17 hours ago, bunnydrops said:

In the rural area where I live, I have noticed that a lot in coffee shops. They seem to maintain a consistent volume level, regardless of their location, except when on the phone, when they do speak even louder.

Yes on the phone they need to speak louder because the other person is a long way away. That was the response I got.

12 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

If I spoke loudly as a kid I was "shushed" immediately   often with the saying " children should be seen and not heard"   child discipline ...a thing of the past in the west, an alien concept here, especially for boys

The art of parenting seems to have gotten lost. Most parents are afraid to discipline their kids or show them where the lines are. Kids need that, otherwise society runs amok. I know many "ghost children" who are on their phones or tablets way too many hours per day. A few parents are strong enough to restrict that, but most don't. And social media can be incredibly corrosive and toxic for young ones. Glad I won't be around when they are running things. 

Thais like loud. It’s one of the things you must try to tolerate in living here or you’ll eventually get a heart attack. But anyone from anywhere that knowingly persistently raises their voice is a c*nt. A teen in the apartment below me has one of those intentional robot ‘ehhhh’ voices and is so fuuuuccckkkiiinnngg loud, constantly playing games online. Hoping one day he accidentally gets over the balcony. 🙂

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

The art of parenting seems to have gotten lost. Most parents are afraid to discipline their kids or show them where the lines are. Kids need that, otherwise society runs amok. I know many "ghost children" who are on their phones or tablets way too many hours per day. A few parents are strong enough to restrict that, but most don't. And social media can be incredibly corrosive and toxic for young ones. Glad I won't be around when they are running things. 

For a lot of them it is the art of grandparenting that needs revisiting as many kids only see their real parents a couple of times a year, Most grandparents are incapable of disciplining their grandkids,it's not in their nature and was never intended to be. 

36 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

For a lot of them it is the art of grandparenting that needs revisiting as many kids only see their real parents a couple of times a year, Most grandparents are incapable of disciplining their grandkids,it's not in their nature and was never intended to be. 

While I completely agree with that, it is the permissive nature of Thai (mostly Issan) society that allows something like that to take place, the grandparents should just say no, are you kidding me? I've already raised kids, shut up, stop talking stupidity. 

 

But the reality is that it's a relatively low percentage of kids that are raised by grandparents, and it's the parents that are directly at fault. The Lost Art of Parenting has become the great tragedy of our day and age. 

7 hours ago, daveAustin said:

Thais like loud. It’s one of the things you must try to tolerate in living here or you’ll eventually get a heart attack. But anyone from anywhere that knowingly persistently raises their voice is a c*nt. A teen in the apartment below me has one of those intentional robot ‘ehhhh’ voices and is so fuuuuccckkkiiinnngg loud, constantly playing games online. Hoping one day he accidentally gets over the balcony. 🙂

 

Agree............ in the sticks people imagine it's all idyllic and serene........but you are rarely more than 1/2 km away from a Thai with a microphone and PA system.....and that ignores the Temples 4am prayers, and 5:30 village head music and announcements.

Damaged hearing from the overly loud music played with damaged speakers.

I believe that, because Thai, like Chinese, is a tonal language, there is no way to emphasize words without changing the meaning as English allows you to do. Talking louder is a way of emphasizing without changing the tone of the word.

On 8/10/2025 at 3:02 PM, spidermike007 said:

The art of parenting seems to have gotten lost. Most parents are afraid to discipline their kids or show them where the lines are. Kids need that, otherwise society runs amok. I know many "ghost children" who are on their phones or tablets way too many hours per day. A few parents are strong enough to restrict that, but most don't. And social media can be incredibly corrosive and toxic for young ones. Glad I won't be around when they are running things. 

You arent happy currently with your generation running things either. Seems there is no pleasing someone like you

Well, roots are in the villages with their 4 x 12 metres walls of loudspeakers; they even haul a generator along to provide the juice to operate this blaring nuisance. Have you ever wasted an evening with screaming karaoke? 

It's a cultural thing here - get used to it, use ear plugs or you have to move. I do not frequent restaurants or pubs with music louder than "listening pleasure". In the airport link from Suvannaphoum to downtown Bangkok there was a girl speaking to her English-speaking boyfriend over the phone. But instead of holding the phone to her ear she held the phone in a 90 degrees angle and had the microphone (at the bottom of the phone) facing her. A lot of nonsense and "I love you too" B/S to the moment, when I just had it. I bent over and said to her in such a way, that the English speaking person at the other end of the line must have heard me and said "stop talking and come back to bed now". You could hear a needle being dropped on the floor, she cut the line and looked at me like if she was about to kill me instantly. I just said "thank you, now it is quiet again and nobody needs to know more about your private life". 

The privilege of being a retired old fart 😉 

On 8/10/2025 at 2:48 PM, Will B Good said:

 

Oh! Word of advice?

 

I gave up using hearing aids and switched to AirPod Pros 2G.

 

1/5 of the price, more control via Headphone Accommodations and Transparency Mode......fully connected re: bluetooth....and the real clincher......noise cancellation.

Good advice, luckily I never listen to anyone ever, unless it is she who must be obeyed.

15 hours ago, Rumpelstilskin said:

Good advice, luckily I never listen to anyone ever, unless it is she who must be obeyed.

 

Same here.....but then again I tend to have her sat on the same side as my deaf ear.

What exactly are Airpods?  I could search but I'm easily led down rabbit holes.

On 8/10/2025 at 4:31 PM, saintdomingo said:

Yes on the phone they need to speak louder because the other person is a long way away. That was the response I got.

Also, the previous copper wire phone system gave poor service without a true modulated volume, booster relays too few, and poor maintenance.  We saw this in the 1970s and later when calling to Bangkok from the USA.  My tour of duty at Phu Mu Signal Site near Mukdahan, Thailand and across the Mekong River at Savannakhet, Laos including daily phone calls to give a status report.  I used a field phone and went through three switchboards to reach Intelligence and Security in Bangkok.