A nightmare is unfolding.....

[TigerandDog]

Will B Good. We've had our differences of opinion in the past, but there is something that can be done about it. Have your wife complain to the District Office, not the village head, and ask them to come and set up Noise Pollution testing equipment for a 24 hour period non-stop.

 

If the average noise level exceeds 90 decibels, then under Thai Noise Pollution laws the District Office can direct him to move the speakers to somewhere else or take them down or turn the volume down so that it doesn't exceed 90 decibels. If he fails to do so within 15 days, then they can come and legally remove the speakers and fine him. If the average is less than 90 decibels, then unfortunately there is nothing that can be done.

 

The reason I know this is my wife's uncle just had to go through this process with his roosters ( avg 130 decibels over 24 hour period ) and was given 15 days to relocate them or get rid of them.

[Will B Good]

2 minutes ago, MJCM said:

555555555 using fans against natural wind! You must be joking ????

Maybe a skip of skunk water that we can move around as the wind direction changes?

[Kwasaki]

3 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

Yes.....I thought the same....pay him off and bang......there is another chancer waiting his turn. Not the way to go

Just get a contract out on him or this thread is going to go on forever. ????

[Will B Good]

1 minute ago, TigerandDog said:

Will B Good. We've had our differences of opinion in the past, but there is something that can be done about it. Have your wife complain to the District Office, not the village head, and ask them to come and set up Noise Pollution testing equipment for a 24 hour period non-stop.

 

If the average noise level is more than 90 decibels, then under Thai Noise Pollution laws the District Office can be direct him to move the speakers to somewhere else or take them down or turn the volume down so that it doesn't exceed 90 decibels. If he fails to do so within 15 days, then they can come and legally remove the speakers and fine him.

 

The reason I know this is my wife's uncle just had to go through this process with his roosters ( avg 130 decibels over 24 hour period ) and was given 15 days to relocate them or get rid of them.

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

If he is actively looking to wear us down though, he could just run it at 85 dB (say)........if his end game is to annoy us, to achieve whatever, he will find other solutions.

 

Unless we reach an agreement or he runs out of money and moves we are in for a good kicking.

[Will B Good]

Just now, Kwasaki said:

Just get a contract out on him or this thread is going to go on forever. ????

Crowd fund?

[kingstonkid]

Not sure if it would work well but would it be possible to build a sound wall along your property

[MJCM]

2 minutes ago, TigerandDog said:

Will B Good. We've had our differences of opinion in the past, but there is something that can be done about it. Have your wife complain to the District Office, not the village head, and ask them to come and set up Noise Pollution testing equipment for a 24 hour period non-stop.

 

If the average noise level is more than 90 decibels, then under Thai Noise Pollution laws the District Office can be direct him to move the speakers to somewhere else or take them down or turn the volume down so that it doesn't exceed 90 decibels. If he fails to do so within 15 days, then they can come and legally remove the speakers and fine him.

 

The reason I know this is my wife's uncle just had to go through this process with his roosters ( avg 130 decibels over 24 hour period ) and was given 15 days to relocate them or get rid of them.

Great advice, but I am seeing 1 problem with this.

 

You say are saying they are going to put up a "Noise Pollution testing equipment for a 24 hour period non-stop.". This guy would know they are doing this and will talk to the guys who are setting it up and he will after that MOST certainly refrain from turning on his music.

 

How are the District Office will be dealing with that.

 

Ps: Don't forget the OP is living in the sticks, no one around except the OP and his ......

[MJCM]

1 minute ago, Will B Good said:

Crowd fund?

ThaiVisa fund

[Kwasaki]

Just now, Will B Good said:

Crowd fund?

I could donate some shotgun cartridges.????

[Will B Good]

1 minute ago, kingstonkid said:

Not sure if it would work well but would it be possible to build a sound wall along your property

It has been suggested....along the lines of reflecting and refocussing the sound back into his property.

[jazzdog32095]

19 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

It is a pretty ramshackle place that is there to make money in anyway it can I guess.....beer, food, karaoke.....you name it.

 

I am warming to the idea of simply doing the same, food, beer etc, but at cost, or even subsidized, to drive him out of business.

 

 

Just one more reason in Thailand , RENT DON'T OWN. Unless you pay a fortune to live in a place where it would be impossible for what you describe to take place. You've paid a fortune and could have rented that place very cheap. GF and I just moved to a new house next a house for sale for 56M just 15m away. We would have to pay rent for 1000 months, 83 years to equal what they are asking for the place. Just wishing I could get a 83 tear less but 3 was good enough, Super quiet, Olympic size pool 60m away, usually empty, beach 200m. Not that hard to find here, especially high end condos.

[D M G]

Fight fire with fire.

 

Make things miserable for a business to succeed.  What will drive him away?  He is doing the same thing to you.

 

You will get no compassion from the business owner.

[Colabamumbai]

Had a neighbour move my land marking stone 5 inches closer to my house, so he could build a fence, that prevented me from accessing one side of the house. 

[jak2002003]

OP, I feel for you.  Sadly there is little you can do.  After living here many years we have been in similar situations and had to sell our dream house that we planned to retire in, due to unbelievable loud music from 2 neighbours.

 

It's different if you are in a city or in a gated village.

 

I would stop building and put the land up for sale at the price you bought it for.

 

Then find somewhere else. 

 

It's just not worth the stress....and no Thai person will understand why you are upset about loud music. 

 

We moved and the same thing is happening again after 3 year of peace and quiet. 

 

 

[puchooay]

1 hour ago, Will B Good said:

I did live in the heart of the village for about three months.......I can cope with 'natural' sounds, the dogs, kids, cockerels even motorbikes and tractors.......it is the selfish 'unnatural' sounds that did it for me......five day funeral music blasting out, wild wedding party music, temple speakers and the local village head who loved the sound of his own voice at 6am..

It's hardly selfish, is it? It's all part of village life. Surely you knew that before you moved. Funerals, weddings, ordinations, morning radio and the village head relaying messages on the load speaker is only selfish to you. To the locals it is part of everyday life.

 

At the end of the day it is your wife that needs to make a stand. You said that her father used to be village head. Well, that's a good place to start. He will have contacts in the right places to get this sorted out legally. To have been head man means he would have lived in the village for years and years. He'll have a lot of friends.

 

Fighting fire with fire likely won't work. To try to drown out his noise with yours is not going to work. He won't care much about it. Here is you complaining about noise and how selfish it is and now you want to trump it? i doubt your wife would agree to it. I very much doubt he is trying to buy your land for a knock down price and I doubt he did it for you to buy his land. Sounds like it was just coincidence that he set up where he did.

 

It sounds to me that the guy just has a small tin hut with speakers. Setting up next door with cost price beer and food won't work either. Sounds like the sort of place that serves Lao Khao rather than beer. Can't wait for him to go out of business as he likely won't. If he owns the land then he has no rent. Only needs to pay electricity. He does not need to make profit per se and can continue making just enough to pay the bills. As word gets around you'll get guys from other villages turning up as it sounds like a good hideout from the prying eyes of their wives. 

 

I don't see much point in paying the police to help. Once you do they will turn up every week for a payment.

 

There are laws on your side here. Your wife needs to use those laws to try to get this sorted.

[Grusa]

It is amazing how powerful, directable and programmable modern watering systems can be.

 

And you are a fan of massed pipes and drums bands, aren't you?

 

Pigeons are a huge problem. A gas powered cannon scares them away quite effectively.

 

Or, take up paramotoring.

 

Nod nod, wink wink, know what I mean?

[Burma Bill]

I experienced similar noise discomfort many years ago when I lived in a mountain village in Lanna. Behind my house was another one at a higher level owned by a local council official. He had a "junkie" son who would play ghetto blasting music throughout the night when he hosted "parties" for his friends. His father had no proper control over his son and eventually moved with the rest of the family into a new house further in the village leaving "junkie' to fend for himself. It became unbearable to sleep during the numerous parties. Dad being a local official and friend of the village policeman, meant I had to be diplomatic, but luck came my way when Dad became financially embarrassed. Through my Thai family, I purchased the house/land for 50,000 baht I seem to remember, (when there were 60 baht to one GBP), had "junkie" sent back to his father, demolished the ramshackle wooden house and started growing lime trees and sweet corn. To keep cordial relations, I let the father have the recyclable teak wood from the old house and access by a track to farmland beyond, owned by the village Mayor. Anyone in such circumstances, you have my sympathy and I wish you good luck. Never again did I experience such noise pollution in Thailand or Cambodia where I now live.

[Curmudgeonly59]

An alternative which may not have been mentioned yet (I haven't looked past the OP and first few replies), is what I term a 'bunker' - in fact simply a sunken room either below your existing house or adjacent to it. This isn't as bizarre as it sounds and is quite easy and inexpensive to achieve. It solves a number of problems with 'neighbour's' noise, as these problems won't go away - they'll simply be replaced by other idiots - sorry I meant to say factors. Below ground solves the main problem of karaoke: i.e. bass notes - and of course the treble notes and ghastly drunken caterwauling, not to mention the unbelievably boring 'sameness' of the music itself. No amount of soundproofing above ground will completely fix this. The underground room/s can be made just as comfortable, practical and safe as any above ground construction. So, no need to move - just take advantage of the lax building regulations and non existent zoning laws causing your current grief and make them work for you. If you're still building, it's easy and interesting to incorporate a 'cellar' - if anyone asks - into your plans. It will also make a completely soundproof area if you ever want to have loud music of your own - doing what most locals very rarely ever do: consider other people for a few nanoseconds. And, no - it's not a dungeon, unless you have need of one!

[bbabythai]

On 10/19/2021 at 3:40 PM, VocalNeal said:

Who paid for the town water and PEA electricity supply to be bought to that location? 

it doesn't matter who paid. Once the infrastructure is up any other land owner can pay the fee to the PEA and connect

[Curmudgeonly59]

49 minutes ago, puchooay said:

He does not need to make profit per se and can continue making just enough to pay the bills.

Buy the pills...

[jak2002003]

13 minutes ago, Curmudgeonly59 said:

An alternative which may not have been mentioned yet (I haven't looked past the OP and first few replies), is what I term a 'bunker' - in fact simply a sunken room either below your existing house or adjacent to it. This isn't as bizarre as it sounds and is quite easy and inexpensive to achieve. It solves a number of problems with 'neighbour's' noise, as these problems won't go away - they'll simply be replaced by other idiots - sorry I meant to say factors. Below ground solves the main problem of karaoke: i.e. bass notes - and of course the treble notes and ghastly drunken caterwauling, not to mention the unbelievably boring 'sameness' of the music itself. No amount of soundproofing above ground will completely fix this. The underground room/s can be made just as comfortable, practical and safe as any above ground construction. So, no need to move - just take advantage of the lax building regulations and non existent zoning laws causing your current grief and make them work for you. If you're still building, it's easy and interesting to incorporate a 'cellar' - if anyone asks - into your plans. It will also make a completely soundproof area if you ever want to have loud music of your own - doing what most locals very rarely ever do: consider other people for a few nanoseconds. And, no - it's not a dungeon, unless you have need of one!

You are correct, but that is no way OP should have to live....underground in his own house to escape the neighbours noise. 

 

 

[thailand49]

Regardless of it being Thailand!   You or get a lawyer to check the ordinance of the area as noted your wife goes through all the channels when exhausted ( hopefully not )  you fight fire with fire and you don't need to spend what he did go get yourself a 4000 baht boom box place it right at the end of your property and turn it on whenever there are customers!

 

I did something similar years ago a new neighbor next to my apartment building drinking all night with the music loud and I mean loud everyone ask nicely. The guy went to bed around 6am when he did I pull out the boom box from my son and turn it on full blast payback is a bitch! ????????????

 

Or as anther poster suggested build a wall a high one like the ones they do in the States along the freeways they do help.  I had a friend who had a house they ended up building a train system behind his property when they did it actually help the noise was reduced but he still had the ground shaking. 

 

Cafe and Kareoke , in general my opinion when it comes to business Thais aren't very smart they got more money than brains I don't see this making big money as they always speak of in Pattaya it is a game with me when I see a particular business open up I notch a time when will stay open majority of the time my prediction comes true. Are you sure the guy purchased the land and not rent?

[steven100]

1 hour ago, puchooay said:

There are laws on your side here. Your wife needs to use those laws to try to get this sorted.

you lived in Thailand long  ?    there is no law for excessive village noise by a neighbor.

what other ideas do you have   ?  

[kennw]

On 10/19/2021 at 3:32 PM, MJCM said:

OOoh so sorry to hear that. We moved away because of that reason from our nice House we built 7 years ago. We are now living 20kms away and the house is empty and the BIL is looking after it.

 

The reason we moved is because a guy who builds those Music Trucks setup shop (outside of the village, but indirect line with it) and he turns those machines on whenever he feels like it. Sometimes he even has parties that go on till late!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Set up your own loud speaker system and play farang music very loudly directly at his place whenever he starts up. The two sounds should not be compatible so maybe his customers will not come. Offer negotiations about sound levels.    

[puchooay]

5 minutes ago, steven100 said:

you lived in Thailand long  ?    there is no law for excessive village noise by a neighbor.

what other ideas do you have   ?  

Over 20 years.

 

There are laws with regards to noise by neighbours. Just take a trip to your local Tessaban. They will explain to you.

[Luuk Chaai]

get a set of speakers,,,   put AC/DC Thunderstruck on a loop.. crank it right back 

 option #   Tom Jones..   what's new Pussy Cat  .. that would make me barf

[Mac Mickmanus]

13 minutes ago, Luuk Chaai said:

get a set of speakers,,,   put AC/DC Thunderstruck on a loop.. crank it right back 

 option #   Tom Jones..   what's new Pussy Cat  .. that would make me barf

Then he would lose the moral high ground and any complaints that he would make would receive the reply "But you are doing the same that he is doing"

[bbabythai]

On 10/19/2021 at 5:00 PM, siftasam said:

Get an official police box on your gate/fence as near to the noise as possible. I pay 500 baht a month. It's well worth it, especially when I'm away.

I dont understand this. What is it exactly? can you please put a photo. 

 

Is this option available from any police station?

[MrJ2U]

Thats heartbreaking.

 

If he doesn't have a permit or entertainment license he cant just open up a Karoke bar wherever he pleases.

 

Start with the head guy in the village. Its better for your wife and a few of her friends go. 

 

You should stay in the background.

 

You may have to escalate it to the city then the province.

 

Keep us posted and good luck.

 

What province are you in?

[pgrahmm]

1 hour ago, steven100 said:

you lived in Thailand long  ?    there is no law for excessive village noise by a neighbor.

what other ideas do you have   ?  

Yes there is...I went through something similar & it's one of the first steps....They will send out sound trucks at random times, then they contacted the owner.... He'd be quiet for a few days - then back at it all over again....But, it's part of the documentation process.....

This was out in the flat lands with 3 small villages within 1000 meters radius.....