Neighbour Has Neighnour Banned From Smoking.

[centrico]

The father in law has been banned from smoking in his own home thanks to his friendly neighbour.

As crazy as this sounds it is so very true.

FiL has a town house on a small soi. He has always smoked in that house until recently. His next door neighbour complained the cigarette smoke was exiting his house and entering her house and affecting the health of her two babies. She complained to him and asked him to stop smoking. He refused. She then complained to the police. Said police came to his home and asked him to stop smoking. He refused.

FiL was then taken to the police station and made to sign some papers preventing him from smoking on his own premises.

At a later date another complaint was made by the neighbour. FiL was arrested and taken before a judge. The judge ruled the smoke from FiL's house was affecting the health of the babies in the house next door and ordered the FiL to stop or be jailed.

The two houses are separated by a garage. There are no communicating doors between the two properties. Any cigarette smoke had to travel from the room he was smoking in, out of the window or door, down the street past the garage and into her house and there her children would have to be inhaling the smoke.

Obviously this caused a lot of acrimony between the two households.

At a later date the female neighbour began cooking noodles and other food outside her own house as many Thai people do. The FiL decided her cooking was creating a nuisance. The odours, oil and smoke were drifting into his house. He went to the police and made a complaint. The police paid her a visit and requested she stop cooking outside. She refused, telling the police that many others in the area did the same as she.

FiL applied to the court to stop the nuisance of her cooking outside and the smells and smoke from entering his own premises. The judge agreed with him !! He banned her from cooking outside in the street until such times as her cooking was no longer a nuisance to her neighbour.

She had to install a hood, chimney and extractor fan to carry away the smoke and odours so she can now cook outside.

Yes, this is in Thailand. And not an April Fools joke. Madness. Also a warning to those who smoke in condos or other places. It could happen to you.

[Heng]

Glad I don't smoke and don't have any neighbors (other than family members who also don't smoke).

[PhilHarries]

The fascists advance another step.

Never smoked in my life but will defend a person's rights to engage in a legal pleasure in his own home to my death.

The lunatics used to run the asylum but they've been done in by the aliens.

[plachon]

And people used to think LOS was such a happy, free and tolerant country.

The times they are a changin'

Actually, I've always thought that the new moobans and concrete townhouse sois were recipes for disasters in Thai society, bit like the New Towns of the 50s and 60s (think Crawley, Milton Keynes and Basildon for 3 fine examples), which often became hotbeds of social discord and even worse, the urban "regeneration" projects in the cities that built wonders of urban living like Delboy and Wodders Peckham Estate for British parallels. Things have improved over time in some places, but one can see the highest ASBO concentrations in the country are exactly in these same places, and I wouldn't be surprised if the same wasn;t true for Thailand as it makes even worse urban planning blunders than the dear old Brits. Imagine Muang Tong Thani in a few years time for a slice of Thai paradise.

[greytown]

The fascists advance another step.

Never smoked in my life but will defend a person's rights to engage in a legal pleasure in his own home to my death.

The lunatics used to run the asylum but they've been done in by the aliens.

You are totally, totally correct and l respect you for your reply. Your home is your Castle, end of story.

If smoking in your home is poisoning the neighbors then you are infringing on your neighbor's space. As long as the smoke doesn't travel beyond your home you can smoke yourself to death no problem.

[westybrook]

Tit for tat this is. Wow

[Valdezugar]

Sounds like a soap opera.

[Tigs]

Now you just need to install an extractor fan for your FIL so he can sit in his house and have a tab.

[surayu]

Wow i am amazed by this story, finally someone that can actually made the right choice on a difficult issue, is a bit like if someone was asked to turn the music down in his own home because it was too loud, common place in EU and very quick officers on duty, don't need to go to court

[Koh_Falang]

probably fair to say that this guy had some other ongoing issues with the neighbours...

Surely they could have worked something out rather than taking it to court... Seems like neither of them was willing to budge...

[edwinchester]

The fascists advance another step.

Never smoked in my life but will defend a person's rights to engage in a legal pleasure in his own home to my death.

The lunatics used to run the asylum but they've been done in by the aliens.

I'll defend a smokers right to engage in a legal pleasure in his own home right until his own death.

[Ijustwannateach]

Sounds more like a feud (or obsessive compulsive behaviour) than a real risk to the kids.

In any case, highlights how bad neighbors can ruin each other's lives- these people will probably have to live next door to each other for decades hence, too!

[Richb2004v2]

Does the OP have first hand knowledge of this instance or is it another Thai fabrication of the 'she knows someone who knows someone etc etc'?

This is the kind of story that normally gets exaggerated on the front page of the Uk tabloids not in Thailand.

[Tigs]

Does the OP have first hand knowledge of this instance or is it another Thai fabrication of the 'she knows someone who knows someone etc etc'?

This is the kind of story that normally gets exaggerated on the front page of the Uk tabloids not in Thailand.

Well, if you read it, he does actually say a few times that the man is his father in law! So the chances are the OP knows him!

[teatree]

The fascists advance another step.

Never smoked in my life but will defend a person's rights to engage in a legal pleasure in his own home to my death.

The lunatics used to run the asylum but they've been done in by the aliens.

You are totally, totally correct and l respect you for your reply. Your home is your Castle, end of story.

If smoking in your home is poisoning the neighbors then you are infringing on your neighbor's space. As long as the smoke doesn't travel beyond your home you can smoke yourself to death no problem.

Agreed. Do whatever you want as long as it doesn't affect others.

[dave111223]

I can see both sides of this story, being an ex-smoker and now just have an occasional cigarette. However some people take it too far. My neighbors room spells like he's running a 24 hour poker game in there. The entire hall way stinks of smoke since he moved in.

Luckily the smell does not normally come into our room and remains in the hallway, but there are a few other neighbors where the smoke does come into their rooms. Personally i can deal with smell being an ex-smoker, but my wife is another story.

If you plan on hotboxing your home with smoke all day just make sure the room is adequately sealed so that the smoke doesn't travel into other people's homes.

Why did you father in law not close the windows while smoking after the first few complaints? Then it probably wouldn't have gotten so out of hand.

[LivinLOS]

Does the OP have first hand knowledge of this instance or is it another Thai fabrication of the 'she knows someone who knows someone etc etc'?

This is the kind of story that normally gets exaggerated on the front page of the Uk tabloids not in Thailand.

Would the specific 'father in law' not explain that ???

[Richb2004v2]

Does the OP have first hand knowledge of this instance or is it another Thai fabrication of the 'she knows someone who knows someone etc etc'?

This is the kind of story that normally gets exaggerated on the front page of the Uk tabloids not in Thailand.

Would the specific 'father in law' not explain that ???

Hmmm. Ordinarily you would have thought so wouldn't you. I must have somehow skipped that first line. I was trying to work out who FiL was Sorry about that.

[centrico]

Does the OP have first hand knowledge of this instance or is it another Thai fabrication of the 'she knows someone who knows someone etc etc'?

This is the kind of story that normally gets exaggerated on the front page of the Uk tabloids not in Thailand.

The subject came up yesterday after a broken water pipe at the house. The water was flowing into the neighbours house

FiL is away so my wife was asked to go down and sort out the problem with the water. As she was waiting for the repair men to arrive she checked the house and the mail. In the mail was a letter from the court regarding the previous problems. That is when the wife told me what had happened. On reflection I did wonder why the neighbour has a galvanised hood and chimney rising up from the cooking station. All other street vendors I have ever seen cook on a brazier of some sort and the smoke drifts everywhere. Not the neighbour.

The idea of an extractor fan does sound good in principle though I am not sure where he would be best advised to extract the air to. I do get the impression that the neighbour is somewhat cantankerous. She is not a happy bunny over the broken water pipe yet there seems little she can do about that. The seal on a U bend or the glue appears to have deteriorated. The pipe is outside the front of the house though on his property. Could possibly have been damaged.

I was amazed when told what had happened. I would have been incensed at being ordered to stop smoking in my own home. When I asked why the FiL had allowed this to happen and not used a lawyer to stop the injunction, I was told the lawyer had advised him the woman was within her rights and the law to take this action.

I thought I had left this sort of political correctness sh*t behind when I left the UK. Seems not.

[centrico]

I can see both sides of this story, being an ex-smoker and now just have an occasional cigarette. However some people take it too far. My neighbors room spells like he's running a 24 hour poker game in there. The entire hall way stinks of smoke since he moved in.

Luckily the smell does not normally come into our room and remains in the hallway, but there are a few other neighbors where the smoke does come into their rooms. Personally i can deal with smell being an ex-smoker, but my wife is another story.

If you plan on hotboxing your home with smoke all day just make sure the room is adequately sealed so that the smoke doesn't travel into other people's homes.

Why did you father in law not close the windows while smoking after the first few complaints? Then it probably wouldn't have gotten so out of hand.

He does not have aircon in the house so all the windows and the large double doors are kept open to give some air flow. Friends of his also smoke in the house when they get together to play cards or watch television. Added to that he is also a wee bit stubborn to say the least as many older can be. He being in his late 60's. I would also object to being told not to smoke in my own home. Whatever happened to freedom of rights in your own home?

Others have mentioned the pollution from vehicles. I have to agree that diesel smoke and other traffic pollution must be as harmful. On the other hand smoking is now banned in the majority of public places. Even in some public parks. Possibly she could have had doctors to back her up and using the medical knowledge of passive smoking effects as her basis of complaint. We can do little about traffic pollution though until the government ban traffic

[bonobo]

I haven't said anything yet, but I am thinking about it.  My neighbor is a Korean guy, and when he wants to smoke, he comes out of his condo and stands in front of mine.  And for whatever reason, the smoke is drawn under my door and into my condo.

If he smoked in his own condo, I wouldn't really care.  But I am not sure why he has to step outside (he rents the place, but lives alone) and smoke in front of my door (I am the end condo, so maybe he likes looking out at the parking lot at the end of the building while he smokes.

[Ijustwannateach]

The irony is that many smokers know that their habits foul up their own nest. I lived in a kind of dormitory for awhile in which one girl smoked in her room. She liked to leave her door open, which would lead to the smoke drifting down the hall and under the doors of everyone on that floor of the building. She was astonished that we knew when she was smoking! And when we asked her to keep her door closed, she complained that the smoking made her room too smelly!!!

[smokie36]

And here I am in the intolerant west having a smoke as I write this. Who'd have thought it even a few years ago? The mind boggles.

Each to their own and a bit of mutual respect thrown in needed here imo.

[thaifkrlim]

offer your neighbour a gift of an electric cigarette it does not produce foul smell in his own home or yours or the hallway, for 2000 or less you are both happy good investment a displeasure deterrent, and you do not need to modify some carcinogenic substances like nickel benzene asbestos and blend them into the tobacco and give it to your beloved neighbour because he will probably die by smoking within an accelerated 2 months by institutional homicidal method used by the central intelligence, pls do not

[trevorg]

Respect and Tolerance! One is deserved and then earnt and one is given freely, and this is not just in regards of smoking!

[losworld]

I think the poster better provide a good source for this story as it sounds like complete BS to me. So the police and legal system went through all this without any payoff? The story lost all credibility in my mind with the cooking part of it.

Prove me wrong and provide a relevant reference from where this story originates.

[centrico]

I think the poster better provide a good source for this story as it sounds like complete BS to me. So the police and legal system went through all this without any payoff? The story lost all credibility in my mind with the cooking part of it.

Prove me wrong and provide a relevant reference from where this story originates.

How can I possibly show you a relevent reference. That is crazy. Ask a lawyer! He will tell you your rights regarding a similar situation. And not all the legal system take pay offs.

[bkkjames]

Wow i am amazed by this story, finally someone that can actually made the right choice on a difficult issue, is a bit like if someone was asked to turn the music down in his own home because it was too loud, common place in EU and very quick officers on duty, don't need to go to court

yep, all good, now I can start action against my neighbor whose car belches out toxic gases and enters my apartment endangering the health of my son.

[Tod Daniels]

FWIW; living in an apartment which is located directly behind the Times Square Parking Building and behind the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit delivery area I routinely have to go out and yell over the fence to tell the semi-truck drivers to turn off their engines when they're unloading a trailer. My house fills with diesel fumes in a matter of minutes, you can even see the blue haze.

Usually they are accomodating to this request; but on more than one occasion (as I can't squeeze between the metal fence pickets ) I've had to trudge all the way around behind the two buildings into the back alley to drive the point home.

I took it up with the Times Square management company; even going so far as to buy a sign for them which says in thai; "ATTN: trucks please turn off your engines for deliveries!".

Sadly I just saw yesterday that the security guards now uses the to reinforce the top of a small table they play cards on back there.

[bonobo]

Wow i am amazed by this story, finally someone that can actually made the right choice on a difficult issue, is a bit like if someone was asked to turn the music down in his own home because it was too loud, common place in EU and very quick officers on duty, don't need to go to court

yep, all good, now I can start action against my neighbor whose car belches out toxic gases and enters my apartment endangering the health of my son.

I know you and I have gone at loggerheads on the smoking issue before, but I certainly agree with that, even if you were being facetious (I don't know if you were or not).  I wouldn't want my infant son breathing in tons of exhaust