18 hours ago, grain said:

I used to think things like smoke and loud noise/music doesn't bother most Thais, and if it does they don't care and mai pen rai kicks in. But actually it does annoy them and it's fear that prevents many from complaining. 

I am afraid it all starts at school age  they are not taught to ask  questions or debate.

Seems strange to me anyone would want to live in thailand and go to great lengths to avoid being near thais who like to burn toxic fumes everywhere. Soon the whole country will be up in smoke so theres no escape

14 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Thai's have been doing it for centuries. 

Foreigner, comes to town and sues. 

 

This is why I dislike some foreigners. 

Come to Thailand and want change. 

Go back to your home country if you don't like it. 😡

How childish, no Du diligence 😡

He's probably an AN forum member, we have loads of whiners here. 

 

I'm so sorry Thailand for the disrespectful foreigners arriving 

Yes like this guy says. Just accept that everything is second rate and low quality compared to where youre from. Resisting wont do anything

It has been my experience over the past 15 years that once you approach a Thai with a complaint, even with a respectful and diplomatic and gentle approach, they see it as a "loss of face", and they not only refuse to comply, but they actually double down and retaliate with even worse behavior. There's no doubt that the foreigner did all he could to settle the matter peacefully and diplomatically until he was at his wits end. There's no excuse for neighbors who disrespect other neighbors for any reason, so I pray that the foreigner is vindicated, and this serves as an example to other Thais that they can't just do as they da*n well please without consequences.

26 minutes ago, grain said:

Instead they'll have a major issue that could easily turn nasty. Thais go to great lengths to avoid confontation for fear of the situation escalating out of hand.

 

The situation escalates because they're dominated by their ego so being called out feels like a personal attack and they lash out. It's an emotion you have as a child then you learn to tame it and be rational when you're an adult.

 

For some reason Thais decided to really embrace it and make it central to their culture. One of the very few things that is objectively bad about their culture in my opinion.

11 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

 

The situation escalates because they're dominated by their ego so being called out feels like a personal attack and they lash out. It's an emotion you have as a child then you learn to tame it and be rational when you're an adult.

 

For some reason Thais decided to really embrace it and make it central to their culture. One of the very few things that is objectively bad about their culture in my opinion.

That could be my problem with thai's staring at me/bad vibes. They see it as an ego bruise when I don't respond to them or engage. Westerners would view it as disinterest, thai's interpret it as an ego slight.

On 9/21/2025 at 8:10 AM, mfd101 said:

In sum, it's the Falang who needs to change his attitude or else pack his bags & leave. 

 

dont go live in a village is what i'm getting from this thread .

 

 

2 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

 

dont go live in a village is what i'm getting from this thread .

 

 

 

 

They are a bl**dy nightmare at times.

It often feels like there are two different Thailands . . . the "new" Thailand consisting of more educated young people under 45 years of age (approximately) and the old Thailand, which is an entirely different generation that grew up without television and certainly without smart phones.  In northern Chiang Mai, many people older than 50 years of age -- who have lived here all their lives -- do not speak Thai; they speak the Northern language, which is a unique language, not a dialect.  
Nearly every day when not raining I look across a small valley, perhaps 1.5 km wide, and see the same people burning to make charcoal.  Their smoke is HUGE . . . the burn large volumes, nearly every day.  In this example, their smoke drifts directly into a small village -- just 1/2 KM north -- and it appears no one says a word.  We are not troubled by that smoke because the wind never seems to blow towards our property -- but living in that small village must be the first level of hell.  
Thailand MUST address this primitive charcoal manufacturing problem because, over time, the health costs to the people breathing this smoke will be greater than the benefits of the charcoal business to only one family.  The financial costs will guide regulation, eventually.  When my neighbors burn, if they are not paying attention, my home is engulfed in smoke.  We have to close all doors and windows, turn on air-con and air purifiers.  Some of my neighbors will stop if the wind is blowing towards our home.   Others lack the intelligence or consideration.  

While I am adamantly opposed to crop burning and the horrific effect that it has upon the health of the people, burning a little bit of charcoal to keep them insects away from cows seems fairly innocent, and I just can't imagine that it was creating that big a problem. 

 

Snowflake foreigners, perhaps? 

1 minute ago, spidermike007 said:

While I am adamantly opposed to crop burning and the horrific effect that it has upon the health of the people, burning a little bit of charcoal to keep them insects away from cows seems fairly innocent, and I just can't imagine that it was creating that big a problem. 

 

Snowflake foreigners, perhaps? 

 

The charcoal pits are for making charcoal to cook on. They burns for days and push out untold amounts of toxic fumes.

 

The wood burning (usually with leaves) is to ward off mosquitos......not quite as bad as they tend not to burn for so long.

Leave Samoe alone!

16 hours ago, Trippy said:

Thai people are very welcoming usually, but it is their country, their rules.

But the rules are ignored and not enforced. Thailand will continue to be a backward country till it gets a police force.

37 minutes ago, Kat Hao said:

It often feels like there are two different Thailands . . . the "new" Thailand consisting of more educated young people under 45 years of age (approximately) and the old Thailand, which is an entirely different generation that grew up without television and certainly without smart phones.  In northern Chiang Mai, many people older than 50 years of age -- who have lived here all their lives -- do not speak Thai; they speak the Northern language, which is a unique language, not a dialect.  
Nearly every day when not raining I look across a small valley, perhaps 1.5 km wide, and see the same people burning to make charcoal.  Their smoke is HUGE . . . the burn large volumes, nearly every day.  In this example, their smoke drifts directly into a small village -- just 1/2 KM north -- and it appears no one says a word.  We are not troubled by that smoke because the wind never seems to blow towards our property -- but living in that small village must be the first level of hell.  
Thailand MUST address this primitive charcoal manufacturing problem because, over time, the health costs to the people breathing this smoke will be greater than the benefits of the charcoal business to only one family.  The financial costs will guide regulation, eventually.  When my neighbors burn, if they are not paying attention, my home is engulfed in smoke.  We have to close all doors and windows, turn on air-con and air purifiers.  Some of my neighbors will stop if the wind is blowing towards our home.   Others lack the intelligence or consideration.  

 

The only solutions......and there might be an argument to say it pays for itself in health benefits.....is to heavily subsidise electricity at set times (is that possible?) or to subsidise LPG bottles.

 

We still have people cooking on wood in our village which is a nightmare, at least charcoal burns 'clean'.......but only because someone else has had to suffer the charcoal pits elsewhere.

Burning stubble is "Supposedly" banned where I live surrounded by rice fields.....

So the farmers burn at night when the police finish duty at 5pm thinking no one will know it were them creating a Sunrise background at 10pm, in the morning it is the wife that is shouting 'Stupid Thais' as she hoses all around the house getting rid of the finger like soot debris.

 

Having spent 38+ years in ships engine rooms, sewage plants and purifier rooms a bit of smoke does not faze me.  Being born in Scotland surrounded by steelworks, coal mines and locomotive (Steam) yards all serving Glasgow and shipyards where you could not put out washing on a Tuesday/Wednesday owing to cooling towers being cleaned gives you a "Not as bad as I remember back home".

 

Had an expat visit me who got irate with the noise of the "Unsilenced" farm trucks going past, I never hear them or let it bother me, the neighbours never complain about my bikes or 8 large dogs.  I do same, not complain. 

14 minutes ago, mikebell said:

But the rules are ignored and not enforced. Thailand will continue to be a backward country till it gets a police force.

True story, but some of us like it that way. Anyways, it's not up to any foreigner to try to change Thailand. 

 

5 minutes ago, tmd5855 said:

Burning stubble is "Supposedly" banned where I live surrounded by rice fields.....

So the farmers burn at night when the police finish duty at 5pm thinking no one will know it were them creating a Sunrise background at 10pm, in the morning it is the wife that is shouting 'Stupid Thais' as she hoses all around the house getting rid of the finger like soot debris.

 

Having spent 38+ years in ships engine rooms, sewage plants and purifier rooms a bit of smoke does not faze me.  Being born in Scotland surrounded by steelworks, coal mines and locomotive (Steam) yards all serving Glasgow and shipyards where you could not put out washing on a Tuesday/Wednesday owing to cooling towers being cleaned gives you a "Not as bad as I remember back home".

 

Had an expat visit me who got irate with the noise of the "Unsilenced" farm trucks going past, I never hear them or let it bother me, the neighbours never complain about my bikes or 8 large dogs.  I do same, not complain. 

 

We are lucky........... where we live they can only have one rice crop per year......so the stubble doesn't get burnt.

 

We make up for it in Feb/Mar though with thousands of acres of sugarcane leaves being burnt.

I agree with Trippy that foreigners should not be attempting to change Thailand.  On the other hand, when we discover that something is harmful or beneficial, especially over the short term, why would we not share our knowledge -- in a kind and considerate way.  When you see a doctor or go to the hospital, you do not request an antiquated treatment, you want an up to date technology -- think MRI and even dental tools.  

Tmd5855 talks about his motorcycles and dogs.  My Harleys always kept the baffles in their pipes, as was intended -- I don't need all the noise to enjoy my bike.  The loud pipes are something I never understood, although many of my friends had them.  I don't need to announce my presence to all in the vicinity, and I don't need to wake the dead when we ride in a group.  

Same for your dogs.  How many you have is none of my business, at least so long as you take care of them and they do not disturb other people.  

Where I live they routinely burn day and night. Mostly small fires. I deal with that and use an air purifier. They also like to play full blast music starting at 5:30am whenever there is a holiday, death, marriage, new house, etc. I do not mind music. My old neighbor played the bagpipes routinely.  But music at 5:30am! Like seven loudspeakers on scaffolding going full blast! Always the same location.I politely asked the village administration if they could delay the music until 7am. I got a response that my request was received favorably. However nothing happened.

 

Being wise to disputes where ever I have lived I have decided to move to a quieter location.

20 hours ago, grain said:

We have these problems in the village, recently the woman across the road from our house had a big tree cut down and cut up and then she burned it, the smoke was so heavy and the wind blew it right across to our house. It was terrible, we were engulfed in thick smoke. Anyway, in the interest of keeping harmony we didn't complain. Then the following evening she relit the fire and once again the smoke was blown over to us. My wife knows the woman's brother so she went and asked her brother to go ask her to stop. Which is what happened and the fire was put out. But the woman was shouting out loud protest about having to put the fire out. So it's like she believes she has a God given right to do what she wishes regardless of whether it inconveniences others. 

And then Thais claiming to have invented this super Thai concept of "Kreng Jai", which means under all circumstances avoid bothering others even it's an inconvenience to yourself. So in that particular case the neighbour better cut up the wood and take it elsewhere rather than burning it in the village. But you see, even Thais don't follow or understand their own concepts. In 99% of the cases it's pure selfishness 

1 hour ago, Kat Hao said:

It often feels like there are two different Thailands . . . the "new" Thailand consisting of more educated young people under 45 years of age (approximately) and the old Thailand, which is an entirely different generation that grew up without television and certainly without smart phones.  In northern Chiang Mai, many people older than 50 years of age -- who have lived here all their lives -- do not speak Thai; they speak the Northern language, which is a unique language, not a dialect.  
Nearly every day when not raining I look across a small valley, perhaps 1.5 km wide, and see the same people burning to make charcoal.  Their smoke is HUGE . . . the burn large volumes, nearly every day.  In this example, their smoke drifts directly into a small village -- just 1/2 KM north -- and it appears no one says a word.  We are not troubled by that smoke because the wind never seems to blow towards our property -- but living in that small village must be the first level of hell.  
Thailand MUST address this primitive charcoal manufacturing problem because, over time, the health costs to the people breathing this smoke will be greater than the benefits of the charcoal business to only one family.  The financial costs will guide regulation, eventually.  When my neighbors burn, if they are not paying attention, my home is engulfed in smoke.  We have to close all doors and windows, turn on air-con and air purifiers.  Some of my neighbors will stop if the wind is blowing towards our home.   Others lack the intelligence or consideration.  

Wait ten more years, then this generation has died out

21 hours ago, Trippy said:

Farang go home!

Leave your money behind..............  right?

I'm sure if the boot was on the other foot, the Foreigner would  be liable, Traditions,? Customs?,......We were told long ago .... No burning...

The guy should have known to have his wife do all of this......he should have kept well out of it.

2 hours ago, mikebell said:

But the rules are ignored and not enforced. Thailand will continue to be a backward country till it gets a police force.

Though I do tend to agree with that overall sentiment, I sure like the idea of being left alone by law enforcement here. I find them pretty intrusive in the US and many are pretty obnoxious. Here they're just a bunch of pleasant blokes and I very rarely ever am forced to have any encounters with them, and when I do I push back quite a bit, and it seems to be quite effective. Not something I could get away with in the US where many police tend to be very overbearing, and drunk with their power. 

39 minutes ago, actonion said:

Leave your money behind..............  right?

 

On 9/21/2025 at 10:41 AM, Georgealbert said:

Councillor Sanya said the couple are outsiders unfamiliar with rural customs

Dear Councillor Sanya, in your view, do "rural customs" supersede environmental laws?

 

Bet the foreigners name doesn't appear on any legal documentation, it's a thai whose husband happens to be a foreigner taking the legal action. Only media making it a them and us situation, (even have the stereotypical finger pointing to dramatise it further) 

1 hour ago, actonion said:

I'm sure if the boot was on the other foot, the Foreigner would  be liable, Traditions,? Customs?,......We were told long ago .... No burning...

Smoking out your neighbor is Bs. That's not tradition unless you're a schizo. Tradition was probably being in a wide open field burning stuff.

On 9/21/2025 at 10:46 AM, save the frogs said:

Isn't it potentially dangerous to go down this path of filing lawsuits as a foreigner in Thailand?

 

not if the wife is behind it, but point taken, you never know how lost face will react.