Noise From The Mosques

[LuckyLew]

I think that your right to complain depends on a major point

What/who was there first

Was the mosque the when you move to that area?

If the answer is yes, then you have no right to complain

If the answer is no, I would say you have a right to complain

Kind of like people who move to areas near an existing airport

then complain about the noise

Your options are easy

Move or learn to accept and appreciate it.

[beejoir]

I really don't get it!

Don't like noise, don't move to a noisy area.

[elshaheen]

You can do two things.

1. Move out of the Neighborhood to a place where there are no Muslims or Mosques.

2. Go to a Friday service and tell them to shut up.

But, the fact is. Thailand is a multi-religious nation and you have to deal with it. I used to live near a Mosque in Bangkok and liked to hear the morning call to prayer when my alarm didn't go off. A mosque tends to offer security to an area and safety.

[rodcourt49]

Personally I enjoy the sound of the Muezzim calling the muslim to prey, as well the sound of my catholic bells, or the mantras of buddist monks.

Is just a matter of tollerance.

And I do too sometimes. And that is when I exercise choice and visit a temple and listen to the relaxing chants.

The Op. and many others do not have this choice, like kids on 2 stroke motorbike screaming down the road at 3am, or Soi dogs barking the night away or the week long funeral that starts with loud music at 6am - the noise of Church bells, a Mosque or a Temple reaches far and wide to many who given a choice would turn it off.

It's through correctness and respect of other cultures that we accept these 'noises'... but really when we think about it, is it really necessary ?

It's ok to get annoyed with Soi Dogs or kids on 2 stroke bikes - but why is it politically incorrect to complain about the noise from a Mosque ?

God said to the aborigines.."Just be quiet and wait there"..hmm still waiting!

[track61]

calling the muslim to prey. Was this a Freudian slip or did you mean pray?

[Naam]

This is in no way related to cigarette smoking but if you live downwind of where I smoke then you'd have to move too!

moreover, we smokers are utmost tolerant people and don't complain if somebody sits on a table next to us and eats quietly his food while we enjoy a cigarette or a cigar. what we don't tolerate are ugly noises from people who eat in our vicinity... such as talking with a mouth full with food, smacking lips, belching or farting.

[Scott]

I lived in a number of Middle Eastern Countries. Interestingly, in several places the call for prayer was done without an amplification system. That was not not annoying at all. Here in Thailand there is a Mosque somewhere--I've never seen it and don't know where it is--but you sure can hear the call to prayer in the morning.

It's not that the noise is annoying; it is that it's five times a day. Interestingly enough, it doesn't wake me up anymore, and during the day it is drowned out by the din of all the other noise!

Maybe one day in the future, they will send an SMS to people.

[Jonathanpattaya]

If you move into a Muslim community isn't it a bit silly to whine about the call to prayer?

Yes.

Edited March 28, 2010 by Jonathanpattaya

[joskydive]

It amazes me why they still have to remind them to come and pray five times a day anyway. Surely those who have that religious inclination should know by now that they are supposed to go and pray.

[Naam]

It amazes me why they still have to remind them to come and pray five times a day anyway. Surely those who have that religious inclination should know by now that they are supposed to go and pray.

it is because prayer times shift each and every day.

[gotlost]

If you move into a Muslim community isn't it a bit silly to whine about the call to prayer?

Yes.

Thailand is a Buddhist country

[joskydive]

It amazes me why they still have to remind them to come and pray five times a day anyway. Surely those who have that religious inclination should know by now that they are supposed to go and pray.

it is because prayer times shift each and every day.

well I'd hate to be an employer of one of them then. When do they get any work done?

[Jonathanpattaya]

If you move into a Muslim community isn't it a bit silly to whine about the call to prayer?

Yes.

Thailand is a Buddhist country

Thailand is also a tolerant secular country.

Edited March 28, 2010 by Jonathanpattaya

[Naam]

It amazes me why they still have to remind them to come and pray five times a day anyway. Surely those who have that religious inclination should know by now that they are supposed to go and pray.

it is because prayer times shift each and every day.

well I'd hate to be an employer of one of them then. When do they get any work done?

in between prayers

p.s. two of the five prayers are not during normal working hours and in the Middle East the noon prayer is normally during lunch break.

[triffid]

Thailand is not an officially buddhist country - though there is occasional lobbying by extremist parties to make it so - in the way that Iran is an islamic republic. Islam, the second most prevalent religion among thais, is officially recognized as such, to the point that government employees are given paid leave some weeks to go for the pilgrimage in Mecca. On a social level of course the thousands of mosques in the country are part of national fabric. Unfortunately there are many islamophobic foreigners here who find the objective fact of the muslim thai role and thais' religious tolerance hard to accept.

As for the noise, I wish morning school assemblies, wats, open air bars, funeral chants could make do without using a tannoy - but they do use it and I have had to accustom myself to all in my time here.

[Daffy D]

This is a typical example of a discussing running in another thread about negative posts, no matter what the subject there are always some that will inject pointless negative comments that lowers the tone and content of the original topic.

The OP was making an observation about excessive noise that just happened to be from a mosque. Immediately he gets jumped on for religious intolerance even though in a later posts he states emphatically that his complaint is about "Excessive Noise"

I just wonder sometimes about the sort of people who make comments like "Move" or check out the area for possible noise sources before moving there. Unfortunately we are not all in privileged circumstances where we can just up and move, and as for checking out the area if one had taken the trouble to actually read posts properly one would have noted that the OP is actually a "long distance from the Mosques"

Unfortunately there don't seem to be any regulations in this Land of Smiles regarding noise pollution so we have to live with it but that does not mean we can't occasionally whine about it.

So let someone have a good whine without turning the subject into a religious witch hunt.

Got to love the observation. "A mosque tends to offer security and safety to an area"

Cheers and may your God go with you

[jdinasia]

Please note that the OP made it about religion when he stated his religion and talked about going to the mosque and ranting about his own religion. Backing off that statement later does not mean, in fact, that the statement was not made.

Yes, checking the noise level where you are considering moving is very important in Thailand precisely because there are few regulations about noise and even those are enforeced sporadically. To fail to do Due Diligence falls directly on the buyer (or equivalent).

[AlanL1275]

Thanks Daffy D.

I did look yesterday and the nearest Mosque is about 1/2 Kilometer down the canal, ...and on the exact opposite side of the building as my condo.

When I purchased my condo I intentionally moved in on the one end of the complex because there is a large private school adjoins the condo property at the other end. They have a band, or orchestra, games played.....etc... (and on my side of the building!) and I only hear them if I go to that end of the complex. Of course their windows are always open when they are having band practice, or and assembly. Also cars and motorbikes flying through the parking lot, and I rarely pay attention to them also.

It would be okay if they did it like in the old days. ( no pa system :-)

Cheers also to you.

As you pointed out it is not who it is, but just the loud noise that I am bothered by.

Thanks

Edited March 28, 2010 by AlanL1275

[AlanL1275]

NO jdinasia,

I did not make it about religion when I said standing on the corner. My point is I am 1/2 kilometer away and have to listen to it, whether I like it or not.

If I was hollering from my balcony they would never hear me.

I would have to be standing on the corner to be heard or, do it from my condo if I had 2 million watts of PA power.

When it gets down to it, there is no way I would force my beliefs on them by speaking it so loudly they could not get away from it.

The point is, How would it make them feel if I did.

So jdinasia;

Read my lips (below ;-)

as stated before;

No, it is not about religion. Or did you understand me. No, it is not about religion. Or did you understand me. No, it is not about religion.

No, it is not about religion. Or did you understand me. No, it is not about religion. Or did you understand me. No, it is not about religion.

No, it is not about religion. Or did you understand me. No, it is not about religion. Or did you understand me. No, it is not about religion.

It is about the noise and living 1/2 kilometer away and have to close my windows, or turn up volume controls.

If you want to make it about religion then please start your own thread and get off of mine :-)

[JimShortz]

I think I am very tolerant of all religions - the large sects, the small sects, whatever... but I've got to say I find extremely loud amplified calls to prayer from Muslim Mosques in a largely Buddhist country to be extremely annoying and intrusive. I don't mind anybody expressing their religious beliefs however they choose, and even shouting it from the rooftops now and again - but five times a day, everyday? come on... I don't think it does much for helping people of different faiths to integrate fully and appreciate each other! In the UK Mosques only broadcast the call to prayer where the surrounding population is majority Muslim, and people still find their way to prayer on time - not so difficult since we all carry phones with alarms these days. Are the calls to prayer really necessary at ALL Mosques any more?

I lived less then a kilometre from the Mosque in the centre of Chiang Mai when I was first here, in an apartment that I liked but had to move out after the first month as I just couldn't get used to that intrusive racket EVERY DAY, 5 TIMES A DAY... It perhaps explains the good value of the apartment. Perhaps the calls to prayer are a ploy to lower land values around Mosques!

Don't get me wrong the call to prayed, in the right context can indeed be beautiful. I have spent some time in Istanbul and there I thought it was amazing first thing in the morning. It fitted so well with the whole immersive Muslim environment. So please don't tell me I'm anti-muslim... I'm not... I have sympathy with all religious beliefs (or do I mean sympathy for? )

[AlanL1275]

jdinasia

Also mentioned earlier in the thread.

I am from the United States of America.

The United States was founded on Freedom of Religion.

And not impose it's religious beliefs on others.

Did you know there are an estimated 7,000,000 Muslims in the USA? That's 7 million.

That is probably many, many, more than are in Thailand.

It's not about religion, just the noise.

[jdinasia]

jdinasia

Also mentioned earlier in the thread.

I am from the United States of America.

The United States was founded on Freedom of Religion.

And not impose it's religious beliefs on others.

Did you know there are an estimated 7,000,000 Muslims in the USA? That's 7 million.

That is probably many, many, more than are in Thailand.

It's not about religion, just the noise.

That isn't how your first post reads to me (or how it read to some others). I could repeat that over and over and over but that only weakens the argument.

It is part and parcel with Thailand. The population of 7 million Muslims in the USA has nothing to do with it but the percentage is probably similar to that in Thailand. The difference being that Muslims have always been part of the religious landscape in Thailand and in SEAsia.

So apparently now closing your windows will stop the sound from bothering you. Oh the humanity! I had to close my windows!

Again, this is really an object lesson about learning to check where you consider spending money. Due diligence is required on the part of the buyer/renter. I always can hear the call to prayer from my BKK condo if the windows are open. I live over 1 mile from the closest mosque in bkk. I enjoy the beauty and the culture of the experience Focus on the negatives and feel bad; focus on the positives and feel good

[AlanL1275]

Let's set up your cell phone at home with a small PA system so it rings loudly. Enough to bother you and I will make sure it rings 5 times a day. The only problem is it won't continue for 5 to 10 minutes. I selected my condo intentionally to avoid noise. (as mentioned in an earlier post)

But I missed something.

You know I told my daughter when she was 15 years old I wanted to hire her and her best friend for one of my businesses. She was very excited and asked me what they would do and I said I don't know but the way I see it if I hire both of you I would be able to retire within a year.

Too bad you were around when I purchased my condo to advise me. You may even know more than they did at 15.

Who would have thought, even if I was advised about the noise that 1/2 kilometer would not be far enough. Living on the opposite end of my condo complex from a loud school was certainly adequate. ;-)

Edited March 28, 2010 by AlanL1275

[AlanL1275]

jdinasia

In your reply you said; (or how it read to some others)

Do you always make a habit of speaking for others???

[Rumblecat]

That isn't how your first post reads to me (or how it read to some others). I could repeat that over and over and over but that only weakens the argument.

It is part and parcel with Thailand. The population of 7 million Muslims in the USA has nothing to do with it but the percentage is probably similar to that in Thailand. The difference being that Muslims have always been part of the religious landscape in Thailand and in SEAsia.

So apparently now closing your windows will stop the sound from bothering you. Oh the humanity! I had to close my windows!

Again, this is really an object lesson about learning to check where you consider spending money. Due diligence is required on the part of the buyer/renter. I always can hear the call to prayer from my BKK condo if the windows are open. I live over 1 mile from the closest mosque in bkk. I enjoy the beauty and the culture of the experience Focus on the negatives and feel bad; focus on the positives and feel good

To be honest, it seems more and more like you misunderstood his first post. I'm quite happy to pick up on someone if they're lazily slamming someone else's religion, but it's pretty clear this is all about noise pollution. Trying to bait him into an argument over it hasn't worked either. Yes, you enjoy the beauty and the culture of the call to prayer- most people would. I'm just AlanL would as well, if it wasn't for the fact the sound bouncing down was so loud he can't hear himself on the phone. Whether or not it's an awe-inspiring sound is irrelevant, it's the noise levels he's discussing. But I suspect you know that and are just continually trying to drag the discussion back to an area where you can berate him. I'm curious though, why are you so keen to get him into an argument? He's done a pretty decent job of being civil to you and patiently trying to explain his point. , despite the superior tone of your posts back to him.

[davelec]

I spent years being woken up by Church bells in the UK...... I guess it was because I lived near a church.

When you rent or buy a house next time go there at prayer time and see if its noisy, its not much different then moving near a night club and then complaining about the music.

Maybe you should move again.

Not really the same is it, church bells do not ring out five times a day and they are not amplified either so as to disturb people miles away. Why don't they do it the old way-just one deluded idiot shouting from the tower? In any case there is just no need for them to be broadcasting the disgusting racket as everyone has a watch these days and do not need this reminder.

[jdinasia]

That isn't how your first post reads to me (or how it read to some others). I could repeat that over and over and over but that only weakens the argument.

It is part and parcel with Thailand. The population of 7 million Muslims in the USA has nothing to do with it but the percentage is probably similar to that in Thailand. The difference being that Muslims have always been part of the religious landscape in Thailand and in SEAsia.

So apparently now closing your windows will stop the sound from bothering you. Oh the humanity! I had to close my windows!

Again, this is really an object lesson about learning to check where you consider spending money. Due diligence is required on the part of the buyer/renter. I always can hear the call to prayer from my BKK condo if the windows are open. I live over 1 mile from the closest mosque in bkk. I enjoy the beauty and the culture of the experience Focus on the negatives and feel bad; focus on the positives and feel good

To be honest, it seems more and more like you misunderstood his first post. I'm quite happy to pick up on someone if they're lazily slamming someone else's religion, but it's pretty clear this is all about noise pollution. Trying to bait him into an argument over it hasn't worked either. Yes, you enjoy the beauty and the culture of the call to prayer- most people would. I'm just AlanL would as well, if it wasn't for the fact the sound bouncing down was so loud he can't hear himself on the phone. Whether or not it's an awe-inspiring sound is irrelevant, it's the noise levels he's discussing. But I suspect you know that and are just continually trying to drag the discussion back to an area where you can berate him. I'm curious though, why are you so keen to get him into an argument? He's done a pretty decent job of being civil to you and patiently trying to explain his point. , despite the superior tone of your posts back to him.

I have quite carefully limited my responses to what I read as both an attack on religion and an attack on quite standard Thai culture. If the noise were in fact as bad as he states I am sure the locals would complain and it would be dealt with. I also have been quite careful not to toss out words like bigotry etc as I do not think that the OP sees himself that way and I only have that original post to go from. That he backpedaled on his original post could be that he just poorly worded it. I grant that. That he failed in due diligence, however, is not really in question, now is it?

Today's prayer times

28Sun5:06am6:17am12:233:41pm6:29pm7:41 pm

To be honest I have never heard the pre-dawn call in BKK even when I was awake. The other calls to prayer just aren't really issues time-wise are they?

BTW --- yes when I bought the condo in BKK I rented one in the same place for a few months before I bought. Why? Due diligence

[davelec]

[quote name='jdinasia' d

BTW --- yes when I bought the condo in BKK I rented one in the same place for a few months before I bought. Why? Due diligence

Bright boy, so what will you do if they built a mosque next to you-move or complain?

[jdinasia]

Bright boy, so what will you do if they built a mosque next to you-move or complain?

Not too much chance of that, but there certainly is a chance for some other noise-making to be going on. The thing is you are not asking a real question (or at least not one directly related) since we are discussing a situation where the person bought a place where the source of noise already existed.

Where my condo is I would run the risk of a new highway branch being put through or having to deal with the noise of a new building going up in the area. Otherwise there are plenty of mosques nearby

Complaining about a new source of noise ... would I? Probably not, but then again my neighbors would take care of the noise if it were an issue. (Couple of colonels, a general, etc .... notthing that I could do that they couldn't handle without me

[ManilaLover]

Ever thought of hacking the system by simply changing the tapecassette for e.g. one with James Brown's 'Sexmachine' ?