A Warning Note From Neighbors

[t.s]

blah blah (content edited for brevity but i feel the spirit of the post remains intact)

MTW, thank you for that. your life choices seem both well considered and well presented.

you are not the walking disaster i had origionally suspected.

whether or not you are what you say you are is irrelavent -- you are a truly remarkable human being.

i love the fact that be brought his permit - you keep a hold of that jewel!

Anyway you could share how you two met?

[Ping]

I don't know about the suggestion that a guest may not have caused the problem. I recall that many years ago I was staying in a hotel down in Kata and there was this cockerel (rooster, whatever) that would start up at 5am every day. The first time, I eventually went downstairs and woke up the receptionist (who was supposed to have been keeping an eye on the safety deposit boxes) and rather pointedly told him to go and shoo the thing away (which he did - but it came back ten minutes later). In the end, they moved me to the other side of the hotel. Had they not, I would have been out of there. It would have been a great solution to have had a pea rifle available.

But seriously though - MTW my suggestion is that when you move, you forget to tell your bf.

[observer21]

The following note was put in my mailbox, exactly like this, in English:

TO THE OWNERS OF THE AGRESSIVE BARKING DOGS,

IF YOU DO NOT KEEP YOU PSYCHOTIC ANIMALS QUIET (ARE THEY NASTY BECAUSE YOU ARE CRUEL TO THEM?) AT LEAST BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 10 PM TO 9 AM THEN WE WLL BE FORCED TO CONTACT THE AUTHORITIES, TO HAVE THEM PERMANENTLY REMOVED. THIS IS YOUR FIRST, LAST WARNING!!

So, as you can see, this was not signed by anyone, but my housekeeper saw a worker from the guesthouse across the soi come and put it in my box. I was also on vacation at this time, and it was over a month ago, but my housekeeper gave it to my boyfriend, and they decided to keep it a secret from me until the other day.

I live on a very long, thin soi, that is all residential, expcept for the stupid cheap guesthouse next to me, and they make all the noise on the street other than we have a lot of traffic because many people use it as a shortcut from one main road to another. However, re my dogs, I have one giant breed dog who is mostly always outside, but all my dogs are inside my fence, and he doesn't even bark one time per day, and when he barks it is one bark, not a series of barks. I have two mix breed toy dogs that are outside about 2- 4 hours a day, that bark sometimes, usually when other dogs walk by, or when people stop at my fence to try to play with them, look at them, etc.

The guesthouse, which charges 80 to 100 baht a night, has a pool table right on the edge of the road, and a bar, and makes noise all night long, but not during the hot season, because they don't have any customers. During the cool season, when I don't have aircon on, and have windows open, and they are closer to me then certain rooms of my house, they are playing pool all night, have drunks yelling, have bar girls, have tuk-tuks pulling in and out at all hours, have loud motorbikes, etc, and nobody ever complains, as well as they play movies on a large screen TV and blast music.

My house, which rents for 35,000 baht, has a few nice, trained, normal dogs who only bark at normal things during normal hours, and someone is here 24 hours a day, so I know what goes on here. I have a fulltime housekeeper who cleans everything and keeps things nice. There isn't even poo in my yard for more than an hour at a time.

My Thai b/f misunderstood the note, thought it said that they were "going to have us removed" and freaked out and went over there with his gun and told him that we were not going anywhere, that he would have his police and soldier friends come over here and take care of them, blah, blah, blah, and that if they thought "our dogs where psychotic" there were about to see him go "psychotic".

Anyway, they said it was a farang guest who wrote the note, and not them. Of course I cannot believe this, that some poor farang would write a note like this, rather than just change rooms. I think they got one of their guests to write the note in English so they could say they didn't do it, and as well, they delivered it?? but who knows. And the threat of getting rid of my dogs forever, since this can't be done here, makes me think they are telling me they will poison them. Since there are also no "authorities to call" and also, since my dogs don't bark all night, and hardly bark at all, this is rather strange. But it is making me rather angry and making me want to go burn down that freaking pool table as this is so strange for them to make all the noise in the area and then complain about a dog!!! So I am wondering what others think??

Why do people with barking dogs think it is ok to make their nieghbours lifes a misery.

Why would people complain if they dont bark.  You are probably de-sensitised to their barking as they are your beloved dogs.  I think you should stop being so ignorant or pay the price - which could be serious - if you continue to torture your neighbours.

Edited June 26, 2007 by observer21

[MTW]

To cmsally: I see many farang who I think are drunk also, come to my gate and spend 5 or 10 minutes talking or barking at my dogs also, which I am sure doesn't make people in the area happy, but surely isn't my dogs fault!!! However, my dogs are not out late at night, so even that can't be annoying people too much. Except my large breed dog, and he is too lazy or too smart to be bothered to go anywhere near the gate for a person, unless he thinks you are a threat, and that is rare. You would have to shake the gate, or try to climb it, or scream or something he is not used to. Thanks to the guesthouse, he is used to drunks walking by.

I would think the guy at the guesthouse who drives a motorbike that sounds like a 747 aircraft might annoy people a little more than a toy breed dog barking.

Edited June 26, 2007 by MTW

[bendix]

I think it's unfair to blame Guesthouse when he's not online to defend himself. I want to hear his side of the story.

[MTW]

Gee observer-

I think I have already mentioned that my dogs are only outside 2-4 hours a day... how much could they be barking???? How about all the tuk-tuks and motorbikes practice noise control and then I will keep then inside all hours of the day. How about the guesthouse next door put the large screen TV indoors, the pool table indoors, the bar indoors, the music indoors, the restaurant indoors. How about mufflers be manadatory in Thailand, how about no dogs be allowed in the streets, how about birds not be allowed in the trees because they annoy me sometimes? How about people not talk on mobile phones in the street after 10 pm? What the hel_l?

[mcgriffith]

You know, she may be right.

It seems a lot of people on this planet just have a lot of.....ermmm....stuff happen to them.

Nothing unusual in that.

It's called Karma.

McG

[meom]

I think your boyfriend set the whole thing up himself just to have an opportunity to show you what a cool guy he his, taking care of his honey etc. etc. Maybe he's not so powerful afteral. Next he'll be asking you for an increase in pocket money.

[qwertz]

MTW has a point here.

Many people don't find their own noise a problem, just yours.

I have a neighbour who complains when my stepson practises guitar in the early evening.

She doesn't even consider that her baby screaming in the small hours wakes us regularly.

[mcgriffith]

My sincere advice is to move to a more rural environment. If you have a large breed, it will be better for it as well.

I can see both sides of this dilemma. Although I have lived with dogs and have been a dog owner, I know that for many people, a barking dog (ANYTIME, not just at night) can be infuriating. We live in a human society. Motorbikes, pool tables outdoors, and big screen TV's are part of the human equation. Animal lovers can forget sometimes that their beloved beasts are not universally loved by everyone else, any more than an out-of-control 2 yr old child in a nice sit-down restaurant.....

McG

Edited June 26, 2007 by mcgriffith

[kenk3z]

To me, the text of the note seems to be "farang" style. Very likely a combination of "drunk" and "uneducated" and perhaps "English as a Second Language" is in there too. It does not seem to me to be Thai-nglish at all if you have seem much of it.

I think you should take the guesthouse folks statement at face value, that it was a farang.

Congratulations on the house purchase. It will probably make you feel better and the guest house folks will maybe feel less stressed too.

kenk3z

[observer21]

Gee observer-

I think I have already mentioned that my dogs are only outside 2-4 hours a day... how much could they be barking???? How about all the tuk-tuks and motorbikes practice noise control and then I will keep then inside all hours of the day. How about the guesthouse next door put the large screen TV indoors, the pool table indoors, the bar indoors, the music indoors, the restaurant indoors. How about mufflers be manadatory in Thailand, how about no dogs be allowed in the streets, how about birds not be allowed in the trees because they annoy me sometimes? How about people not talk on mobile phones in the street after 10 pm? What the hel_l?

Trains, planes, and automobile noise can't be stopped and is unavoidable. Dogs barking

can - you are responsible.  Your dogs can bark from 2 to 4 hours a day - they can aslo bark when they are locked up in doors.    Stop your dogs barking - if you where my neighbour i would certainly have them stopped by whatever means i could.

[girlx]

i have 3 dogs and i have a hel_l of a time stopping their barking, so i feel for the OP. then again, the 2 that do the most barking are street dogs that i adopted as adults- my other one i have had since she was a baby and she is very obedient. if MTW has had all her dogs since puppies it shouldn't be too much of a problem. i do think people are too hard on her. just because you might not put yourself out there honestly (on this forum) doesn't mean you shouldn't treat people who do with some sensitivity. it would be better to teach than to criticize, don't you think?

[qwertz]

Right on, girlx.

There's some heartless buggers on this board.

You just reminded me of the thread about the unwanted old farang.

[MTW]

Oh Observer I'm sorry but you are full of shit, maybe if you don't live in Thailand, you can say that, because there are actual laws that take care of planes, trains, cars, and motorbikes, but if you have ever spent 5 minutes in Thailand you would know that it is a contest here to make your motorbike, your boat, make the very largest noise possible, and that they can make larger noises than aircrafts, and that nobody does a ###### thing about it, no matter if they are driving on residential streets, and no matter what hours. And you would know that Thai people seem to like this and think it is cool to make the most noise possible. The smallest most crap motorbikes can make my house shake, can make MY DOGS BARK, can make my not be able to hear my TV, can wake me up, can knock things off my shelves, at 4 am, is that okay because it is not a dog??

And yes, even in western countries noise can be helped, with the proper contols, with the money being put at the problem, with zoning. This is why discos aren't put next to people's houses in western countries, this is why airport noise isn't shaking houses down but is doing that in BKK. This is the reason poeple who live near to the new BKK airport have to wear ear protection in their own homes and their homes are falling apart due to sound vibarations and this doesn't happen in Los Angeles or Paris or Germany because we don't have the same levels of corruption in our government when we build an airport and because we have zoning laws so hotels and homes aren't built within 10 feet of each other like where I live in CM and in that case hotel guests would not have to complain about a home owner's dogs and I would not have to complain about pool tables playing all night long 5 feet from my bedroom window.

[JimmyTheMook]

Oh Observer I'm sorry but you are full of shit, maybe if you don't live in Thailand, you can say that, because there are actual laws that take care of planes, trains, cars, and motorbikes, but if you have ever spent 5 minutes in Thailand you would know that it is a contest here to make your motorbike, your boat, make the very largest noise possible, and that they can make larger noises than aircrafts, and that nobody does a ###### thing about it, no matter if they are driving on residential streets, and no matter what hours. And you would know that Thai people seem to like this and think it is cool to make the most noise possible. The smallest most crap motorbikes can make my house shake, can make MY DOGS BARK, can make my not be able to hear my TV, can wake me up, can knock things off my shelves, at 4 am, is that okay because it is not a dog??

And yes, even in western countries noise can be helped, with the proper contols, with the money being put at the problem, with zoning. This is why discos aren't put next to people's houses in western countries, this is why airport noise isn't shaking houses down but is doing that in BKK. This is the reason poeple who live near to the new BKK airport have to wear ear protection in their own homes and their homes are falling apart due to sound vibarations and this doesn't happen in Los Angeles or Paris or Germany because we don't have the same levels of corruption in our government when we build an airport and because we have zoning laws so hotels and homes aren't built within 10 feet of each other like where I live in CM and in that case hotel guests would not have to complain about a home owner's dogs and I would not have to complain about pool tables playing all night long 5 feet from my bedroom window.

So when are you leaving ?

[lingling]

The smallest most crap motorbikes can make my house shake, can make MY DOGS BARK, can make my not be able to hear my TV, can wake me up, can knock things off my shelves, at 4 am, is that okay because it is not a dog??

It is a good thing that your dogs don't bark at 4am, keeping the neighborhood awake just because a moped passed by. Because if they did, your neighbors (and boyfriend, and maid) might get bored with them. And who knows what a tired boyfriend and maid might do to those cute little dogs...

[MTW]

Oh, I am always so busy defending myself on these threads that I forget to thank my never ending supporter, qwertz, thank you for being the voice of reason as you so often are, and pointing out, a reasonable point of view, which is all I am expecting here .... thank you!!!! And to the other posters who tried to also give resonable advise... thank you very much!!

[meemiathai]

I hope WWIII is not going to start just because of this piece of note.

[observer21]

Oh Observer I'm sorry but you are full of shit, maybe if you don't live in Thailand, you can say that, because there are actual laws that take care of planes, trains, cars, and motorbikes, but if you have ever spent 5 minutes in Thailand you would know that it is a contest here to make your motorbike, your boat, make the very largest noise possible, and that they can make larger noises than aircrafts, and that nobody does a ###### thing about it, no matter if they are driving on residential streets, and no matter what hours. And you would know that Thai people seem to like this and think it is cool to make the most noise possible. The smallest most crap motorbikes can make my house shake, can make MY DOGS BARK, can make my not be able to hear my TV, can wake me up, can knock things off my shelves, at 4 am, is that okay because it is not a dog??

And yes, even in western countries noise can be helped, with the proper contols, with the money being put at the problem, with zoning. This is why discos aren't put next to people's houses in western countries, this is why airport noise isn't shaking houses down but is doing that in BKK. This is the reason poeple who live near to the new BKK airport have to wear ear protection in their own homes and their homes are falling apart due to sound vibarations and this doesn't happen in Los Angeles or Paris or Germany because we don't have the same levels of corruption in our government when we build an airport and because we have zoning laws so hotels and homes aren't built within 10 feet of each other like where I live in CM and in that case hotel guests would not have to complain about a home owner's dogs and I would not have to complain about pool tables playing all night long 5 feet from my bedroom window.

It seems that you are vey aware of noise polution and what a pain and nuisance it is - yep, I agree.  So you must realize that dogs barking are a nuisance - no!  Oh well

Sorry i annoyed you but 2 wrongs dont make a right - hope things settle down for you, good luck and best wishes.

Edited June 26, 2007 by observer21

[MTW]

Okay, again, just because I said "my dogs might bark at 4 am, I stated before, my dogs are not outside at night, so therefore they can only bark and wake me up at 4 am, since they are toy breeds and bark inside my house, I doubt they are waking up other people, inside nearby houses, by barking one or two times, from inside my bedroom.

How hard do you all want to blow this out of proportion and make me the bad guy? I am not the bad guy here!!! I am a responsible dog owner. If you want to doubt everything every poster writes here, including if we really exist, if we are making up the story, if half the story is a lie, why even have this freaking forum ???? Jesus, Why don't I tell you the truth, I have 35 dogs, I leave them all in the yard 25 hours a day, yes that is not a typo, 25 hours a day. I only feed them once every 46 hours, why did this ###### leave the letter? I have no idea??? Do you??

Do you all feel better now?

Edited June 26, 2007 by MTW

[BambinA]

To the OP,MTW.

Do you have a free time for 1-2 week?

if so, play with your dog badly in day time, let the dog run in the park and xcercise.Adjust his/her activity.

you can also give him/her 1/8 tabs of anti-motion sickness as Dramamine at the evening for first few days .(it makes the dog feel asleep)

Edited June 26, 2007 by BambinA

[MTW]

Let me just add that before I came to live in Thailand, I lived in the very center of Los Angeles. The limit of dogs allowed is 3. I had 8 dogs and 1 cat. I built a very deceptive fence so that if anyone came to my house they would not be able to see how many dogs I had. Animal Control in my city often comes and checks. Sometimes I had more staying for a short time. I owned an emergency animal hospital. I often took in pets that had no home for a time besides my own pets all that were adopted from my hospital. If people who lived near me complained I would have been in trouble and had to get rid of them or had to move. I was able to live with all of them without making noise, or bothering anyone because I was very sensitive to everyone's needs. I was able to give all the pets outdoor time, as well as meet all their needs, as well as clean up after them, and not bother my neighbors, in a very compact city, with very strict guidlines, and real controls. I never had a complaint.

I am not over the legal limit here, I am not aware that there is a limit here, but I have no where near the amount of animals I used to have and I am not working fulltime like I used to do, am not working at all. I am offended by some of the stupid comments I have recieved here tonight.

[Globeliner]

Oh Observer I'm sorry but you are full of shit, maybe if you don't live in Thailand, you can say that, because there are actual laws that take care of planes, trains, cars, and motorbikes, but if you have ever spent 5 minutes in Thailand you would know that it is a contest here to make your motorbike, your boat, make the very largest noise possible, and that they can make larger noises than aircrafts, and that nobody does a ###### thing about it, no matter if they are driving on residential streets, and no matter what hours. And you would know that Thai people seem to like this and think it is cool to make the most noise possible. The smallest most crap motorbikes can make my house shake, can make MY DOGS BARK, can make my not be able to hear my TV, can wake me up, can knock things off my shelves, at 4 am, is that okay because it is not a dog??

And yes, even in western countries noise can be helped, with the proper contols, with the money being put at the problem, with zoning. This is why discos aren't put next to people's houses in western countries, this is why airport noise isn't shaking houses down but is doing that in BKK. This is the reason poeple who live near to the new BKK airport have to wear ear protection in their own homes and their homes are falling apart due to sound vibarations and this doesn't happen in Los Angeles or Paris or Germany because we don't have the same levels of corruption in our government when we build an airport and because we have zoning laws so hotels and homes aren't built within 10 feet of each other like where I live in CM and in that case hotel guests would not have to complain about a home owner's dogs and I would not have to complain about pool tables playing all night long 5 feet from my bedroom window.

Has your 'full-stop' key malfunctioned?

[MTW]

BambinA,

Hi, and thank you for your advise. I think you misunderstand the nature of the problem. I really want to thank you though. My dogs are not problem barkers and are not even outside enough to be problem barkers even if they barked all the time they were outside. But they bark about 5% of the time they are outside, and that is usually 2 hours a day up to 4 hours, and not all at one time, mixed up during the day, and not at night. I got the very strange note for I don't know what reason ... that is why I was confused. But, however, some barking is part of a dogs nature and I don't think it is wrong for a dog to bark some of the time. I can see where you got the idea where my dogs got a problem with it though so thank you for trying to help me.

[MTW]

Maybe? I don't know what a "fullstop" key is.

[qwertz]

MTW, I think the Americans say "period".

[chuchok]

Wellmaybe the op is a troll....but,a story similar to this actually happened in CM a few months ago,except there was no note .

A mate of mine who lives in a very upmarket moo ban,awoke one morning to see his 2 or 3 puppies and bitch being sick and basically in agony etc.He went to talk to his neighbour, who then proceeded to stick a gun in his face and threatened to kill him.Neighbour then stood outside my mates place waving his gun about etc.just before the coppers arrived,neighbour buggers off and ditches gun.Mates bitch and three puppies died....for no reason at all.

[phazey]

OP, etc.

i'll reply tomorrow when i'm not half cut - but we've sort of had the same.

(and whats with the paragraphs! cheeses!)

TL;DR

Edited June 26, 2007 by phazey

[Lucifer]

MTW, I think the Americans say "period".

She uses that once a month.