Insufferable Neighbour

[millwall_fan]

When on Samui our neighbours hung washing everywhere over the walls , built there Extension using my external wall as a foundation,used the washing machine that was outside on our property when I was out and had the kids in the small pool we had.

I think it's legal to use your side of a partition wall, even if the other guy owns it. Thats what my wife says anyway.

Invex: There is some kind of neighbours dispute officer atttached to the local tambon office. (well there is in tambon Changklan anyway) you could try approaching them. someone on this forum may know the guys title in Thai.

[chiangmaibruce]

Back to the OP now. I read lots of references to "dumping" and "trash" and implications that this sort of things would never happen/be allowed to happen in farangland. Not true. I can only speak for Australia, but have no reason to think the same does not apply in other jurisdictions.

As has been stated, neighbour#2 has a right to remove tree limbs overhanging his property. The limbs he removes are in fact the property of neighbour#1. Legally he is not only justified, but legally required to, return that property to the owner. This happens in Australia. Common courtesy (in Australia) would be for neigbour#2 to discuss this with neigbour#1 first (and probably make an informal agreement about disposal of the tree material) ... but that is a matter of western courtesy - rather than being the law.

I'm not saying your Thai neighbour is an angel, but as far as the branches go he is probably not "dumping". And as others have already stated the common method for Thai's to "prune" trees or shrubs is anything but a work of art

[BlackArtemis]

I can't stand the idea of people dumping rusty nails on another person's yard. So therefore I should shut up and accept this because it's not my place. When someone does something like this I have no trouble making an issue of it, because I know that if I did it there WOULD be a problem.

As I stated before, the tree branches are not the problem, but old nails and bits of glue ARE a problem. letting people dump crap on your lawn and not doing anything about it, and by anything I don't mean threaten with police etc etc, does not make you more Thai. It just lets them know that they can continue to do as they feel. I know for a fact Thai people have no problem addressing issues with their neighbors, in various ways and composure.

[Donnyboy]

There is an older Thai guy at our health club who comes in every day and just switches the communal tv to a Thai channel when a bunch of foreigners are obviously watching an English program.

If you try to tell him that you are watching something already - in any language - he acts as if he does not hear and just keep changing channels until he finds something really boring to watch and then gets on the running machine right in front of the tv.

Most Thais are quite polite, but the ones that aren't really take the cake.

If the TV is high up and one cannot reach the buttons, hide the remote

i would jump on his treadmill before he could get back on it

[loong]

When on Samui our neighbours hung washing everywhere over the walls , built there Extension using my external wall as a foundation,used the washing machine that was outside on our property when I was out and had the kids in the small pool we had.

I think it's legal to use your side of a partition wall, even if the other guy owns it. Thats what my wife says anyway.

Invex: There is some kind of neighbours dispute officer atttached to the local tambon office. (well there is in tambon Changklan anyway) you could try approaching them. someone on this forum may know the guys title in Thai.

I'm pretty sure that you cannot build within 1 metre of the boundary. Also a wall, if it is yours, should be built totally on your property, so the neighbours would be building on your property if they used part of your wall in an extension.

One neighbour has just built a chicken house that uses our boundary wall as one side. She didn't ask permission, probably never considered it necessary. She's a good neighbour and we're not worried that she used our wall.

There are rules about building work, but most people disregard them, even if they are aware of them

[cmsally]

There are Thais and there are Thais just like any other nationalities. Sometimes you may find yourself living next to the not so considerate ones. You could try the 3rd person approach by approaching your neighbour and enquiring about the "other person" who is throwing trash into your garden (and ask him if he finds any in his garden, of course thrown by this terrible 3rd person litter lout). Agree to both be vigilant in catching the litter lout. Thank him profusely for his help (he has now agreed to go out and catch himself) and see what results this brings. This will be battle plan 1.

[BOOKEMDANO]

There are Thais and there are Thais just like any other nationalities. Sometimes you may find yourself living next to the not so considerate ones. You could try the 3rd person approach by approaching your neighbour and enquiring about the "other person" who is throwing trash into your garden (and ask him if he finds any in his garden, of course thrown by this terrible 3rd person litter lout). Agree to both be vigilant in catching the litter lout. Thank him profusely for his help (he has now agreed to go out and catch himself) and see what results this brings. This will be battle plan 1.

I like the suggestion:, however, as it is undoubtably him who through back the branches I would feel a bit daft talking to him with regards to the rubbish also being thrown.

[cmsally]

Just forget the branches and concentrate on the rubbish. Much easier to do and I'm sure he can make the association.

Thais hate being blamed and they are more than eager to indulge in a little play acting to transpose the blame to a non existent Somchai.

[SomchaiCNX]

Just forget the branches and concentrate on the rubbish. Much easier to do and I'm sure he can make the association.

Thais hate being blamed and they are more than eager to indulge in a little play acting to transpose the blame to a non existent Somchai.

I have nothing to do with this, I'm not is neighbour, so please leave me out this. Thank you.

[BOOKEMDANO]

Back to the OP now. I read lots of references to "dumping" and "trash" and implications that this sort of things would never happen/be allowed to happen in farangland. Not true. I can only speak for Australia, but have no reason to think the same does not apply in other jurisdictions.

As has been stated, neighbour#2 has a right to remove tree limbs overhanging his property. The limbs he removes are in fact the property of neighbour#1. Legally he is not only justified, but legally required to, return that property to the owner. This happens in Australia. Common courtesy (in Australia) would be for neigbour#2 to discuss this with neigbour#1 first (and probably make an informal agreement about disposal of the tree material) ... but that is a matter of western courtesy - rather than being the law.

I'm not saying your Thai neighbour is an angel, but as far as the branches go he is probably not "dumping". And as others have already stated the common method for Thai's to "prune" trees or shrubs is anything but a work of art

Thank you Cmbruce,

This is the reply I was looking for. The g/f will be going over there tomorrow to try and clear this matter up.

Reading some of the posts on here about this subject really does hit home how about how ignorant some people can be. I feel sorry for the poster that - for the past two years - has had nothing but grief from their neighbor; I hope this gets ressolved somehow.

As for everybody else who branded me with an 'attitude' who are sitting comfortably in their houses, living a trouble and stress free life away from neighbors that 'actually might' cause them concerns from time to time, let me ask you this? As I already mentioned, I am not staying there at the moment and this morning my g/f sent me an email saying that our dog had been taken to the vet's as his gums were pale (sign of circulation). Now, i'm not saying this is directly related to them, but if the vet 'was' to find that he ate a tube of glue or rusty nail within the inside of his body which caused him to become sick, at what point then would i be justified to adopt an ATTITIUDE??

What happens if a kid steps on one of these foreign objects and contracts tetnus as a result; would I be allowed to get angry then?

By stopping this nonsense NOW, might prevent my dog from becoming sick, children - or indeed adults -stepping on rusty nais, or my neighbor tresspasing on my property to fish the stream next to my house again.

What do you say? should I just 'let it be' and accept that this is Thailand and the way things are done here because i'm not buying that c#*p.

For the record i'm British; and proud. Oh and one more thing, my castle is wherever i want it to be because I built it, regardless of it being on foreign soil.

[Toolz]

For the record i'm British; and proud. Oh and one more thing, my castle is wherever i want it to be because I built it, regardless of it being on foreign soil.

Cue music ...

[vespachiangmai]

The OP and his girlfriend seem to be hyper and the OP needs to lose his Western aggression.

There are many reasons why this could be happening; maybe the neighbours have some boisterous children and don`t realise the kids are annoying other people, sometimes objects can be blown elsewhere by high winds or they simply just don`t like the OP because he has attitude, that doesn`t go down well in the LOS.

Also it`s easy to become paranoid, every time debries turn up in the garden, the OP is going to blame his neighbours.

As for the lobbing off of tree branches that overhang other properties, I have often cut down some neighbour's branches and vice versa, without causing damage to the main tree, no problem as I have always made the effort to have a mutual understanding with my neighbours. It`s a house holders duty to ensure that branches are trimmed before they begin over hanging the boundries.

I have dogs, they bark, my neighbours dogs bark but none around here is bothered and we enjoy our home without getting stressed.

We get invited to many weddings in the area, social events, I always make the effort to attend and well known and liked here.

Last year my neighbour began making charcoal only a few metres away from my house. We were breathing in toxic fumes for 3 days. I realised that it`s just ignorance on the part of my neighbour, but my family and I intend to stay here for the rest of our lives and have good relationships with the locals. So what's the point of going in with all guns blazing?

So my wife and I went and discussed the situation with the neighbour, all very friendly with a few laughs over a couple of beers. Problem solved, my neighbour moved his burners to another piece of land he owns.

I am very glad and happy that I don`t have any Farang living near me, people that would complain about my dogs, complain that my rose bush is protruding 2 inches over their property and that my fence is the wrong colour.

The common sense way for the OP and his scared girlfriend to deal with this situation is to have a friendly chat with the neighbours, keep in with them, let them believe that you are nice people, remember that this is Thailand, not to be confused with the ways back home.

If this is not possible, than Thailand's not for you.

I wonder if the hard nut avatar is his true charactor?

I do complain about dog's but its simple keep them in your yard, in fact I dont really mind the barking (not 24/7) all that much but if you care about you dogs keep inside your house or yard and running in the streets.

[vespachiangmai]

get a kilo of smelly cheese and on a very hot day throw over the fence back at him...its war i tell you war

[twschw]

Now, i'm sure some of you might even agree with what this chap has done, but, because i'm not in CM at the moment and my tgf is staying alone who told me of this little episode she is really scared. If I were there I would have marched straight over to their door and banged on it demanding and apology or a couple of right handers would be flying simply because they put the frightners on my g/f.

As it happens I told her to go over there tomorrow explaining to them that they simply didn't need to act the way they did and throw my beautifully hacked tree back over on my lawn. Simply offer them the opportunity to approach us next time and I will pay for someone - maybe better I do it myself - to trim back the part of the tree that over hangs their property.

I am wondering how this is going to work out. Sending a scared woman to settle this is probably not a good idea.

[licentiapoetica]

I'm pretty sure that you cannot build within 1 metre of the boundary. Also a wall, if it is yours, should be built totally on your property, so the neighbours would be building on your property if they used part of your wall in an extension. One neighbour has just built a chicken house that uses our boundary wall as one side. She didn't ask permission, probably never considered it necessary. She's a good neighbour and we're not worried that she used our wall. There are rules about building work, but most people disregard them, even if they are aware of them 

Last time I checked it was 2 meters from the boundary you cannot build, not 1.

[MESmith]

Last time I checked it was 2 meters from the boundary you cannot build, not 1.

I believe the 2m rule is when there are windows in that wall.  You can build on the boundary, without windows, me thinks.

[Bill97]

"If I were there I would have marched straight over to their door and banged on it demanding and apology or a couple of right handers would be flying simply because they put the frightners on my g/f." That kind of response really should be avoided unless you want prolonged escalation which you are unlikely to win.

This is not a big deal and care should be taken not to make it into one.

Thais often effectively use a third party to discuss and negotiate such situations. A good Thai friend, a relative of your gf, a respected elder in the village, the Puu Yai Baan or somebody else who is not so emotionally involved.

Edited April 30, 2010 by Bill97

[Will27]

get a kilo of smelly cheese and on a very hot day throw over the fence back at him...its war i tell you war

[licentiapoetica]

Last time I checked it was 2 meters from the boundary you cannot build, not 1.

I believe the 2m rule is when there are windows in that wall.  You can build on the boundary, without windows, me thinks.

Thanx, MESmith! That's good to know! 

[Donnyboy]

For the record i'm British; and proud. Oh and one more thing, my castle is wherever i want it to be because I built it, regardless of it being on foreign soil.

Cue music ...

sorry Book, couldnt help it, hope you get it sorted

[jingjoke]

note to self: continue to NEVER live next to a Thai

Absolutely correct!

[gotlost]

note to self: continue to NEVER live next to a Thai

Absolutely correct!

So are you going to leave?

[jingjoke]

We live at a condo and were very happy until a farang bought the condo right under us.

It took almost 2 years longer to finish the condo than the period of 3 months he previously stated at the condo-documents to get the condo renovated. He extended every time the 3 months until, at the end, there was no finishing date anymore. He removed some walls (not allowed), broke out the tiles in and outside, changed the windows (not allowed) etc. Some work he did 3 times over in a row as he was not happy with the previous results, f.e. the tiles on the balcony were removed and tiled again 3 times.

Since a few weeks now, he bought a special sound system with surround, 3D, sub- and other woofers etc….. While I am working at my PC the wall behind is shaking and I have to listen all time to; boom, boom, boom, boom, boom…. Very very annoying irritating low bass sound. Sometimes it continues until 03 am in the morning. Talking to him more and more angry, he says it is not too loud. From the lift to his room is about 50 meters. One can hear the sound already when coming out of the lift and with his door closed. This sound makes people crazy as it is a very low bass "boom boom" sound. In all those years, not one time he said or did something to apologize. We live at this condo for 10 years and the first 8 years, we were very happy as the condo was quiet and pleasant to live in. Now it became hel_l.

Tell me, what to do. Please useful reactions. Thanks.

Hi. Been there. Experienced all of the above for months on end. When one reconstruction finished another began. Thankfully i was renting, so I moved when the noise of new reconstruction continued without let-up except for a few weeks at a time. Soon after, I recommended on websites like this to seriously consider this unabated noise before ever buying a condo. The law if you can get it to work will not solve this round robin of redesign and attendant noise. I empathize....

[kimincm]

note to self: continue to NEVER live next to a Thai

Absolutely correct!

So are you going to leave?

No way.I'm going to stay here and establish an 'ethnic enclave' which I so despise in my homeland.

[ChiangMaiFun]

The OP and his girlfriend seem to be hyper and the OP needs to lose his Western aggression.

There are many reasons why this could be happening; maybe the neighbours have some boisterous children and don`t realise the kids are annoying other people, sometimes objects can be blown elsewhere by high winds or they simply just don`t like the OP because he has attitude, that doesn`t go down well in the LOS.

Also it`s easy to become paranoid, every time debries turn up in the garden, the OP is going to blame his neighbours.

As for the lobbing off of tree branches that overhang other properties, I have often cut down some neighbour's branches and vice versa, without causing damage to the main tree, no problem as I have always made the effort to have a mutual understanding with my neighbours. It`s a house holders duty to ensure that branches are trimmed before they begin over hanging the boundries.

I have dogs, they bark, my neighbours dogs bark but none around here is bothered and we enjoy our home without getting stressed.

We get invited to many weddings in the area, social events, I always make the effort to attend and well known and liked here.

Last year my neighbour began making charcoal only a few metres away from my house. We were breathing in toxic fumes for 3 days. I realised that it`s just ignorance on the part of my neighbour, but my family and I intend to stay here for the rest of our lives and have good relationships with the locals. So what's the point of going in with all guns blazing?

So my wife and I went and discussed the situation with the neighbour, all very friendly with a few laughs over a couple of beers. Problem solved, my neighbour moved his burners to another piece of land he owns.

I am very glad and happy that I don`t have any Farang living near me, people that would complain about my dogs, complain that my rose bush is protruding 2 inches over their property and that my fence is the wrong colour.

The common sense way for the OP and his scared girlfriend to deal with this situation is to have a friendly chat with the neighbours, keep in with them, let them believe that you are nice people, remember that this is Thailand, not to be confused with the ways back home.

If this is not possible, than Thailand's not for you.

I wonder if the hard nut avatar is his true charactor?

I was going to post my views on this topic but you have already done it for me. I agree completly with you. The op, unfortunately like many farangs here, has an attitude problem.

The op mentioned he had never spoken to his neighbours who he BELIEVED to be Thai and that he would go and sort them out. Attitude. Attitude. Attitude.

The ongoing problem of course is that this is what is giving the rest of us farangs a bad name.

caf

why do you think farangs have an attitude problem? you think it's ok to be selfish and don't care about other people? then you are WELL suited to Thailand... because that's the way most Thai's are - they have no idea about the concept of 'grenge jai' and just do what they want 'mai pen ra' they don't give a sh*t - so do the same.

[ChiangMaiFun]

Back to the OP now. I read lots of references to "dumping" and "trash" and implications that this sort of things would never happen/be allowed to happen in farangland. Not true. I can only speak for Australia, but have no reason to think the same does not apply in other jurisdictions.

As has been stated, neighbour#2 has a right to remove tree limbs overhanging his property. The limbs he removes are in fact the property of neighbour#1. Legally he is not only justified, but legally required to, return that property to the owner. This happens in Australia. Common courtesy (in Australia) would be for neigbour#2 to discuss this with neigbour#1 first (and probably make an informal agreement about disposal of the tree material) ... but that is a matter of western courtesy - rather than being the law.

I'm not saying your Thai neighbour is an angel, but as far as the branches go he is probably not "dumping". And as others have already stated the common method for Thai's to "prune" trees or shrubs is anything but a work of art

Thank you Cmbruce,

This is the reply I was looking for. The g/f will be going over there tomorrow to try and clear this matter up.

Reading some of the posts on here about this subject really does hit home how about how ignorant some people can be. I feel sorry for the poster that - for the past two years - has had nothing but grief from their neighbor; I hope this gets ressolved somehow.

As for everybody else who branded me with an 'attitude' who are sitting comfortably in their houses, living a trouble and stress free life away from neighbors that 'actually might' cause them concerns from time to time, let me ask you this? As I already mentioned, I am not staying there at the moment and this morning my g/f sent me an email saying that our dog had been taken to the vet's as his gums were pale (sign of circulation). Now, i'm not saying this is directly related to them, but if the vet 'was' to find that he ate a tube of glue or rusty nail within the inside of his body which caused him to become sick, at what point then would i be justified to adopt an ATTITIUDE??

What happens if a kid steps on one of these foreign objects and contracts tetnus as a result; would I be allowed to get angry then?

By stopping this nonsense NOW, might prevent my dog from becoming sick, children - or indeed adults -stepping on rusty nais, or my neighbor tresspasing on my property to fish the stream next to my house again.

What do you say? should I just 'let it be' and accept that this is Thailand and the way things are done here because i'm not buying that c#*p.

For the record i'm British; and proud. Oh and one more thing, my castle is wherever i want it to be because I built it, regardless of it being on foreign soil.

Agreed... don't take any of this 'oh the oh so lovely Thai's are perfect and it's YOUR problem' yes we live here, yes we have to adapt and 'fit in' - do we have to be walked over by selfish Thai's? don't think so - just remember many of them are uneducated and caring for others is not in the Thai culture - they will often think they are Buddhist but have no concepton that it actually means 'practising' it (i.e. thinking about others outside of their family circle) - this post will annoy some - sorry - but it's true - you have to accept that living here brings many benefits - but there are downsides too. They probably just don't care - simple as that.

[barky]

There is an older Thai guy at our health club who comes in every day and just switches the communal tv to a Thai channel when a bunch of foreigners are obviously watching an English program.

If you try to tell him that you are watching something already - in any language - he acts as if he does not hear and just keep changing channels until he finds something really boring to watch and then gets on the running machine right in front of the tv.

Most Thais are quite polite, but the ones that aren't really take the cake.

Hi UG, You and your mates could just change it back and don't listen to the Thai. Keep doing it until he gets bored. I know it's lowering yourself to his childish level, but I think it will work. However, if you really don't care one way or the other, don't do anything and keep those reps up and ignore the whole thing. Let his pewny brain think he's lord over the westeners. But, you know better!

Edited May 1, 2010 by barky

[ChiangMaiFun]

There is an older Thai guy at our health club who comes in every day and just switches the communal tv to a Thai channel when a bunch of foreigners are obviously watching an English program.

If you try to tell him that you are watching something already - in any language - he acts as if he does not hear and just keep changing channels until he finds something really boring to watch and then gets on the running machine right in front of the tv.

Most Thais are quite polite, but the ones that aren't really take the cake.

Hi UG, You and your mates could just change it back and don't listen to the Thai. Keep doing it until he gets bored. I know it's lowering yourself to his childish level, but I think it will work. However, if you really don't care one way or the other, don't do anything and keep those reps up and ignore the whole thing. Let his pewny brain think he's lord over the westeners. But, you know better!

Get the club to seal off the controls - only they can change it - happens in loads of places and the only answer is always to take control away from everybody - put on a 'neutral' channel like NG or Discovery - and lock it.

[Ulysses G.]

Good idea. That would do it.

[Thongkorn]

note to self: continue to NEVER live next to a Thai

Difficult in Thailand but nice thought.