Drunk Neighbour Playing Bo-Lan Music Throughout The Entire Day

[MaiDong]

It's driving us insane!! Having recently been expelled from a temple for being a drunk monk, he has returned home to resume his alcoholism.

I don't mind the music, in small doses, but almost constantly, and at an anti-social volume, from around 8am until 8pm is a little bit excessive.

Every neighbour around him is upset about this, it's driving us all insane, some of the neighbours have asked him to turn it down and he has done so for 10 minutes but then it's up loud again, other neighbours have told him that he has to be more greng jai/considerate but he chooses to ignore this, probably because he's wasted on lao kao from dawn until dusk

Our next door neighbour has thought about buying a catapult to fire at the drunks corrugated metal walls, hoping it'll spook him, seeing as he's a bit of a religious nut(he talks to his shrine rather a lot), but I think that'll just send his senile partner even more doolally.

I thought about a white noise machine, bit excessive I know, especially not knowing if it would be suitable for the task of blocking this other noise out... What other choices do we have? There's no law against this, it's just common decency isn't it?

My wife has to walk around the house with her earpieces in, listening to her own music, just to block this other music out! I had to shout over to turn it down last week because it was so loud that my wife couldn't even hear what I was saying to her, almost 10 metres away

My initial idea was to buy a HUGE sound system and just blast him away but I know that's not the right road to go down

Is there a nifty device that I can point in his direction which would either cancel out his music or make listening to his music very difficult/uncomfortable for him?

[Soutpeel]

If he is pished all the time than go and cut all the wires to his hi-fi when he passes out...

The more practical solution how ever maybe to make a donation to the BIB retirement fund and ask them to go around and "have a word"

[lomatopo]

Keep him supplied in lao khao, his liver will fail in short order.

[varun]

Maybe talk to the puu yai baan? Or BIB?

Sabotage is also an option, but you'll have to tread carefully.

Look at it this way, he'll most probably bite the dust due to eventual liver failure, so put him out of his misery early.

I recommend poisoning , see if you can get around to lacing his alcohol with exorbitant quantities of laxative, for starters?

[MaiDong]

Whilst the poisoning suggestions are attractive, I agree that he'll probably do it to himself eventually, but how long could that take?!

[MaiDong]

His partner locked him out last week, he decided that breaking in would be a good idea, so he smashed the doors in with a machete, then tried to smash the inner shutters with the same machete, for about an hour, until finally his partner called the police, his partner then defended him, telling the police that he was ok, and that all he really needed was a nap, so off the BiB went!

[POMPOUI]

Call the police?...

[MaiDong]

Being the only foreigner in the village, I don't feel very comfortable speaking about him to the Pu Yai Baan, I think it'll be known to him already, and as I said earlier, he's not actually breaking the law, he's just being a nuisance, and we know how difficult it is to sort one of them out!

[MaiDong]

but seriously, would a white noise machine work? I understand that they work if in a closed environment, directed at yourself, to block outside noises disturbing you, but our house isn't a closed environment, and it's HIM we want to block out.

To prevent us from shrivelling up, we have only mosquito nets between us and the front & back of our houses, as do most of our neighbours, it's ok for listening out for kanom jeep or roti passing by in the street, but not so good with the drunk monk out the back

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, before the shotgun option becomes a reasonable one...

[HeijoshinCool]

Being the only foreigner in the village, I don't feel very comfortable speaking about him to the Pu Yai Baan, I think it'll be known to him already, and as I said earlier, he's not actually breaking the law, he's just being a nuisance, and we know how difficult it is to sort one of them out!

And therein lies one of the main problems with westerners living in isolated spots in Thailand.

Sorry about your problem. Likely there is no solution. Why? Because these topics have been posted for eons and I've never seen a report back that the problem has been solved.

Anyone disagree? Happy to be proven wrong.

[MaiDong]

Being the only foreigner in the village, I don't feel very comfortable speaking about him to the Pu Yai Baan, I think it'll be known to him already, and as I said earlier, he's not actually breaking the law, he's just being a nuisance, and we know how difficult it is to sort one of them out!

And therein lies one of the main problems with westerners living in isolated spots in Thailand...

I'm not in an isolated spot at all, I live just west of the Chao Praya river, I was using the term 'village' as my wife calls it that, I think it's cute, but I agree, I've never seen any solutions to this, apart from nature taking its course

[ARISTIDE]

Call the neighborhood meeting. Go to the Police offer an off duty job.

[krisb]

I'd let the Thais sort him out. They will. Until then...

Be patient friend.

[Totster]

Being the only foreigner in the village, I don't feel very comfortable speaking about him to the Pu Yai Baan, I think it'll be known to him already, and as I said earlier, he's not actually breaking the law, he's just being a nuisance, and we know how difficult it is to sort one of them out!

And therein lies one of the main problems with westerners living in isolated spots in Thailand.

Sorry about your problem. Likely there is no solution. Why? Because these topics have been posted for eons and I've never seen a report back that the problem has been solved.

Anyone disagree? Happy to be proven wrong.

The villagers will sort it out in their own way, it may take time but it will get done. Not sure why you are not comfortable speaking with the Poo Yai Baan, this is his domain to sort it out.

A while back before the holidays we had a new teacher at the village school, she decided to play the radio news at full blast from the tannoy system from 7am every morning until the anthem at 8am (before they just played the anthem). After three days of this (believe me it was loud) and everyone was thoroughly pissed off in the village (but too greng bloody jai to do anything about it) I grabbed the wife and went to have a chat with this new teacher. She apologised and switched it off straight away, returning to the old way of just having the anthem on.

It can be done as long as you are polite and easy going, the teacher wasn't aware of the problem as nobody had told her.........

totster

[Gsxrnz]

A white noise machine won't be any good as they need an acoustic arena (closed environment) to function, and the noise levels you're describing are way beyond what they are designed for anyway.

I had a similar noisy neighbour in farangland once. They got the message after I parked the rotary lawnmower outside their bedroom window on full revs, 3 mornings in a row at 6am after they'd partied till 3am each day. Mind you, I had to remove the silencer on the last day. Never had a problem after that.

Edited June 10, 2013 by Gsxrnz

[MaiDong]

Agreed totster, politeness has been tried by at least one of our direct neighbours but as I said in my earlier post, he either ignores it or forgets it.

There's two reasons why I'm not comfortable speaking with the PYB, the first and most important is that my Thai isn't good enough, I could tell him how I feel, tell him what I would like to do, but that would be about it.

The second reason is that I consider myself a temporary resident of this country, I can't vote, I have no say in the way things are done, I can simply have opinions, and they can simply be ignored by the Thais.

[MaiDong]

A white noise machine won't be any good as they need an acoustic arena (closed environment) to function, and the noise levels you're describing are way beyond what they are designed for anyway.

I had a similar noisy neighbour in farangland once. They got the message after I parked the rotary lawnmower outside their bedroom window on full revs, 3 mornings in a row at 6am after they'd partied till 3am each day. Mind you, I had to remove the silencer on the last day. Never had a problem after that.

This is why I considered a sound system pointed straight at their house, I could funnel the sound straight into the room where he lolls, drunkenly. I could play shrill noises for 12 hours a day, until he finally feels a bit of the frustration which the rest of the immediate neighbourhood feels.

[Totster]

A white noise machine won't be any good as they need an acoustic arena (closed environment) to function, and the noise levels you're describing are way beyond what they are designed for anyway.

I had a similar noisy neighbour in farangland once. They got the message after I parked the rotary lawnmower outside their bedroom window on full revs, 3 mornings in a row at 6am after they'd partied till 3am each day. Mind you, I had to remove the silencer on the last day. Never had a problem after that.

This is why I considered a sound system pointed straight at their house, I could funnel the sound straight into the room where he lolls, drunkenly. I could play shrill noises for 12 hours a day, until he finally feels a bit of the frustration which the rest of the immediate neighbourhood feels.

Wouldn't this in turn frustrate the same neighbourhood more ?

totster

[MaiDong]

A white noise machine won't be any good as they need an acoustic arena (closed environment) to function, and the noise levels you're describing are way beyond what they are designed for anyway.

I had a similar noisy neighbour in farangland once. They got the message after I parked the rotary lawnmower outside their bedroom window on full revs, 3 mornings in a row at 6am after they'd partied till 3am each day. Mind you, I had to remove the silencer on the last day. Never had a problem after that.

This is why I considered a sound system pointed straight at their house, I could funnel the sound straight into the room where he lolls, drunkenly. I could play shrill noises for 12 hours a day, until he finally feels a bit of the frustration which the rest of the immediate neighbourhood feels.

Wouldn't this in turn frustrate the same neighbourhood more ?

totster

Their house is on one side of a small canal, the rest of the neighbourhood is on our side of the canal, so if I could somehow channel the noise straight to their house it might work, in reality I probably won't do anything at all, we all will just have to live with it until he pops his clogs

This thread was my way of venting.

[tutsiwarrior]

dulang music?...hell, just go wid de flow...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo-AE0SDCpQ

[Potosi]

Whilst the poisoning suggestions are attractive, I agree that he'll probably do it to himself eventually, but how long could that take?!

I drink half a litre 40% whiskey per night as sleeping agent, and my liver is like new. Checked 2 weeks ago. If you don't like noise, avoid everything that makes more noise, such as a high-powered stereo of your own. Talk sense to the guy, and buy him a wireless headset.

[Totster]

Whilst the poisoning suggestions are attractive, I agree that he'll probably do it to himself eventually, but how long could that take?!

I drink half a litre 40% whiskey per night as sleeping agent, and my liver is like new. Checked 2 weeks ago. If you don't like noise, avoid everything that makes more noise, such as a high-powered stereo of your own. Talk sense to the guy, and buy him a wireless headset.

Yup, finish the bottle mate......

totster

[Slip]

I'm not sure you should wind up a crazy, drunk, machete wielding ex monk neighbour though. Best to leave the noise weapons and tinctures out of it.

[kriswillems]

It has been said already. These kinds of things are resolved by the poo yai baan. If you can't speak Thai very well, let your neighbors do the talking. It doesn't matter that you're a foreigner.

I went to complain to a neighbor that was burning garbage all the time. The whole street was suffering but nobody was brave enough to clearly explain this to him.

I went to talk to him and said him how much each of the different neighbors suffered from the smoke. After that he never burned the garbage again.

You know, foreigners also can solve problems.

Edited June 10, 2013 by kriswillems

[I Like Thai]

Offer to buy him a bottle of whiskey once a week if he turns off his music system and keeps it off

[landtrout]

Just curious......what is this "Bo-Lan" music that the neighbor is so fond of?

I've never heard that term, and Google is not helpful (unless it's T. Rex that the guy is blasting all day long!).

Maybe you could try banging a gong and/or getting it on?

[Beetlejuice]

No point in bothering the police, because in 99.99% of cases they won`t be interested, unless this guy commits a criminal act or physically harms anyone. If the police were to be on call for all the annoying drunks in Thailand, the force would require at least another 12 million officers to handle the work load.

My advice is, gather together all your neighbors who find this drunk a nonsense, plus your wife and yourself, then go to visit the head man of the village and ask if he could help solve this problem? You maybe pleasantly surprised how helpful these guys can be, as they do have some clout within the local communities .

But and it`s a big BUT, if this drunk guy has mates and could possibly cause even more problems for you and your wife, than it maybe wise to take all these factors into consideration first, prior to taking any action against your drunken neighbor.

It is a case of using your discretion.

[puukao]

If there is any way to move, I would do that. I'm sure this hash gotten your wife increasingly upset, and things will spiral downward. You will not win. If you own the house, then maybe leave it unattended for 1-2 months while you go rent somewhere else and get this out of your system. Lack of sleep, clear mind, etc.. will eventually have you or your wife do something bad. This is not your country, as you know, and you must play the submissive role. Remember, before you came to Thailand, you promised to love all thais like your own and understand their struggles while following Buddha. haha. so, relax, find you inner peace, and allow the crazy drunk to enrich your life. haha. good luck.

[cooked]

We have a crazy lady neighbour that occasionally poisons dogs and chickens for no reason that we can think of. She probably poisoned her Farang husband also. This has been going on for years and nobody does anything as the FYB goes drinking with her.

If the drunk monk (love the sound of that phrase) is drinking all day, no amount of noise is going to disturb him at night. He is a very unhappy guy and seems to be blocking out reality with his wall of sound. In our Isaan village I can fix problems like this quick (money) if I feel the need but I usually let things go, noise and the burning of plastic near me is off limits however and everyone knows that.

[MrWorldwide]

Just curious......what is this "Bo-Lan" music that the neighbor is so fond of?

I've never heard that term, and Google is not helpful (unless it's T. Rex that the guy is blasting all day long!).

Maybe you could try banging a gong and/or getting it on?

I assume we are talking Mor Lam or some variant thereof, but does it really matter ? It could be Chopin - played at inordinate volume from a crappy boombox, I doubt that the result would be any different for the OP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mor_lam