Noise

[srisatch]

I am woken every morning by various rants, songs and exhortations through loudspeakers. This being New Year the songs have been even LOUDER!!

You have all been to a mall where promotions are taking place and I guess many people live in towns where the Tannoy blares!

How did it come about that it was acceptable, indeed necessary, when much in Thai life is understated....not TV soaps of course..

to

a. Shout through microphones at any promotional or other event

b. Install loudspeakers all over towns and villages so that the monks and the Town Council could broadcast whatever at 5.00 am onwards

c. Listen to everything at full volume

??

I am not that critical. I would like to know how it came about. After all does not happen where I come from! Was it wars? Was it dictators? Was it like yodelling across the paddies? Why??

[barryofthailand]

Thailand is a very noisy country. Anouncing things through loudspeakers is a tradition, but on my street their are three homes that don't seem to care about other people living on the same stree. I have made it known to people on my street that make excess nois at 2 and 3 AM. It has helped. You have to be careful on what you say as some people might just say Farrang go home.

Barry

[apetley]

I have often wondered about how long it would take to repair the wires to those lodspeakers should they ever accidently get cut. These things do happen after all!

Right now the wife and I are looking for some land to buy when we move to LOS for good in April and it is really difficult finding anywhere near civilisation that doesnt have at least one speaker on every lampost/electricity post.

One village that looked really nice actually had 3 speakers on just about every post there. Must have been like a Megadeth concert every 5am!!! Needless to say that place isnt on our shortlist.

[pbrane]

I haven't been to LOS yet, and posts about noise like this may keep me from going. I'm looking for a cheap place to retire, but peace and quiet are a prerequisite. I wonder if it would be quieter in an expat-filled condo? Or maybe a house way out of town somewhere? It's a big country... it seems like a person should be able to find SOMEplace quiet to live..??

Thanks.

pb

[richard10365]

Not all places are noisy. Your Thai wife can buy land outside of these little villages and you can build a home in an area where the most noise comes from you snoring.

I live on the edge of town in a small village in Phayao province and never here the speakers in this village. From time to time I do hear the temple or music from a neighbors house but it's not bothersome.

[Sporting Dog]

Thailand is noisy!!! Even without loud speakers its noisy - most shout down their phones,conversations are often shouted, the motorbikes are scooters but specially adapted to be really noisy, the soi dogs often band together to get really LOUD, the chooks get up early to make sure they are heard, a quiet beer at a small bar is often ruined because of the need for Karaoke!!!

But you get used to it!!

[The Coder]

A disappointment for me was after the King made a speech last year saying he was concerned about noise in the kingdom, the thai authorities seemingly single reaction was to rigorously impose volume limits inside disco's! I mean if there is one place noise SHOULD be allowed, it is where everyone voluntarily chooses to go. But instead it become the very highest priority of them all while every other form of noise seemed forgotten. I really don't think thai's understand they are noisy, and in what ways. Surprised no one has mentioned the ridiculous amount of pick up trucks that drive through quiet neighborhoods with speakers blaring about their wares or other advertisements on a daily basis. It's definitely going to be a hard cycle to break. Kids grow up with all the noises thinking they are just the normal way of doing things and come up with new ways to use noise. Anyone remember the talking signs at the sky train that every time it detected someone walk near it shouted an earful at you? Supermarkets have systems like this too in the aisles.

Noise in Thailand is on the rise. I too wonder how it ever came to pass that it became so accepted to spam the air waves with stuff for 1% that the other 99% have to put up with.

[monsieurhappy]

Nearly every Thai owned car & pickup in this area has a 2000 decibel sound system fitted. The noise isn't so bad but it's costing me a furtune from the vibrations taking out my fillings!

[Spit the Dog]

Not sure how the noise thing came about. It could be another Thai face thing. If you notice there are bright flashing lights everywhere to get peoples attention and to make things look that little bit special. Could be the same idea with the excessivly loud noise.

I have noticed though that if there is a very important event/day for the Thais, they will turn the decibels up considerably louder.

That's why I now carry my MP3 player with me wherever I go in case it gets to noisy. I can always drown out the unneccessary noises with a bit of music.

[Totster]

Well.... I've had VERY loud music ( the ice is rattling in the glass) here in the village for the last 3 days from 06.30 when the poo yai baan does his speech till the early hours of the morning...

If you can't beat em.. join em

totster

[Scott]

The noise level is unacceptable here. Where I live it's fairly quiet, but I still sleep with the windows closed and a/c on (even in the cool season), because I am woken up so easily.

I am baffled by the unacceptably loud level of noise--and nonsensical noise. God, I've lived in places with bomb warnings that were quieter than the average advertisement in this country.

[Savage]

The noise level is unacceptable here.  Where I live it's fairly quiet, but I still sleep with the windows closed and a/c on (even in the cool season), because I am woken up so easily.

I am baffled by the unacceptably loud level of noise--and nonsensical noise.  God, I've lived in places with bomb warnings that were quieter than the average advertisement in this country.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think it's comments like this that will provoke thoughts such as "if you don't like it leave!"

[Totster]

The noise level is unacceptable here.  Where I live it's fairly quiet, but I still sleep with the windows closed and a/c on (even in the cool season), because I am woken up so easily.

I am baffled by the unacceptably loud level of noise--and nonsensical noise.  God, I've lived in places with bomb warnings that were quieter than the average advertisement in this country.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think it's comments like this that will provoke thoughts such as "if you don't like it leave!"

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not really...to someone who has not experienced it before it's quite normal... i had nearly the same thoughts when I first came to the village..

but to say it's unacceptable is wrong..... you have to accept, as this is the thai way... you will get used to it in time, and then it will just be a fact of life..

totster

[nonthaburial]

Its a bit like folk who buy property that just happens to be right under the flight path to the airport - then complain about the aircraft noise

[The Coder]

Its a bit like folk who buy property that just happens to be right under the flight path to the airport - then complain about the aircraft noise

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not a fair comparison unless you are thinking of a country where every single patch of land is under a flight path. Serously, I have looked long and far and haven't found anyway to get away from it. There is usually some set of man made noise issues coming into play wherevery you go. Something I took for granted in farangland was to expect reasonable peace and quiet. While some noises in Thailand I don't notice anymore and just tune out, there are others that still remain hard to block out. Thanks to technology, I am able to successfully fight noise with noise and use white noise as a common solution. Thailand got along fine before all the noise. I hope the day comes when they realize they should become like that again. I was surprised to learn through observation noise even bothers Thai's themselves, though they just put up with it as part of life. I think village heads would throw a fit if they could no longer yack daily at everyone with their pompous messages and music at 6 in the morning. That would be a great day I dream of...

[Mr_Dave]

I haven't been to LOS yet, and posts about noise like this may keep me from going. I'm looking for a cheap place to retire, but peace and quiet are a prerequisite. ...[snip] ...a person should be able to find SOMEplace quiet to live..??

"Pbrane" brings up an important point.

All these posts about noise are an indicator of where people actually live.

Here's the clue: In general, the more you pay (for rent/housing), the less the noise.

I live in an expensive area of Bangkok, which, in turn, is the most expensive city in LOS.

There is very little noise in this neighborhood - aside from tuk-tuks and some condo construction.

If I go down the soi, at night, there are some bars, and, yes, music/noise from them.

Unless I walk to that specific area of the soi, there is none of the noise I read about in other posts here.

On the other hand, in another small soi is a cheap housing area.

Really cheap apartments.

I've only walked there once - just to look around.

The noise was constant: boom-boxes, TV blaring, kids shouting, adults not quite shouting - that wouldn't be Thai - but many loud, loud, voices.

Once I left that particular soi, and returned to the high-rent district, the noise level went right down.

My solution to noise in LOS: pay more, get less.

[edd]

In our village it’s the head man with his loud speaker giving ALL the locals their morning news at 5.30.

The strange thing is after a few months you don’t hear it any more.

I was in Tesco Lotus in the eating section and became aware of almost shouting to my wife because the noise level was so high, this was caused by every one talking, ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

Edited January 2, 2006 by edd

[The Skipper]

I was in the new Chuwit Park on Sukhumvit-10 yesterday.

I saw a chap reading a book and wondered how he could concentrate with all the PA speakers blaring a John lee Hooker tune of all things.

Now the taste in music was fine for me if I was in a club or bar, I like the Blues, but in a lovely public park it seems idiotic.

Ever been to an upcountry wedding?

The DJ shows up and builds a bank of speakers the gratefull Dead would be proud of, then turn it up to absoulute ludicris levels, then double that and don't turn it down for the next 36 hours.

Really, earbleeding levels of decibles running all nite in a neighborhood.

[jbowman1993]

A wise man once said: "If the music's too loud, you're too old!"

Its called a joke, get over it.

[srisatch]

Yeah! As I said I don't really have a problem with the noise. I have learned to block it, for the most part. All of the sources you have mentioned we all live with. What I want to know IS...HOW did it happen? No Loudspeakers on the streets of US, Europe, Japan...............Are they the source of all the other cacophonies? In the Mall in Bangkapi of an afternoon you cannot hear yourself think for skimpily clad things with verbal overload advertising some irrelevant product at an off the scale volume. And as you say the pichups with speakers!! What's it all about?

[joyeves]

In our village it’s the head man with his loud speaker giving ALL the locals their morning news at 5.30.

The strange thing is after a few months you don’t hear it any more.

I was in Tesco Lotus in the eating section and became aware of almost shouting to my wife because the noise level was so high, this was caused by every one talking, ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I am lucky , in our small city the head man with his loud speakers giving the locals their morning news from 7.00 - 8.00 . Before and after silent .