How Do We Stop An Outdoor Bar From Disturbing The Neighbors With Their Loud Music From 8:20Pm Til 11 Pm Every Night

[neverdie]

I might have been a little more sympathetic if it was not for his acrimonious and arrogant post as well. Where is he anyway, is his apartment under a bridge?

Come on mate, you know all HIGH CLASS apartments have noisy nightclubs on their doorsteps.

[singa-traz]

It certainly is an open forum, thanks Southpeel. And I said my piece.

Should the OP really expect to get only the answers he wants, when many others don't agree.

The OP is being unreasonable. 11PM IS NOT late. Let's not forget here the OP isn't asking for quiet at 11 because he already has that. The OP is asking for it BEFORE 11, let's say an hour earlier. That's at 10 PM he is expecting a business to sacrifice trade just so get can get an early night. And on Soi 13, the OP is in the wrong place anyway, not the bar. There are plenty of quiet areas in Bangkok to live, but he chooses a noisy/busy area and then demands that everybody keeps it quiet just for him.

I might have been a little more sympathetic if it was not for his acrimonious and arrogant post as well. Where is he anyway, is his apartment under a bridge?

Out interest I have just had a quick look at the link provided above to Pollution Control Department....their criteria...Max 115dB and over 24 hour period continuous not to exceed 70dB

To have a legitimate complaint under Thai standards, would need to prove either business concerned pumps out music over 115dB or alternatively been subjected to 70dB continuously for 24 hours......I am guessing neither is the case in terms of the bar concerned....

Those limits are those that would cause a threat to your health (hearing).

For the definition of noise pollution (from a bar for example), it is 10DB above the background noise (which is measure over a defined period of time).

PDC has a few documents available: http://www.pcd.go.th/download/en_air.cfm

(Mostly in Thai)

[GreenSnapper]

Lower Suk is a big open-air brothel.

If you move there, you should expect the sounds of such a place.

[CanInBKK]

Out interest I have just had a quick look at the link provided above to Pollution Control Department....their criteria...Max 115dB and over 24 hour period continuous not to exceed 70dB

To have a legitimate complaint under Thai standards, would need to prove either business concerned pumps out music over 115dB or alternatively been subjected to 70dB continuously for 24 hours......I am guessing neither is the case in terms of the bar concerned....

Is that correct, 115dB? Jeez, from my college days I know that is getting close to the threshold of pain.

I'm not an audiologist, as well this is all relative anyways but how loud is 115db? My car stereo back overseas cranked out 122db (exactly, as measured by a sound pressure meter) and a Vuvuzela at 1m is 3 times more powerful than 115db. So is 115db really hard to achieve? I think if the OP were to have the BMA measure the sound pressure level it's quite possible that the music exceeds the legal level.

Edited March 4, 2011 by CanInBKK

[manarak]

Hairsplitters anonymous

OP, move places.

You will probably have no trouble to find new tenants with the selling point that the apartment in lower suk is quiet as early as 23:00.

Or maybe get your senile insomnia under control.

("senile insomnia" is a loose translation of the german expression "senile Bettflucht", which caracterises the tendency of certain elderly people to shift their sleep/wake periods with a propension to stand up very early).

Edited March 4, 2011 by manarak

[pattaya_girl]

I have been surrounded with noisy Bars and poor looking Karaoke Bars since I moved into my House 9 Years ago.

They come and they go, and then another one comes.

At the beginning, someone in my Soi use to call the Police if the loud music went on past 2am, and the Police use to go, and it was lowered.

A Farang guy in my Soi complained a couple of Months ago, and this Thai guy got a gun out and said he was the Police and was the owner. The Farang moved out, never to be seen again, I think he was petrified.

Myself, I guess after 9 years I am use to it. My little tip - get your bolster pillow and lay it over your ear so its not as loud, as your trying to sleep.

Good luck with it, I am sure you will get use to it in time.

[Soutpeel]

Out interest I have just had a quick look at the link provided above to Pollution Control Department....their criteria...Max 115dB and over 24 hour period continuous not to exceed 70dB

To have a legitimate complaint under Thai standards, would need to prove either business concerned pumps out music over 115dB or alternatively been subjected to 70dB continuously for 24 hours......I am guessing neither is the case in terms of the bar concerned....

Is that correct, 115dB? Jeez, from my college days I know that is getting close to the threshold of pain.

I'm not an audiologist, as well this is all relative anyways but how loud is 115db? My car stereo back overseas cranked out 122db (exactly, as measured by a sound pressure meter) and a Vuvuzela at 1m is 3 times more powerful than 115db. So is 115db really hard to achieve? I think if the OP were to have the BMA measure the sound pressure level it's quite possible that the music exceeds the legal level.

After consulting our friend Mr Google....currently the loudest rock band live performance on record is from 2009 - KISS.....136dB, other famous bands to hold the Record...1980..AC/DC...130dB....1976...The Who live at leeds...126dB.....1972...Deep Purple...117 dB at the Rainbow......1969...Led Zeppelin....130 dB

Therefore unless the OP has a famous rock band playing on his balcony highly unlikely the bar concerned is breaking any laws...as all these values will have been measured within 50m of the speakers.

[samran]

In Chiang Rai a group of foreigners complained to the local police that he Karaoke bars (6 of them made of bamboo) were disturbing the estate residents with very loud music until 1-2am every night of the week. The bars are 200 mtrs from the estate but from the karaoke soi across to the estate there is only waste land and the noise traveled . The police acted on the complaints , the music was turned down to a reasonable level and all music stopped at the lawful time here of 1am.

Just state your case , be polite about it and who knows you maybe lucky .

I agree with another post about getting double glazing fitted to your Condo , you may thing it would be expensive to do but get a quote , you will be suprised how cheap it is to do .

Good Luck.

For what it is worth I had a good chat once with a local copper from the Wireless Rd police station. He indicated that they regularly act on noise complaints.

Suggest you ignore TV members who will come out and cry 'corruption' but from my impression it is something that the police do take action on - when people complain.

[endure]

Hairsplitters anonymous

If we're going to split hairs 'db' is a logarithmic ratio and not an absolute measure. 'db' by itself means nothing without a reference level.

[Soutpeel]

Those limits are those that would cause a threat to your health (hearing).

For the definition of noise pollution (from a bar for example), it is 10DB above the background noise (which is measure over a defined period of time).

PDC has a few documents available: http://www.pcd.go.th...load/en_air.cfm

(Mostly in Thai)

OK...but have a look at the monitoring stations throughout BKK on the website average values for "background" noise.....69dB, 70 dB thorough out BKK if we add 10 dB, we would be close to an industrial requirement to wear ear protection, which if I remember correctly is 85dB.

[singa-traz]

Out interest I have just had a quick look at the link provided above to Pollution Control Department....their criteria...Max 115dB and over 24 hour period continuous not to exceed 70dB

To have a legitimate complaint under Thai standards, would need to prove either business concerned pumps out music over 115dB or alternatively been subjected to 70dB continuously for 24 hours......I am guessing neither is the case in terms of the bar concerned....

Is that correct, 115dB? Jeez, from my college days I know that is getting close to the threshold of pain.

I'm not an audiologist, as well this is all relative anyways but how loud is 115db? My car stereo back overseas cranked out 122db (exactly, as measured by a sound pressure meter) and a Vuvuzela at 1m is 3 times more powerful than 115db. So is 115db really hard to achieve? I think if the OP were to have the BMA measure the sound pressure level it's quite possible that the music exceeds the legal level.

After consulting our friend Mr Google....currently the loudest rock band live performance on record is from 2009 - KISS.....136dB, other famous bands to hold the Record...1980..AC/DC...130dB....1976...The Who live at leeds...126dB.....1972...Deep Purple...117 dB at the Rainbow......1969...Led Zeppelin....130 dB

Therefore unless the OP has a famous rock band playing on his balcony highly unlikely the bar concerned is breaking any laws...as all these values will have been measured within 50m of the speakers.

More likely, the bar is breaking a few laws which are not being enforced.

Here is in Thai the measurement method with the reference to the tolerated noise level:

http://www.pcd.go.th/count/airdl.cfm?FileName=Guideline_Noise.pdf&BookName=คู่มือวัดเสียงรบกวน

Thailand is the Land where people think you can do anything (like opening an open bar with a band in a residential area) as long as it does not bother someone more powerful.

Luckily, there are laws to protect people's right, and there are means to have them enforce, most or some of the time ...

[singa-traz]

I have been surrounded with noisy Bars and poor looking Karaoke Bars since I moved into my House 9 Years ago.

They come and they go, and then another one comes.

At the beginning, someone in my Soi use to call the Police if the loud music went on past 2am, and the Police use to go, and it was lowered.

A Farang guy in my Soi complained a couple of Months ago, and this Thai guy got a gun out and said he was the Police and was the owner. The Farang moved out, never to be seen again, I think he was petrified.

Myself, I guess after 9 years I am use to it. My little tip - get your bolster pillow and lay it over your ear so its not as loud, as your trying to sleep.

Good luck with it, I am sure you will get use to it in time.

Last year near Pattaya, an old Thai man shot a younger Thai guy who was repeatingly blasting music from his car, despite being kindly ask to lower the volume.

Google "Youth Shot In Pattaya Noise Pollution"

[Richb2004v2]

I have been surrounded with noisy Bars and poor looking Karaoke Bars since I moved into my House 9 Years ago.

They come and they go, and then another one comes.

At the beginning, someone in my Soi use to call the Police if the loud music went on past 2am, and the Police use to go, and it was lowered.

A Farang guy in my Soi complained a couple of Months ago, and this Thai guy got a gun out and said he was the Police and was the owner. The Farang moved out, never to be seen again, I think he was petrified.

Myself, I guess after 9 years I am use to it. My little tip - get your bolster pillow and lay it over your ear so its not as loud, as your trying to sleep.

Good luck with it, I am sure you will get use to it in time.

Last year near Pattaya, an old Thai man shot a younger Thai guy who was repeatingly blasting music from his car, despite being kindly ask to lower the volume.

Google "Youth Shot In Pattaya Noise Pollution"

I wonder if the guy that mentioned leaving his home country partly due to 'aggressive attitudes' has read these posts .

[Soutpeel]

Last year near Pattaya, an old Thai man shot a younger Thai guy who was repeatingly blasting music from his car, despite being kindly ask to lower the volume.

Google "Youth Shot In Pattaya Noise Pollution"

Maybe this is the solution then....OP get .50 Cal on your balcony...

[alantheembalmer]

I, for one, sympathise with your plight. A persistent noise nuisance can be a real drain on an individual.

If you get somewhere with a complaint, and this I very much doubt, then it is likely that another bar will arise from the ashes.

The only positive suggestion I can give you is to try and create a quiet room in your home. Do this by installing such things as double glazing and heavy curtains, and get some advice locally about other measures you can take. At least this way you will have a refuge when the noise and irritation of it gets too great.

Good luck

Alan

[chooch7]

i feel your pain................ok-i dont .

move!

[singa-traz]

I, for one, sympathise with your plight. A persistent noise nuisance can be a real drain on an individual.

If you get somewhere with a complaint, and this I very much doubt, then it is likely that another bar will arise from the ashes.

The only positive suggestion I can give you is to try and create a quiet room in your home. Do this by installing such things as double glazing and heavy curtains, and get some advice locally about other measures you can take. At least this way you will have a refuge when the noise and irritation of it gets too great.

Good luck

Alan

Hi Alan,

In Bangkok, BMA has a contact number and will follow-up on this.

In your local district, there should be a department dealing with environmental question, and that include pollution control (and noise).

In the main soi where I live, 3 bars have been encouraged by local authorities to either close/relocate to a more appropriate location or adjust their music level to an acceptable level.

So, it's not a battle that is doomed to fail. However, it takes time and effort.

The main challenge is that your Thai neigbhour who is suffering from the same noise pollution, is most probably not keen on using his right to complain.

[jimbeam1]

I feel for you if it really is getting you down. But 11.00pm is not really late especially in a City that never sleeps. You should really be thinking that it is time to cut your losses and run. If you do, take a good look around before you put pen to paper again. Good luck.

jb1

Edited March 5, 2011 by jimbeam1

[Darrel]

Whilst 11pm certainly isnt late for Pattaya it would be too late for me. I have been careful to select places to live here that have no current noise pollution and no real chance of developing any. I will continue to do this until I become deaf.

If by some misfortune I was living somewhere that became noisy I would try to complain but would be quite happy to leave without notice if the complaints got nowhere (which I suspect they would).

[StreetCowboy]

I might have been a little more sympathetic if it was not for his acrimonious and arrogant post as well. Where is he anyway, is his apartment under a bridge?

Come on mate, you know all HIGH CLASS apartments have noisy nightclubs on their doorsteps.

I couldn't afford to live in a place like that

SC

not every night

Edited March 5, 2011 by StreetCowboy

[bitterbatter]

Earplugs!

Works for me

[Ajaan]

Someone posted a similar question in one of the English language newspapers...Bangkok Post or Nation...about 8-9 years ago. The response from the newspaper was very instructive: something to the effect of, "if you complain about them, be careful...they are, after all, a bar, and thus no doubt have mafia connections, you may get beat up or have limbs broken as a result..." haha. Sad, but very true.

[bitterbatter]

Or you could use religious grounds.

Declare your home a buddhist temple, shave your head, and put on an orange robe. Police usually respect the law that prohibits loud clubs within a couple hundred meters of a Wat.

[Langsuan Man]

I should have known better eh?

Correct

[gkinbkk]

Sorry mate you have to choose your battles and battling against a bar with elite connections be it through the police or ownership structure is a battle you cant win.......mai pen rai

A very senior public servant is building a new apartment building in our street which I would say is very exclusive so lots of elites living here, he lives in the same street...they work 24x7, concrete pouring, banging away...sunday morning there are bandsaws buzzing away right now. It will be finished next month and we can get some peace but there is absolutely nothign can be done about it...mai pen rai

[OzMick]

I live about 1km from a disco that OPENS at 11pm, and the bass beat is loud enough to give me dreams of giant machinery ala War of the Worlds. When they turn it off at 6am, the sudden silence usually wakes me.

Of course this is totally illegal, but apparently the connections/bribes are sufficient to allow it to continue, as it has for many years. Complaining has no effect, but if you do so long and loud enough, IMHO someone will probably come to your home and kill you. It is NOT a wise move to get between a Thai and his income source.

My solution is much cheaper than double glazing. Given your age, 5 or 6 small bottles of Chang taken internally will ensure a good night's sleep if you remember to empty your bladder before dozing. Sexual intercourse also works well for me. If you don't have the means for either at hand (no pun intended), there is a bar only one soi away that could probably supply what you need.

[ThaiFelix]

I had the same problem with a neighbour, not a business, although I think he thought he had his own Bar Beer. He would invite all his mates around and go till sometimes 2 in the morning on a week night. I got into trouble for complaining...I was a trouble maker. Even though the bulk of the neighbours, including my landlady's mother from next door, complained or at least agreed with me, he would do nothing. Finally he lost his job (2nd time in 3 years) for being late and hungover....did he learn from the experience...no! He actually got worse....apologised to us but said he had to do it now coz he was depressed from losing his job again Go figure that one!

The outcome...I moved. I sleep very well now.

I wish you all the best but dont hold your breath.

[SiangDeeMahk]

Out interest I have just had a quick look at the link provided above to Pollution Control Department....their criteria...Max 115dB and over 24 hour period continuous not to exceed 70dB

To have a legitimate complaint under Thai standards, would need to prove either business concerned pumps out music over 115dB or alternatively been subjected to 70dB continuously for 24 hours......I am guessing neither is the case in terms of the bar concerned....

Is that correct, 115dB? Jeez, from my college days I know that is getting close to the threshold of pain.

I'm not an audiologist, as well this is all relative anyways but how loud is 115db? My car stereo back overseas cranked out 122db (exactly, as measured by a sound pressure meter) and a Vuvuzela at 1m is 3 times more powerful than 115db. So is 115db really hard to achieve? I think if the OP were to have the BMA measure the sound pressure level it's quite possible that the music exceeds the legal level.

Wow.. you REALLY need to learn a little more about the db scale, before you try to teach someone else about it.

It's a logarithmic scale.. (exponantialy increasing). To be exact, "A decibel is defined as 10 times the logarithm of the power ratio (power ratio is the ratio of the intensity of the sound to the intensity of an arbitrary standard point.)". The threshhold of pain is actually 130db (which, in a logorithmic scale, is EXPONATIALLY louder than something at 115db).

So, a soundwave at a db measurment of 3 times 115db (or 345db) would probably be able to turn the entire Hoover dam into dust in 5 seconds (or something equally unfathomable). It's an IMPOSSIBLE number.

Why do I say this? Well, a look at the db levels of some common things will put it into perspective:

10db: Threshold of good hearing

30db: Recording studio, quiet conversation

60db: Conversational speech

80db: Noisy office, electric shaver, alarm clock, police whistle

90db: Noisy factory, truck without muffler (Decibels at or above 90 regularly cause ear damage)

100db: Passing truck, home lawn mower, car horn @ 5 meters, wood saw, boiler factory

110db: Punch press, close to a train, ball mill

120db: Riveter, chipper, thunder, diesel engine room, fireworks display

130db: Hydraulic press, pneumatic rock drill (Threshold of pain, decibels at or above 130 cause immediate ear damage)

140db: Artillery fire

150db: Turbo jet

160db: Ram jet

180db: Aircraft at take-off

195db: Saturn rocket

225db: 12" Cannon @ 12' in front and below

[Darrel]

The OP didnt mention lower Sukhumvit nor did he said something about 11 pm. He might be in Korat and the noise he is talking about goes till 2 am?! Who knows?

Actually we do know. He quite clearly said both (the time is in the title) but for some reason edits have been made.

Edited March 7, 2011 by Darrel

[CanInBKK]

Out interest I have just had a quick look at the link provided above to Pollution Control Department....their criteria...Max 115dB and over 24 hour period continuous not to exceed 70dB

To have a legitimate complaint under Thai standards, would need to prove either business concerned pumps out music over 115dB or alternatively been subjected to 70dB continuously for 24 hours......I am guessing neither is the case in terms of the bar concerned....

Is that correct, 115dB? Jeez, from my college days I know that is getting close to the threshold of pain.

I'm not an audiologist, as well this is all relative anyways but how loud is 115db? My car stereo back overseas cranked out 122db (exactly, as measured by a sound pressure meter) and a Vuvuzela at 1m is 3 times more powerful than 115db. So is 115db really hard to achieve? I think if the OP were to have the BMA measure the sound pressure level it's quite possible that the music exceeds the legal level.

Wow.. you REALLY need to learn a little more about the db scale, before you try to teach someone else about it.

It's a logarithmic scale.. (exponantialy increasing). To be exact, "A decibel is defined as 10 times the logarithm of the power ratio (power ratio is the ratio of the intensity of the sound to the intensity of an arbitrary standard point.)". The threshhold of pain is actually 130db (which, in a logorithmic scale, is EXPONATIALLY louder than something at 115db).

So, a soundwave at a db measurment of 3 times 115db (or 345db) would probably be able to turn the entire Hoover dam into dust in 5 seconds (or something equally unfathomable). It's an IMPOSSIBLE number.

Why do I say this? Well, a look at the db levels of some common things will put it into perspective:

10db: Threshold of good hearing

30db: Recording studio, quiet conversation

60db: Conversational speech

80db: Noisy office, electric shaver, alarm clock, police whistle

90db: Noisy factory, truck without muffler (Decibels at or above 90 regularly cause ear damage)

100db: Passing truck, home lawn mower, car horn @ 5 meters, wood saw, boiler factory

110db: Punch press, close to a train, ball mill

120db: Riveter, chipper, thunder, diesel engine room, fireworks display

130db: Hydraulic press, pneumatic rock drill (Threshold of pain, decibels at or above 130 cause immediate ear damage)

140db: Artillery fire

150db: Turbo jet

160db: Ram jet

180db: Aircraft at take-off

195db: Saturn rocket

225db: 12" Cannon @ 12' in front and below

Wow, just wow! Before you go on preaching to somebody else YOU should get your facts straight first. They db level in question 115db. My statement that a vuvuzela is 3 times more powerful equates to a sound pressure level of 120db!!!! Unless you truly understand the what a logarithmic scale means you should stick to reading and refrain from typing.