How To Deal With Dirty Neighbours?

[NikhilBkk]

Hi, in the in the slightly upmarket condo project that we purchased and moved in about 9 months ago, everything was pefaceul and great and all the neighbours on my floor and even in the rest of the building are polite and seem nice and decent. We have had two events at the poolside that were attended by all the tenants and everything was great. There are only three foreign tenants in the buiding including me and we all get along. The problem or rather the nightmare started two months ago, when a unit on my floor which is directly across mine, which was vacant (as the owner is a thai who bought it merely for investment purposes)for a while was rented out to British Chap who had an Isaan Wife and her mum and sister. I had been very polite to them and normally greeted them in the lifts etc but then his wife started throwing trash just outside the door when there is actually a trash disposal area on the floor. She also sweeps the floor and simply throws the dirt outside. I did very gently ask her and her husband if they could please throw the trash in the designated area but it was simply ignored. The other thai neighbours ahd also spoken to them nicely but to no avail and we had complained to the juristic office which have warned them a few times but again to no avail. The wife and the mother would also take their laundry and wash them in the swimming pool/gym toilets and they will everyday go down there to have their showers etc and even the rest of the neighbours have commented about seeing them brush their teeth there. (Though its not really my concern. )They will also keep the tables by the poolside dirty, etc. I have stopped smiling or even talking to them and so has the rest of the neighbours and am actually thinking so doing something drastic. Any ideas? The sight of the trash just outside my door simply drives me bonkers.And the new corridors and lifts are always littered by them.

[powderpuff]

Move?

[GuestHouse]

Country types you say .......

Print the attachment out, wrap it around a chicken's head and a broken face mirror, tie the parcel with a dried snake skin and hang it on their door handle...... They'll be out before sunset.

[travelmann]

By a tube of clear silicone and a gun for it and apply it all round the door where it meets the frame, then get some clear araldite and smear it in the lock. That way they wont be opening the door anytime soon, your choice whether its done when they' re in or out of he room but in would be more fun.

Theres always at least one inconsiderate git like this in all the condos Ive lived in, they do what they want and you have to treat <snip>.

Alternatively waste endless motnhs with the office who will suceed in getting nothing done about it whatsoever.............I guarantee it!!

Edited December 14, 2010 by soundman
Removed excessive profanity.

[TheWalkingMan]

All I can say is wow. If what you have posted is accurate, those are some terrible neighbors.

Can you get the owner of the apartment they are renting to give them the boot?

TheWalkingMan

[Richb2004v2]

If you wait long enough eventually you will get used to it. You might even start littering yourself and claiming Thailand to be a wonderful country. At which point everything will be 'mai pen rai' and you will be totally happy. Either that or move. :jap:

[angiud]

:lol:

[petedk]

I sympathize with you and also have experienced something similar.

All the crazy ideas of "move" or do the same thing don't really help you. It's not easy just to sell a condo one has just purchased.

If these people make a mess like that outside the condo what does it look like inside?

You say the condo they live in is owned by a Thai who bought it for investment purposes. Does he ever come there to inspect the condo? I know of some Thais who are very concerned about the property they rent out and regularly inspect the area.

If you know who the owner is why not try to contact him and talk to him about the problem? It's also possible has other units in the same building and is interested in renting them out. If it's a messy place then people won't want to live there and he won't be able to rent out.

[tim armstrong]

Country types you say .......

Print the attachment out, wrap it around a chicken's head and a broken face mirror, tie the parcel with a dried snake skin and hang it on their door handle...... They'll be out before sunset.

What a great idea ! I'd probably leave the snake in the skin - dead of course. I would also get as many geckos as you can find preferably alive, and somehow get them into the condo. The famous Thai gecko horror movie is embedded in Thai thinking.

[petedk]

A bit more on the humouristic side is to ask the Thai wife, mum or sister if they have heard about the "couple who lived there before them" and tell them how the man murdered his wife in the condo.

They'll be out before you finish telling the story.

[DumpyLevel]

I can see where this sort of problem is harder to fix in townhouses and basic moo baans without a common authority so...

Not sure if I am missing something, but if it is as bad as you say and everybody sees the problem, would this not be discussed by the body corporate, who if agree, could suggest the the owner get rid of the tennant. Surely this nearly up market condo has rules and regulations

[jazzbo]

While other advice is more colorful, I would just buy a large plastic garbage can for 200 baht or so with bag liners and leave it in front of and blocking their door ... and any time you see it moved from in front of their door put it back ... you can empty it until they (hopefully) eventually get the idea.

[NikhilBkk]

To Move out is going to be out....I paid Bt 8.4 for the unit and its not easy to sell plus I actually like the building and the location. I have tried being nice to them....even getting food hamper for the ladies and telling to help not put the trash there. The Brit does not seen to care and seems filthy himself and is always seemingly drunk. The juristic office does not know what to do and they have contacted the Thai owner of the unit who is currently overseas. I am actually planning to do something drastic and have been talking to thai friends about this. I am now beginning to understand why the thai chinese and upper strata thais simply detest others. I always though that Thais were very clean people but I guess I now know.My other thai neighbours simply treated them with total disgusts and will not even acknowledge them anymore and even call them names. Found out that the Brit is a pensioner and that his wife and her family are from Udon Thani. There is at least a minimum of about 18 to 20 empty bottles of Singha beer outside the door everyday! along with their other stinking trash. Just yesterday all the thai neighbours were complaining as they were cooking something that really stank the whole corridor and other units.

Besides what drastic schemes I was having.....does anyone really have any other constructive manners to deal with these people.Please no jokes funny comments.....if you stayed opposite them, you will understand the frustration and agony and anger that I go through each day.

Edited December 14, 2010 by bonobo
removed perjoratives

[Cartmanpark]

Country types you say .......

Print the attachment out, wrap it around a chicken's head and a broken face mirror, tie the parcel with a dried snake skin and hang it on their door handle...... They'll be out before sunset.

hahahahaha, yep, country people are superstitious lot!

[DumpyLevel]

I'm certainly not having a go at you and at 8.4M to purchase, I'm surprised that a Brit pensioner can afford to stay in such a place, especially if he is a bum.

I still think it is the building management / body corporate responsibility and you need to pressure them into action even if they say they don't know what to do.. You do have rights as an owner occupancy against a tenant occupancy... Not sure what you mean by something drastic, but being petty only lowers you to their level

[astral]

I agree about contacting the owner, though this may not help.

Condo rules are all well and good, as long as people abide by them.

If not they are difficult to enforce.

Beware of taking action on your own, as Thai retribution can be pretty awful.

You mention "we". Is your wife Thai, does she have any local contacts

who can help exert pressure?

[philw]

If you wait long enough eventually you will get used to it. You might even start littering yourself and claiming Thailand to be a wonderful country. At which point everything will be 'mai pen rai' and you will be totally happy. Either that or move. :jap:

Excellent.

My first reaction to Op was "Oh Dear......., how sad"

I do like the brushing the teeth in public bit and the Issan wife.

Amazing.

Edited December 13, 2010 by philw

[GuestHouse]

Offer the management a back hander - if they get rid of the neighbours inside a month you slip them a respectable wad of cash.

[afarang]

By a tube of clear silicone and a gun for it and apply it all round the door where it meets the frame, then get some clear araldite and smear it in the lock. That way they wont be opening the door anytime soon, your choice whether its done when they' re in or out of he room but in would be more fun.

Theres always at least one inconsiderate git like this in all the condos Ive lived in, they do what they want and you have to treat <snip>.

Alternatively waste endless motnhs with the office who will suceed in getting nothing done about it whatsoever.............I guarantee it!!

Love it

[NikhilBkk]

Hi Astral, I my thai bf sometimes comes over and stays. He is a Bangkokian Thai Chinese and yes he is well connected and that why we are contemplating something drastic which I cannot mention . The juristic body has already contacted the thai owner of the unit that these trash have rented and he will only be back in bkk at the end of January 2011. There was many unoccupied units in the building which is new(ie 10 months old) and I think that he owner must have rented it out cheaply.On thing that I have not mentioned is that sometimes me and the rest of the neighbours have to also put up with the noise of them quarelling at the most unholy hours of the night! And sometimes they also fight at the corridor area, etc. Once, I think the Thai neighbours called the police.....who came but could not do anything!!!!!!! (I GIVE UP!).

Quite honestly...their fights and the noise does not bother me as coming back each day and seeing the trash outside the door......as if I bought my home in a slum! I actually came very close to hitting the "bitc...." once when I saw her throwing the trash outside. Having stayed in Thailand for a while now.......I have never had any problems but these days I am beginning to see thais in a different light especially the country bumkin types.(In the past I believed that everyone was equal and actually hated the ways the richer types looked down on the poorer ones......but this is changing my views. I am ever so so mad everyday. Imagine, working and saving your monies to buy a home and then having something like this.

[fletchsmile]

By a tube of clear silicone and a gun for it and apply it all round the door where it meets the frame, then get some clear araldite and smear it in the lock. That way they wont be opening the door anytime soon, your choice whether its done when they' re in or out of he room but in would be more fun.

Theres always at least one inconsiderate git like this in all the condos Ive lived in, they do what they want and you have to treat <snip>.

Alternatively waste endless motnhs with the office who will suceed in getting nothing done about it whatsoever.............I guarantee it!!

Actually an interesting idea for a business venture - as you say there's probably a market.

[Richb2004v2]

No matter how much you spend and where you build in Thailand there is always the danger that a slum will appear very close by very soon, and there will be nothing you can do about it. It's one of the wonders of Thailand.

[whybother]

Collect all the trash and throw it back inside.

[JohnC]

I would guess (never having lived in a condo) that there is something in the contract about standards of cleanliness in the common areas, if this is being abused (which it appears to be) why don't a number of you get together and tell the building management they are in breach of contract and until they remedy the problem you will be withholding the maintenance fees?

[craigt3365]

Inappropriate post removed. Keep it civil guys...

:jap:

[Maccheroncini]

When something like this happen the juristic person will need a leading tenant to lead a meeting of concerned parties and talk about the resolution.  I would really give them serious warning about respecting other people right in the building. 

[dave111223]

Go to the next condo committee meeting. Explain the problem. Suggest that a new "littering" fine be instituted against anyone seen leaving trash (say 500THB per time).

Have these fines be automatically added to the service bill each month.

As soon as the unit owner gets his monthly service bill and there is an additional XXXX baht worth of littering fines on it the problem will soon be resolved.

The fines may not hold up in court (ie if the unit owner decided to take it to court that the building office had no right to impose these fines)...but money is not really the point is it. The point is making the unit owner realize that he has problem tenants and his life is going to get more difficult as a result.

[Scully]

I am now beginning to understand why the thai chinese and upper strata thais simply detest the lower life forms. I always though that Thais were very clean people but I guess I now know.My other thai neighbours simply treated them with total disgusts and will not even acknowledge them anymore and even call them names.

I am British I don't drink my GF is from Isaan, well educated up at 5am cleaning cooking everything is spotless.

If I leave a shirt on the bed or a pair of jeans hanging in the toilet I turn my back and they are in the wash bin, don't tar everyone with the same brush. I asked her to shout over the road to the man that sells water her answer it's not nice to raise your voice, while in England I gave her some chewing gum I chewed it for 30mins then threw it out of the car window (naughty I know) she kept it in her mouth for three hours?. I asked the reason why and she replied that she wouldn't like to clean it up so why should somebody else. The list of things that she does that are respectful are endless.

I feel sorry for your situation but I feel even more sorry for your narrow minded attitude.

[longstebe]

Surely everyone pulling together and speaking with the right people from the condo is the way to go.

Some farangs just don't get it. How do people just begin not to give a monkeys fart about what is right and wrong.

Now for my stupid reply, I would start throwing my trash outside there door.

As for the Isaan thing, thats not everyone from there.

[RabC]

I am now beginning to understand why the thai chinese and upper strata thais simply detest the lower life forms. I always though that Thais were very clean people but I guess I now know.My other thai neighbours simply treated them with total disgusts and will not even acknowledge them anymore and even call them names.

I am British I don't drink my GF is from Isaan, well educated up at 5am cleaning cooking everything is spotless.

If I leave a shirt on the bed or a pair of jeans hanging in the toilet I turn my back and they are in the wash bin, don't tar everyone with the same brush. I asked her to shout over the road to the man that sells water her answer it's not nice to raise your voice, while in England I gave her some chewing gum I chewed it for 30mins then threw it out of the car window (naughty I know) she kept it in her mouth for three hours?. I asked the reason why and she replied that she wouldn't like to clean it up so why should somebody else. The list of things that she does that are respectful are endless.

I feel sorry for your situation but I feel even more sorry for your narrow minded attitude.

I fully agree. maybe its not nice living across from Hyacinth Bucket