going to get you very far, and may result in unexpected escalations and conflict.

Woow ur very civilized unlike me

[shdmn]

This is why I will always rent.  Never own.  You can just hand the keys over and move if you have problems like this.

Edited June 26, 2021 by shdmn

[JayClay]

On 6/26/2021 at 12:14 AM, jak2002003 said:

But now have neighbour playing Loud base music from his pickup truck sound system every day from 12 Midday to 8 pm.  Also lots of steel cutting and banging from 2 houses being built on the other side from 7.30 am till late.

 

Could it be that the neighbor is playing the loud music in order to try and drown out the sound of the construction? That's exactly what I do. I don't even really like loud music but it's all kinds of preferable to the sounds of South-East-Asia's second nature (construction!) so when work is going on I reluctantly put my music on to whatever level is required to cover it up.

[Delight]

 I had a similar 'noisy neighbour problem  ' always at night.

I simply asked  the security guard to fix it.

He did.

 

Suspect the problem may return.

 

[adammike]

10 hours ago, JayClay said:

 

Could it be that the neighbor is playing the loud music in order to try and drown out the sound of the construction? That's exactly what I do. I don't even really like loud music but it's all kinds of preferable to the sounds of South-East-Asia's second nature (construction!) so when work is going on I reluctantly put my music on to whatever level is required to cover it up.

That's why they invented sound reducing Bluetooth headphones.If you wear them and only turn on the sound reducing it helps,pair them with foam ear plugs you will have total silence.May be not a long term solution but it gets me through any construction work while they renovate the apartments in my Blok.

I buy online a box of 250 pairs of earplugs it can get costly if you buy them a few pairs at a time and I don't live in Thailand.They are one of the first things I pack when I do plan a trip.

[JayClay]

1 hour ago, adammike said:

That's why they invented sound reducing Bluetooth headphones.If you wear them and only turn on the sound reducing it helps,pair them with foam ear plugs you will have total silence.May be not a long term solution but it gets me through any construction work while they renovate the apartments in my Blok.

I buy online a box of 250 pairs of earplugs it can get costly if you buy them a few pairs at a time and I don't live in Thailand.They are one of the first things I pack when I do plan a trip.

 

Unfortunately, as a tinnitus sufferer, while the concept of "total silence" is merely a pipe dream, the reality is drastically different.

[OneMoreFarang]

Just in case anybody things about good sound isolation.

I recently read lots of articles about that and I watched some videos.

Acoustic  isolation against high frequencies is relative easy. The lower the frequencies the more difficult does it get.

 

 

[Led Lolly Yellow Lolly]

My personal irritation is brush cutters with 2-stroke engines. This was easy to stop. However, it gets very expensive to stop low frequencies. You can't rely on multiple layers and weight. You need the air gaps between layers to not only be physically large (longer wavelength of low frequencies) but you have to completely decouple. Any rinkydink product you find that claims to magically absorb the sound is just rubbish, save your money, it won't work, you have to decouple everything to arrest low frequencies. This means a decoupled floor too.

 

The problem with low frequencies is that even if 5% of it makes it through, it'll still drive you crazy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 28, 2021 by Led Lolly Yellow Lolly