Tree

[pj123]

My neighbour has just chopped off most of the branches of a large tree in my garden that were overhanging his garden. The tree now looks terrible. Does he have a right to do this?

[Thaifan2]

Under English law you can cut off the parts of a tree that overhang your property .Probably the same in Thailand ?

[gotlost]

YES

[Somrak]

<br />YES <img src='http://static.thaivisa.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /><br />

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NOOOOOOO ! Not with me !

[jubby]

I had this with my neighbour. He did ask first though . I was going to get someone to do it. but he said he would do it, no probs. He did. It looked a mess but grew back fine. Don't worry about it.

[gotlost]

<br />YES <img src='http://static.thaivisa.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /><br />

<br /><br /><br />

NOOOOOOO ! Not with me !

You lose he wins.

[yabaaaa]

Also in UK law you must throw the branches/fruits back into the neighbours garden of whose tree you cut as even though they overhang your property you do not own them and its classed as theft.

[MikeyIdea]

Yes, he has the right to do so. Actually, it is you who don't have the right to have your branches overhanging his garden without asking for his permission first. Did you do that?

I find that the neighbour didn't talk to you first a bit strange, I am sure that my neighbours would have asked, and then offered to cut them down for me

Don't worry, it will soon grow out and yo will have a beautiful tree again

[xen]

The way i understand the situation and the law in regards to this situation as in Oz, (but it is rarely understood until it lands in court ) is that if a neighbour's tree is overhanging your border or is causing damage to your property you should approach your neighbour and make in aware of your concerns.Written notification is advisable if it should escalate into more conflict . You must then allow your neighbour sufficient time to fix the situation . If after a "reasonable " time has expired and your neighbour has not made an attempt to address your concerns then you are able to prune or take steps to alliviate your concerns.

However , If your are to prune or" lop" then you must take "reasonable " care as not to "injure" the tree. Butchering a tree is not reasonable care. Without going into detail about correct pruning techniques ignoring this can result in further litigation further later on. For example you may feel your neighbours tree's roots are getting into your sewer and so you hack into the trees's root system severing several main stabilizing roots and then in a severe storm the tree falls onto his house , then the question arise wether it was negligent to destabilize the tree by hacking into the root system.

Also , the branches that are removed must be offfered back to the owner of the tree but he does not have to accept them and then it is your responsibility, and cost , to dispose of the branches. Most people will accept any fruit and benifits of the tree that grows across the fence line and in most cases it is reasonably understood that it is not theft to eat the fruit that falls into your property . The same applies to the branches.

Nothing is really clear in law , particularly negligence but it does make lawyers very happy , if not busy. How Thai law sees this situation is .being realistic /cycnical ,is proably based on who has the most powerful friends.

[MikeyIdea]

The way i understand the situation and the law in regards to this situation as in Oz, (but it is rarely understood until it lands in court ) is that if a neighbour's tree is overhanging your border or is causing damage to your property you should approach your neighbour and make in aware of your concerns.Written notification is advisable if it should escalate into more conflict . You must then allow your neighbour sufficient time to fix the situation . If after a "reasonable " time has expired and your neighbour has not made an attempt to address your concerns then you are able to prune or take steps to alliviate your concerns.

However , If your are to prune or" lop" then you must take "reasonable " care as not to "injure" the tree. Butchering a tree is not reasonable care. Without going into detail about correct pruning techniques ignoring this can result in further litigation further later on. For example you may feel your neighbours tree's roots are getting into your sewer and so you hack into the trees's root system severing several main stabilizing roots and then in a severe storm the tree falls onto his house , then the question arise wether it was negligent to destabilize the tree by hacking into the root system.

Also , the branches that are removed must be offfered back to the owner of the tree but he does not have to accept them and then it is your responsibility, and cost , to dispose of the branches. Most people will accept any fruit and benifits of the tree that grows across the fence line and in most cases it is reasonably understood that it is not theft to eat the fruit that falls into your property . The same applies to the branches.

Nothing is really clear in law , particularly negligence but it does make lawyers very happy , if not busy. How Thai law sees this situation is .being realistic /cycnical ,is proably based on who has the most powerful friends.

Good explanation and law desribed, Thanks. Not Thai law. Thai law is simple and implementation is practical rather than theorethical. Overhanging is not allowed without permission. No court would ever blame the owner of the overhanged land for removing what shouldn't have been there in the first place because of the practical reason that what the owner removed has no value, wood value 50 bath?. Esthetics? Thai judges knows that branches grow out again. And if you worry about that, why didn't you do something before if affected others? The value decide the seriousness

Addition: The owner of the over-hung land should have talked to the owner of the tree and I find that Thais also normally do. This case can be explained away with communication problems because owner of the tree is not Thai and there it ends. I am still surprised that the owner didn't talk to the tree owner first. I am sure my neighbours would have talked to me, I speak Thai. Don't automatically suspect bad intent, maybe the guy would have been happy to chat with you about this if only he could have

Edited June 24, 2010 by MikeyIdea

[xen]

The owner of the over-hung land should have talked to the owner of the tree and I find that Thais also normally do. This case can be explained away with communication problems because owner of the tree is not Thai and there it ends. I am still surprised that the owner didn't talk to the tree owner first. I am sure my neighbours would have talked to me, I speak Thai. Don't automatically suspect bad intent, maybe the guy would have been happy to chat with you about this if only he could have

I would agree that talking to the neighbour is always the smartest thing to do and it can circumnavigate a lot of future problems. Plus it is just good old manners no matter where you are.

[yabaaaa]

Buy 5 acres . my wife did it avoids many problems

[pj123]

My wife is Thai. They came to speak to her about 10 days ago about an extension in the front of their property. They needed our written approval which we gave.

They hacked the tree without a word to us. The reason: they did not want to have to clear leaves from the gutter of the new extension.

I agree with the 5 acre suggestions. Keep neighbours as far away from you as possible WHERE EVER you are.

[jcon]

One million baht trees in Chiang Mai: (million per tree)

Instructions: Do not plant near neighbor

[xen]

They hacked the tree without a word to us. The reason: they did not want to have to clear leaves from the gutter of the new extension.

Then, most likely, they will wonder why their house is so hot from the lack of shade - Thankfully we have have noisy , expensive air conditioners to replace a shade tree.