I've been living in Bangkok for almost a year already, and I have to say that this is without doubt the noisiest place I have ever been to. As soon as someone gets out of his home, he is subjected to really loud noise. Everything here is noisier then in the West or other major cities in Asia (and I've been to quite a few). Every place you go you are in the vicinity of a major street or a highway full of cars and buses. There are very few parks where one can find solitude. Even places like major shopping malls or the BTS are noisy.

Besides the unavoidable nuisance it causes, I was wondering about the long-term health effect. Can all the excessive noise cause an unrepairable damage? Has there ever been a study in the matter? I would be happy if someone could fill me in.

Thank you

Erap

I dunno about the long term effects, but you are right, it is very hard to find somewhere to sit here quietly, even when you try it at home, some goose either has music blaring or buzzing past in his car or motorcycle with no muffler, not to even mention the douchebags that drive along with speakers blaring out the back of their pickups.

I also find that women eventually send you deaf too, but its not that bad, quite pleasant actually

yes, noise is a pollutant and is dangerous to health. Health regulations are everywhere in the world, but in thailand the attitude to noise pollution is laxed. Move to the suburbs or to the peaceful soi, if you think it affects you too much.

you wouldn't have hearing damage just from the living in the city, if you believe you lost some of your hearing, go to the doctors.

No, I don't suffer from any damage (so far) I was just wondering about the long term effects. Usually damage to the hearing starts to show up many years after the excessive exposure, for example people who were playing in rock bands in their youth began suffering from hearing problems in their 50's etc.

I do live inside the soi, my condo is relatively quiet and peaceful, however the moment I get out of the soi and find my self at a 6 lanes (in each direction!) road with 2 overpasses is where the problem begins...

Interesting question, but I am not aware of any studies done on a population group such as traffic police or street vendors here in BKK.

Yes, it would be possible to get NIHL (Noise Induced Hearing Loss) from exposure to a noise level in excess or at 85dB for a period of 8h every day.

The resident in BKK would probably not be exposed to that level for a significant time as continuous exposure but traffic police may be as well as the guards with their infernal whistles and street vendors. These would definitely generate a noise level of about or in excess of 85dB.

Results of NIHL means loss of hearing in the "normal" hearing range which includes mobile phone use and TV (at a reasonable volume). So, from the ambient noise level in the city, can we assume that the people creating this noise level are suffering from NIHL already?

Can you imagine how an animal with far superior hearing such as an elephant or a soi dog would experience this?

It has been shown that even in teenagers, after a night in a disco can show a temporary threshold shift when tested the next morning; this means basically NIHL but reversable. This also means that continuous exposure to this level will, without ear protection, cause permanent hearing loss.

Seems some work has been done in BKK: http://www.hear-it.org/page.dsp?page=3356