Reason #99 To Never Invest In Thailand

[DiNiro]

NEVER INVEST IN THAILAND UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED TO WALK AWAY FROM YOUR INVESTMENT!

(or get shot)

Every night, around 3AM, 4AM, 5AM, 6AM...myself and my neighbors call Pattaya City Hall about the illegal Karaoke Bar in Jomtien, Theprasit Soi 7.

After a year of repeated phone calls to the Pattaya City Complaint Line #1337, about the ALL NIGHT KARAOKE!, nothing has been done.

In fact, the City Hall Complaint line staff is sick of hearing the complaints and are very rude when we call.

"nothing we can do".....

Our landlord has people moving out but he is too afraid for the safety of his wife and children to complain!

He says a policeman owns the bar and they would kill him if the place gets shut down...

Now, in our neighborhood, I see several large developments taking off, Zen, Maldives, Laguna, The Park...

The customers purchasing units have no idea that a dangerous policeman owns a nearby bar that will keep them awake ALL NIGHT.

If you are considering buying real estate in this area you are making a mistake.

Posted at 5:30AM

[David48]

Maybe taking your specific experience and offering it as general advice for the whole of Thailand may not be prudent.

It would appear that your landlord is not well connected.

When the policeman’s business interests upset or conflict with someone higher up the food chain, action will happen.

As a tenant, just exactly what investment are you 'walking away from'?

Doesn't mean that I don't share your frustration though ...

[singa-traz]

1: Go to your local district office

2: Fill up a complain (at the district, not the police) together with your neighbors , the more the better, and best if you can include Thai

3: Record "your" karaoke" night

4: In the district/province, there should be an environment department, meet them, face to face, and let them hear your recording of the "karaoke"

5: If things are not moving, Contact Pollution Control Department for escalation, http://www.pcd.go.th/indexEng.cfm

You would need to provide them with a copy of your complain.

Keep the people at the PCD updated (not daily).

... alternative ...

Pretend you want to buy a few condos in one of those new developments ... and then decline to buy because you have heard that the nearby karaoke is making lots of noise. Get your neighbors to do the same.

... alternative ...

Get friend with the police who "supposedly" own the karaoke, and find a compromise. He needs a side business to make money, you need to sleep at night.

---

There is no magic/short term solution to your problem, beside moving, but you do have options.

My experience, the friendly solution is a better long term solution.

I had an open air restaurant next to my house, and a couple of years ago, they decided to have a band during the week-ends. Could not hear my TV ...

After a long process, we did manage to have the place closed. The people at the district came, went to talk to the manager, and told him the place was now closed, and would only re-open when changes would be made.

The place re-opened a few months later, but with a new manager. We went to meet him to agree on how to be good neighbors: "you need to run a business, I need to sleep at night ... and this business has been closed before.". No more band and the noise from the music is acceptable.

I now go there once in a while to have a drink, and practice my thai with the manager.

Oh, and the previous manager also had connection with the police ... supposedly.

[givenall]

Maybe taking your specific experience and offering it as general advice for the whole of Thailand may not be prudent.

It would appear that your landlord is not well connected.

When the policeman’s business interests upset or conflict with someone higher up the food chain, action will happen.

As a tenant, just exactly what investment are you 'walking away from'?

Doesn't mean that I don't share your frustration though ...

They time will fix everything.

I also had the same problem with my condo for 5 years, but finally the property got too expensive and they built a condo in the club location, problem solved

[PattayaPhom]

3rd, 4th 5th time you have posted this??? Being a keyboard warrior on Thai Visa wont make the slightest.

Edited February 2, 2013 by PattayaPhom

[54321]

I have invested in 5 condos in Thailand and never had such a problem.

Rule No 100 don't believe half of what you read on line

[BrianCR]

Rule 101 learn to read and write before you post!.... spelling is optional

[up-country_sinclair]

With apologies to Jay Z, "I got 99 problems--and a house in Pattaya near a Karaoke bar ain't one."

Edited February 2, 2013 by up-country_sinclair

[davejones]

Yeah, and I had a problem in the UK. So everyone, don't invest in UK unless you want to walk away from your investment. Oh yeah, a man that owned a property got shot and killed because another investor needed his property. So definitely don't invest in the UK. Hang on, I think you shouldn't invest in USA for same reason.

This is the most stupid thread ever. You have noisy neighbours. So do many people the world over. Grow up.

[richard_smith237]

Yeah, and I had a problem in the UK. So everyone, don't invest in UK unless you want to walk away from your investment. Oh yeah, a man that owned a property got shot and killed because another investor needed his property. So definitely don't invest in the UK. Hang on, I think you shouldn't invest in USA for same reason.

This is the most stupid thread ever. You have noisy neighbours. So do many people the world over. Grow up.

Was your problem in the UK that an unlicensed bar was allowed to operate next door with loud music until 5am ?

Did the local council do nothing about it ?

The Ops issue appears to be with lack of response from the authorities. His point is valid, your argument is fundamentally flawed and childish.

The Op can't change things because this is Thailand and somethings don't operate the way we want them to. However, he has a right to be annoyed.

I for one will take heed of the Ops comments and choose very carefully where I have a house or apartment, I'm sure many more readers will to, hence validating the thread.

Perhaps yours is the most stupid reply ever, especially if you think this thread is stupid.

Edited February 2, 2013 by richard_smith237

[SurfRider]

.

"Every night, around 3AM, 4AM, 5AM, 6AM . . . illegal Karaoke Bar in Jomtien"

Get some Ear Plugs at any pharmacy (Fascino, etc.) -- About 70 Baht -- I've been traveling and living in Asia for over 30 years and wouldn't even think of trying to sleep without them.

.

[USNret]

Pretend you want to buy a few condos in one of those new developments ... and then decline to buy because you have heard that the nearby karaoke is making lots of noise. Get your neighbors to do the same.

I'm loving this. It wouldn't take too many canceled sales before the condo developer suddenly finds an even bigger friend on the police force.

[utalkin2me]

Isn't pattaya/jomtien known as an all night party town?

[DiNiro]

Isn't pattaya/jomtien known as an all night party town?

I can appreciate people wanting to party all night while on holiday.

After some time living and partying in downtown Pattaya, I moved to a quiet neighborhood in Jomtien, 1 kilometer inland. A nice tranquil spot. All of my neighbors also moved into this peaceful oasis.

This karaoke operation consists of a few bamboo poles, a grass roof(no walls) and a 1,000 watt amplifier.

They begin to release the sonic fury at 2AM. By 5AM the drunken morons, screaming at the top of their lungs into the 1,000 watt amplifier, reach a chaotic crescendo & then continues on until around 8AM.

[renrut salohcin]

Rule 101 learn to read and write before you post!.... spelling is optional

Before you quote any other rules learn Thaivisa rules. To criticise other poster's grammar or spelling is not allowed.

[BrianCR]

Rule 101 learn to read and write before you post!.... spelling is optional

Before you quote any other rules learn Thaivisa rules. To criticise other poster's grammar or spelling is not allowed.

I'm pleased with that, otherwise 50% of posters would not get their say - thank you for your educated advice!

[singa-traz]

Isn't pattaya/jomtien known as an all night party town?

...

This karaoke operation consists of a few bamboo poles, a grass roof(no walls) and a 1,000 watt amplifier.

They begin to release the sonic fury at 2AM. By 5AM the drunken morons, screaming at the top of their lungs into the 1,000 watt amplifier, reach a chaotic crescendo & then continues on until around 8AM.

"Bamboo ... Grass Roof" ... poor fire safety comes to mind and short circuits do happen ...

But from the description, it does not look like a big business, and so should not be generating huge amount of cash.

An option you might want to explore is to identify the land owner (information you can request at the land department), contact him, and ask how much he is renting this spot ... and in the discussion briefly mention the poor singing skills of the visitors of the karaoke.

We have another neighbor, whose land was used by some construction workers with same poor singing skills. One day we meet the land owner by chance. A single and very friendly discussion with him and the problem was solved.

But for a while, I did consider acquiring something like this:

But can't find them on amazon ...

[davejones]

Yeah, and I had a problem in the UK. So everyone, don't invest in UK unless you want to walk away from your investment. Oh yeah, a man that owned a property got shot and killed because another investor needed his property. So definitely don't invest in the UK. Hang on, I think you shouldn't invest in USA for same reason.

This is the most stupid thread ever. You have noisy neighbours. So do many people the world over. Grow up.

Was your problem in the UK that an unlicensed bar was allowed to operate next door with loud music until 5am ?

Did the local council do nothing about it ?

The Ops issue appears to be with lack of response from the authorities. His point is valid, your argument is fundamentally flawed and childish.

The Op can't change things because this is Thailand and somethings don't operate the way we want them to. However, he has a right to be annoyed.

I for one will take heed of the Ops comments and choose very carefully where I have a house or apartment, I'm sure many more readers will to, hence validating the thread.

Perhaps yours is the most stupid reply ever, especially if you think this thread is stupid.

Not that wasn't my problem in the UK. But in the UK quite a few people have been driven to suicide due to years of noisy and abusive neighbours, bars, clubs, etc. In all these cases, neither the local authority or police did anything meaningful to solve the problems. Read the UK papers. These are not isolated incidents. The UK has things like this going on all over the country. Some people took over 10 years to get the authorities to act. It's not just a Thai thing. The fact is that in the UK the authorities mostly don't take any action.

Edited February 3, 2013 by davejones

[Rancid]

Before I bought I drove out out at various times throughout the night to make sure no karaokes or other evening surprises. You can't stop the occasioal party but actually quite peaceful here. You really just have to check every aspect as laws will do nothing about even a lowly connected person.

[utalkin2me]

I really dont mean to be too argumentative, because i agree this would suck... but how is an all night karaoke business like this able to even be viable if the area is so "quiet". something just isn't adding up. i think you bought in a half party part of town because you like to hit the town occasionally perhaps, and it got you. if you were truly looking for "a quiet spot", im sure you would have gotten it.

Edited February 3, 2013 by utalkin2me

[DiNiro]

I really dont mean to be too argumentative, because i agree this would suck... but how is an all night karaoke business like this able to even be viable if the area is so "quiet". something just isn't adding up. i think you bought in a half party part of town because you like to hit the town occasionally perhaps, and it got you. if you were truly looking for "a quiet spot", im sure you would have gotten it.

Moron

[David48]

This topic also available at ... noise-pollution-real-estate-investment-thai-police/

[topt]

Yeah, and I had a problem in the UK. So everyone, don't invest in UK unless you want to walk away from your investment. Oh yeah, a man that owned a property got shot and killed because another investor needed his property. So definitely don't invest in the UK. Hang on, I think you shouldn't invest in USA for same reason.

This is the most stupid thread ever. You have noisy neighbours. So do many people the world over. Grow up.

Was your problem in the UK that an unlicensed bar was allowed to operate next door with loud music until 5am ?

Did the local council do nothing about it ?

The Ops issue appears to be with lack of response from the authorities. His point is valid, your argument is fundamentally flawed and childish.

The Op can't change things because this is Thailand and somethings don't operate the way we want them to. However, he has a right to be annoyed.

I for one will take heed of the Ops comments and choose very carefully where I have a house or apartment, I'm sure many more readers will to, hence validating the thread.

Perhaps yours is the most stupid reply ever, especially if you think this thread is stupid.

Not that wasn't my problem in the UK. But in the UK quite a few people have been driven to suicide due to years of noisy and abusive neighbours, bars, clubs, etc. In all these cases, neither the local authority or police did anything meaningful to solve the problems. Read the UK papers. These are not isolated incidents. The UK has things like this going on all over the country. Some people took over 10 years to get the authorities to act. It's not just a Thai thing. The fact is that in the UK the authorities mostly don't take any action.

Reading this reminded me of this - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10453199 - so even where they did take action the threat of prison did not seem to help much......

[utalkin2me]

I really dont mean to be too argumentative, because i agree this would suck... but how is an all night karaoke business like this able to even be viable if the area is so "quiet". something just isn't adding up. i think you bought in a half party part of town because you like to hit the town occasionally perhaps, and it got you. if you were truly looking for "a quiet spot", im sure you would have gotten it.

Moron

Well, it is quiet where I live. And if it wasn't, I'd move. Who is the moron now?

[DiNiro]

touché

;

Edited February 5, 2013 by DiNiro

[Gary A]

When everyone gets this worked out, maybe they can help me with my problem. My next door neighbor has a rooster that has no idea what time it is. I would have hoped that by now the neighbor would have gotten tired of it and put that stupid chicken in the cooking pot. It apparently doesn't bother him.

Yes, I'm serious. The rooster crows from midnight all through the night. The rooster apparently roosts very near my bedroom window. I'm glad to spend time at my Jomtien condo. No crowing roosters or barking dogs here.

I can also sympathize with the karaoke problem. The same neighbor that has the rooster had a New Years party. He had a karaoke set up and I think he was the only singer. I should add that he is an incredibly BAD singer. How he could sing nearly non-stop for four days was amazing. Other than his endurance, he had nothing going for him.

[aussiebebe]

I can sympathise with the noise problem faced by the OP in Jomtien. I live in Bangkok and an adjacent car park frequently has noise from skateboarders and pickup trucks with thumping base music. It's a Thai thing; they have no concept of noise pollution and I applaud the OP's efforts to bring the noise issue to people's attention, especially prospective buyers. The country isn't going to change, my Thai neighbors aren't so bothered by noise and no-one will help.You can post on prakard.com which has specific areas for different developments, but yes, I too feel sorry for the people that are going to buy condos near that karaoke.

Edited February 8, 2013 by aussiebebe