Can they stop me from smoking on my balcony ?

[thaiduncankk]

Suggest a compromise.......

If you have a quick ciggie on her balcony (the smoke will go upwards), she could clean your balcony at the same time therefore she will not be affected by the passive smoke !

[MrBrilliant]

OP, switch to a nice Hoyo, invite her round to share one over a bottle of good Port.

Who knows? You might get a 'result' as it were.....

[kannot]

Throw the letter in the bin and ignore, nothing anyone can do.

no, burn it on the balcony with an old car tyre inner tube.

[kannot]

OP, switch to a nice Hoyo, invite her round to share one over a bottle of good Port.

Who knows? You might get a 'result' as it were.....

U mean like a bottle over the head?

[Toany]

Why not think about how it feels for her to sit in her lounge and then have the horrible stench of smoke come into her lounge. Closing the door will not get rid of the horrible smell. This is her own lounge and you are introducing smoke into it. You know this is happening and you continue to smoke on the balcony. I am sure she is not just splashing water carelessly, but throwing it at your washing to make it dirty. It is her reaction to you continuing to introduce smoke into her lounge. Does she not have the right to sit in her lounge without the smell of smoke.

I am sure it has nothing to do with you being a farang, but being a smoker. When this happens in my condo management will request people to stop smoking on the balconies of all the neighbors close to the complainants unit. Maybe you are not the only one being asked to stop smoking on the balcony. it is not about them, but about you. Please have a thought for others and just smoke within your condo,

[KittenKongRedux]

I understand where you are coming from and agree in some respect. On the other hand, if you owned a condo as an investment and a smoker was interested in buying the unit but would not if he could not smoke would you still be ok even though you were being singled out in your building. The only condo with restrictions. You ca stand on your balcony and everyone is smoking around you but you can not ? Keep in mind that there are over 200 condos in this building and no regulations regarding smoking on your balcony.

I dont think that many condo buildings have specific rules against smoking on balconies. I certainly dont know of one. But all condo buildings I know of here have a general rule about not annoying other co-owners. Smoking and other smells, or music or shouting or other pointless noise, could all potentially annoy other co-owners and so would be prohibited under that general rule.

It all boils down to whether or not your nearby neighbours are annoyed by what you do, rather than whether there is a specific rule against it. If they are annoyed and they complain then you have little choice other than to obey the rules or suffer any consequences (fines, withdrawal of access to common facilities) that are stipulated in those rules, though of course it is down to the committee and management to what extent the penalties are applied.

Anyone who doesn't like a building's rules should think twice before choosing to live in that building. All co-owners have the possibility of changing the rules at a general meeting, assuming they can get sufficient support from other co-owners.

In this particular case, given that the OP says he smokes very rarely, it seems likely to me that the complaining lady mistakenly believes that the smoke from other units is coming from the OP's unit. Though for all we know she may have complained about the other units also and they may have also received warnings.

[rwdrwdrwd]

I don't blame her. Second hand smoke stinks. If you only smoke a few times a year anyway, do the decent thing and do it elsewhere.

Perhaps she should have purchased a detached house then. Or moved in to the ground floor.

In terms of the balcony possibly being common space - doesn't really matter, one can just open the doors or windows and stand inside smoking instead.

Edited September 11, 2015 by rwdrwdrwd

[ttthailand]

Why not think about how it feels for her to sit in her lounge and then have the horrible stench of smoke come into her lounge. Closing the door will not get rid of the horrible smell. This is her own lounge and you are introducing smoke into it. You know this is happening and you continue to smoke on the balcony. I am sure she is not just splashing water carelessly, but throwing it at your washing to make it dirty. It is her reaction to you continuing to introduce smoke into her lounge. Does she not have the right to sit in her lounge without the smell of smoke.

I am sure it has nothing to do with you being a farang, but being a smoker. When this happens in my condo management will request people to stop smoking on the balconies of all the neighbors close to the complainants unit. Maybe you are not the only one being asked to stop smoking on the balcony. it is not about them, but about you. Please have a thought for others and just smoke within your condo,

I have taken the high road and have been civil about this matter. This issue never happened until one day I went to get my cloths that I had washed from my balcony and they were all covered with dirty water marks and wet. As you can not see the apartment above or below me except for the railing I yelled up politely to say hello and to tell her to please be careful when washing her balcony but no response. I went to the office and again very politely asked them to please let her know what was happening, not complaining or causing problems just stating facts. Then I had been traveling for over a month and no one smoked on the balcony. Then a small birthday get together and one time 20 minutes three people smoking. That it in a nutshell ... So you tell me, am I such a no good selfish Sob as you have been suggesting with every post ? I am in the right here but she is doing the nasty.

I am not asking if I am right or wrong as I know who the real problem is I am asking about what can really be done.

And please read my posts before responding, I already said that I was the only one given a letter as per office

[NickJ]

If you give in to this one. Next week it will be your cologne......or that stink cheese we all rub all over our bodies......

[fritzzz25]

As they say $hit runs down hill, so I think you are at a disadvantage and will end up losing this battle.

[Rimmer]

A post has been removed:

English is the only acceptable language anywhere on ThaiVisa including Classifieds, except within the Thai language forum, where of course using Thai is allowed.

[Toany]

Why not think about how it feels for her to sit in her lounge and then have the horrible stench of smoke come into her lounge. Closing the door will not get rid of the horrible smell. This is her own lounge and you are introducing smoke into it. You know this is happening and you continue to smoke on the balcony. I am sure she is not just splashing water carelessly, but throwing it at your washing to make it dirty. It is her reaction to you continuing to introduce smoke into her lounge. Does she not have the right to sit in her lounge without the smell of smoke.

I am sure it has nothing to do with you being a farang, but being a smoker. When this happens in my condo management will request people to stop smoking on the balconies of all the neighbors close to the complainants unit. Maybe you are not the only one being asked to stop smoking on the balcony. it is not about them, but about you. Please have a thought for others and just smoke within your condo,

I have taken the high road and have been civil about this matter. This issue never happened until one day I went to get my cloths that I had washed from my balcony and they were all covered with dirty water marks and wet. As you can not see the apartment above or below me except for the railing I yelled up politely to say hello and to tell her to please be careful when washing her balcony but no response. I went to the office and again very politely asked them to please let her know what was happening, not complaining or causing problems just stating facts. Then I had been traveling for over a month and no one smoked on the balcony. Then a small birthday get together and one time 20 minutes three people smoking. That it in a nutshell ... So you tell me, am I such a no good selfish Sob as you have been suggesting with every post ? I am in the right here but she is doing the nasty.

I am not asking if I am right or wrong as I know who the real problem is I am asking about what can really be done.

And please read my posts before responding, I already said that I was the only one given a letter as per office

So why not ask management to inform her that there will be no future smoking on your balcony and ask her not to allow water to drop onto your balcony. Make the first move. It was probably your smoking on the balcony that started the conflict and now it gets out of hand. If you want to live a harmonious life then make a move to get it. Thai society is about living together, peacefully and harmoniously. Forget blame and rights and make a move to calm things down, Everybody will benefit from it.

[richard_smith237]

Why not think about how it feels for her to sit in her lounge and then have the horrible stench of smoke come into her lounge. Closing the door will not get rid of the horrible smell. This is her own lounge and you are introducing smoke into it. You know this is happening and you continue to smoke on the balcony. I am sure she is not just splashing water carelessly, but throwing it at your washing to make it dirty. It is her reaction to you continuing to introduce smoke into her lounge. Does she not have the right to sit in her lounge without the smell of smoke.

I am sure it has nothing to do with you being a farang, but being a smoker. When this happens in my condo management will request people to stop smoking on the balconies of all the neighbors close to the complainants unit. Maybe you are not the only one being asked to stop smoking on the balcony. it is not about them, but about you. Please have a thought for others and just smoke within your condo,

I have taken the high road and have been civil about this matter. This issue never happened until one day I went to get my cloths that I had washed from my balcony and they were all covered with dirty water marks and wet. As you can not see the apartment above or below me except for the railing I yelled up politely to say hello and to tell her to please be careful when washing her balcony but no response. I went to the office and again very politely asked them to please let her know what was happening, not complaining or causing problems just stating facts. Then I had been traveling for over a month and no one smoked on the balcony. Then a small birthday get together and one time 20 minutes three people smoking. That it in a nutshell ... So you tell me, am I such a no good selfish Sob as you have been suggesting with every post ? I am in the right here but she is doing the nasty.

I am not asking if I am right or wrong as I know who the real problem is I am asking about what can really be done.

And please read my posts before responding, I already said that I was the only one given a letter as per office

Answer: Nothing.... Unless there is an Apartment Wide Ban which has been agreed to by either the Condo Management by contract with all tenants, or in the case of a Condo a ban agreed to in a Juristic Meeting and agreed to by all voting members and listed in the Meeting Report... there is nothing anyone can do about you smoking... Legally that is.

However, your life could be made difficult or you could be made to feel difficult, the pariah of the local community.

Of course, if you are thick skinned just carry on as you are, but it appears as though this issue has already had an effect on the level of comfort you feel in your Apartment.

So your real options: Move to a better condo (obvious answer) but if you like it where you are then just drop the issue, don't smoke.

Let the Apartment Management know in no uncertain terms that you have quit smoking and will not smoke, but in doing so you expect the same rules to be applied to everyone else.

[gmf1313]

In general, in my opinion, anyone who smokes and is oblivious to their stinking up the air another person has to breathe is a self centered pig. If you can smoke where you know it doesn't bother anyone, fine. If I was the one upstairs from your balcony you'd have a REAL problem. And don't whine about other people smoking, this is about you. Be responsible and courteous and do the right thing. AND, if you only smoke "once in a while" then why in GOD'S name do you even do it at all? You're not addicted, there's no reason or excuse for it. That makes this whole "problem" absurd

[ttthailand]

One more piece of info.... When I advised the office about the water on all over my cloths they called the lady above me and asked her about the matter and she said it was not her. Then the maintenance staff and manager came to my condo to see and went to knock on her door as they could clearly see all the water and where it was coming from. They explained to my gf that it was the condo up above and laughed about her saying it wasn't her. So she lied and I am sure lost face.

[Thunderbirds20]

I used to be a smoker, but had to quit because I was getting Emphysema. My complaint is people smoking on their balcony because they do not want to stink up their own room, but they do not mind stinking up mine or care about the health risk they impose upon me! You want to smoke, go right ahead, but do it INSIDE your own room with the doors closed!

[h90]

I don't blame her. Second hand smoke stinks. If you only smoke a few times a year anyway, do the decent thing and do it elsewhere.

with all the rubbish burned and car fumes cigarettes are the smallest problem in down town Bangkok.

Here they often burn rubbish, you can't go outside and the ash is falling from the sky....

[Toany]

One more piece of info.... When I advised the office about the water on all over my cloths they called the lady above me and asked her about the matter and she said it was not her. Then the maintenance staff and manager came to my condo to see and went to knock on her door as they could clearly see all the water and where it was coming from. They explained to my gf that it was the condo up above and laughed about her saying it wasn't her. So she lied and I am sure lost face.

Just make the first move like you did with smoking on your balcony. You do not smoke often, so do it within your condo. It is really up to you.

Create a nice place to live and not one full of conflict. If you want to live in a country full of conflict you have come to the wrong country.

[ttthailand]

Why not think about how it feels for her to sit in her lounge and then have the horrible stench of smoke come into her lounge. Closing the door will not get rid of the horrible smell. This is her own lounge and you are introducing smoke into it. You know this is happening and you continue to smoke on the balcony. I am sure she is not just splashing water carelessly, but throwing it at your washing to make it dirty. It is her reaction to you continuing to introduce smoke into her lounge. Does she not have the right to sit in her lounge without the smell of smoke.

I am sure it has nothing to do with you being a farang, but being a smoker. When this happens in my condo management will request people to stop smoking on the balconies of all the neighbors close to the complainants unit. Maybe you are not the only one being asked to stop smoking on the balcony. it is not about them, but about you. Please have a thought for others and just smoke within your condo,

I have taken the high road and have been civil about this matter. This issue never happened until one day I went to get my cloths that I had washed from my balcony and they were all covered with dirty water marks and wet. As you can not see the apartment above or below me except for the railing I yelled up politely to say hello and to tell her to please be careful when washing her balcony but no response. I went to the office and again very politely asked them to please let her know what was happening, not complaining or causing problems just stating facts. Then I had been traveling for over a month and no one smoked on the balcony. Then a small birthday get together and one time 20 minutes three people smoking. That it in a nutshell ... So you tell me, am I such a no good selfish Sob as you have been suggesting with every post ? I am in the right here but she is doing the nasty.

I am not asking if I am right or wrong as I know who the real problem is I am asking about what can really be done.

And please read my posts before responding, I already said that I was the only one given a letter as per office

So why not ask management to inform her that there will be no future smoking on your balcony and ask her not to allow water to drop onto your balcony. Make the first move. It was probably your smoking on the balcony that started the conflict and now it gets out of hand. If you want to live a harmonious life then make a move to get it. Thai society is about living together, peacefully and harmoniously. Forget blame and rights and make a move to calm things down, Everybody will benefit from it.

it was not my maybe 60 minutes total of smoking time in 4 months that started this. It was her loosing face about her splashing dirty on my cloths and lying to the staff and being found out that caused this. By the way the cloth thing happen a few times before and I didn't even talk about it because it was minor at first.

[rwdrwdrwd]

I used to be a smoker, but had to quit because I was getting Emphysema. My complaint is people smoking on their balcony because they do not want to stink up their own room, but they do not mind stinking up mine or care about the health risk they impose upon me! You want to smoke, go right ahead, but do it INSIDE your own room with the doors closed!

If you're bothered about the possibility of the actions of others polluting your air by an activity they do privately in their homes, then either live somewhere that it is not a factor (like a detached house, or the ground floor of a condo) or simply close your windows.

People are allowed to smoke in their own homes and have windows open, just as they are allowed to cook in their own homes with windows open, or eat durian (unless there is a specific rule against it)

Edited September 11, 2015 by rwdrwdrwd

[h90]

I used to be a smoker, but had to quit because I was getting Emphysema. My complaint is people smoking on their balcony because they do not want to stink up their own room, but they do not mind stinking up mine or care about the health risk they impose upon me! You want to smoke, go right ahead, but do it INSIDE your own room with the doors closed!

It is common that former smoker get jealous to smoker for their joy and stalk them. Smoke on the balcony that travels 1 floor and than enters the room thru the window is neither detectable nor a health risk.

[IAMHERE]

Have you shown this letter to the other condo occupants that smoke? They may well have already dealt with the topic. The management doesn't care if you smoke, they only have to send the letter to appease her. They send the letter, you stop for a short period to give them face, then you smoke at your leasure. Maybe you can find one of those smoke suckers that are battery operated and use it when on the balcony. I do know that others get to smell the smoke, I am afraid that I would pee purple from the smoke I get from other units.

[Toany]

I used to be a smoker, but had to quit because I was getting Emphysema. My complaint is people smoking on their balcony because they do not want to stink up their own room, but they do not mind stinking up mine or care about the health risk they impose upon me! You want to smoke, go right ahead, but do it INSIDE your own room with the doors closed!

It is common that former smoker get jealous to smoker for their joy and stalk them. Smoke on the balcony that travels 1 floor and than enters the room thru the window is neither detectable nor a health risk.

You have no idea how bad it smells.

[Toany]

Why not think about how it feels for her to sit in her lounge and then have the horrible stench of smoke come into her lounge. Closing the door will not get rid of the horrible smell. This is her own lounge and you are introducing smoke into it. You know this is happening and you continue to smoke on the balcony. I am sure she is not just splashing water carelessly, but throwing it at your washing to make it dirty. It is her reaction to you continuing to introduce smoke into her lounge. Does she not have the right to sit in her lounge without the smell of smoke.

I am sure it has nothing to do with you being a farang, but being a smoker. When this happens in my condo management will request people to stop smoking on the balconies of all the neighbors close to the complainants unit. Maybe you are not the only one being asked to stop smoking on the balcony. it is not about them, but about you. Please have a thought for others and just smoke within your condo,

I have taken the high road and have been civil about this matter. This issue never happened until one day I went to get my cloths that I had washed from my balcony and they were all covered with dirty water marks and wet. As you can not see the apartment above or below me except for the railing I yelled up politely to say hello and to tell her to please be careful when washing her balcony but no response. I went to the office and again very politely asked them to please let her know what was happening, not complaining or causing problems just stating facts. Then I had been traveling for over a month and no one smoked on the balcony. Then a small birthday get together and one time 20 minutes three people smoking. That it in a nutshell ... So you tell me, am I such a no good selfish Sob as you have been suggesting with every post ? I am in the right here but she is doing the nasty.

I am not asking if I am right or wrong as I know who the real problem is I am asking about what can really be done.

And please read my posts before responding, I already said that I was the only one given a letter as per office

So why not ask management to inform her that there will be no future smoking on your balcony and ask her not to allow water to drop onto your balcony. Make the first move. It was probably your smoking on the balcony that started the conflict and now it gets out of hand. If you want to live a harmonious life then make a move to get it. Thai society is about living together, peacefully and harmoniously. Forget blame and rights and make a move to calm things down, Everybody will benefit from it.

it was not my maybe 60 minutes total of smoking time in 4 months that started this. It was her loosing face about her splashing dirty on my cloths and lying to the staff and being found out that caused this. By the way the cloth thing happen a few times before and I didn't even talk about it because it was minor at first.

It is your right to live a life in conflict. Nobody can take that away from you. Enjoy the life you create for yourself

[ttthailand]

I used to be a smoker, but had to quit because I was getting Emphysema. My complaint is people smoking on their balcony because they do not want to stink up their own room, but they do not mind stinking up mine or care about the health risk they impose upon me! You want to smoke, go right ahead, but do it INSIDE your own room with the doors closed!

to be fair, you have a point. I do however don't normally smoke and I too don't like people to smoke in my house. My gf does not like the smell so that is why I have selected a condo with a balcony. I also like to smoke a cigar sometimes but not often. Keep in mind also that the air pollution, noise, heat and everything else is part of Bangkok. You also have the wind which is much stronger up 15 floors. She may be able to smell the smoke for a few minutes but I am sure it is not as bad as that and needs to be complained about.

Why did you move into a condo that had no restrictions on smoking? Did you think everyone was going to stop their behavior for you. There is some responsibility also on the none smoker to be selective on where they live just as a smoker should be careful not to smoke in a non smoking area.

[Travel Dude]

The smoke comes from your balcony because you are farang. Thai would never do such thing to other Thai.

[Ulic]

With so many smoking around you and you smoking so little just tell them you don't smoke.

Wait for the photographic evidence. Very hard when you are on the 15th floor.

[GOLDBUGGY]

Thai law prohibits people from smoking in common areas in condo buildings, just as it does in shops and cinemas and what-have-you. Some condo buildings consider the balconies of units to be common areas also. So whether you can smoke on "your" balcony or not rather depends on the individual interpretation that the building has of the status of that balcony.

Also most if not all buildings will have rules and regulations that prevent co-owners from annoying other co-owners, and there can be little doubt that smelly smoke (or smelly cooking) can be an annoyance.

Before the coup there was talk of a project of law that would prohibit all smoking anywhere in condo buildings including inside individual units, but I have no idea of how far it progressed towards being enacted.

There is a popular upper court case going on right now in Canada involving a 70 something year old guy and whether he should be allowed, or not, to smoke in his own condo. His claim is that he is highly addicted to cigarettes and that he bought his Condo 10 years ago and long before management changed things, and made it a non-smoking building.

Smokers have rights to! I personally hope he wins his case and I take my hat off to him for trying. It is the only smoker I have ever heard of who is standing up for his rights. The non-smokers have had their way far too long and have gone too far, in my personal view of it all at least. You have one person trying to stop everyone else in the building from smoking outside, just because she does not smoke and finds it offensive.I say to her get yourself a ceiling fan and shut your mouth. If you still find this offensive then stay inside or move to a house where you can control things.

Well to be honest I find it quite offensive when I have to listen to someone's baby cry all night in the condo, or on an airplane on a long trip were I need my rest for work. Or people who are allowed to have pets, where many people are allergic to animal hair, and they crap all over the common grounds. Or someone who wants to sit on his balcony all day and get drunk while listening to the same Elvis Presley's Greatest Hits every damned day. But as a Community we have to learn to go with the flow.

The excuse they have the right to do this to you because your Balcony could be considered a common area is just that, and an excuse. Is not anywhere outside of your Condo Door not considered a common area? The Parking Lot? The Street? The Park Bench? Even in a jungle somewhere?

As far as I am concerned you have every right to smoke on your own Balcony without the hassle. People this day and age should just learn to mind their own business. A lot of our rights to privacy has already been taken away in this computer age. At least as a smoker you pay high taxes which should cover your hospital expenses. Fat People, who seldom exercise, except their mouth, don't pay extra. They quit smoking? Then fine. Get on with your life and leave the rest alone. Not everyone wants to live to be 110 years old and have their diaper changed a few times a day. .

. .

[HenryB]

Throw the letter in the bin and ignore, nothing anyone can do.

Be careful many Farangs fal from Balconies.

I will look for you in the News

[ttthailand]

With so many smoking around you and you smoking so little just tell them you don't smoke.

Wait for the photographic evidence. Very hard when you are on the 15th floor.

basically my gf said same. " do what you want and not worry about it as she is

Out of line.

I will just tell the office I am happy to follow a smoking ban for the entire building and leave it at that.