I just can't stand the noise in this country

[thhMan]

You can have your ears surgically removed...

Other than that, you get what you pay for and if you want to pay cheap, expect a different type of people living there.

Ive lived in a few places around Thailand and always take the time to visit neighbors and talk with them... So far... most places I lived are quiet.... however.... some have been dreadful nightmares

[mankondang]

i value quiet too so took the time to find an excellently managed apartment building in a quiet soi. any noise or other hassle and the management removes the tenets at the end of the month. there was some construction going on nearby and the manager agreed with the construction company that they would not start work before 8am and stop at 9pm.

i guess i'm saying it is possible to find good places if you look hard enough.

I'm in similar situation, even better maybe because no construction is allowed before 9:00 AM, or after 5:00 PM. The next door international hotel sends apologetic letters days in advance of staging parties and/or musical events, (they have already sent one for Wednesday's Loi Krathong), and these finish promptly at 11:00 PM. The rents and purchase prices here are reasonable, and both multicultural farangs and Thais get on well. I don't know the OP rental limits, but to live next to a group of young guy's Thais or farangs anywhere in the world who constantly play loud music would not be my choice of lifestyle. Young Thais can not afford to live in the same neighborhood as the averaged income farang or middle aged and middle incomeThai. Maybe the OP choice of living conditions is unfortunately governed by his budget. Such is life. Edited November 24, 2015 by mankondang

[bazza40]

It's pretty quiet in my condo, originally built to be a hospital and converted to apartments, so thick walls. With the doors shut and the aircon going, don't hear my neighbours.

Mind you, the condo owners and renters facing a Holiday Inn which has just installed a new and noisy cooling tower must be really pissed off......

Believe it or not, it is possible to find quiet condos. Perhaps the OP should try that route.

[GuestHouse]

I sneaked out when the music started, cut the speaker wites and then megga tested the line back to the amplifier.

So you went to a temple grounds and vandalized their stereo equipment and nobody saw you, even though music was playing, nobody noticed the farang standing there with wire cutters in his hand when the music went off.....

Gotta love anonymous forums.

I didn't vandalise anything.

I was, mindful of electrical wiring practice in Thailand, genuinely concerned for the safety of the monks.

I did the comunity minded thing - I megga tested the cables for them.

Safety First !!!

[ggt]

Although you may now view Thailand as your new home...you will never be accepted as an equal with the Thais...

Making noise, roosters crowing, dogs barking...day and night is a such a normal part of Thai life that they are offended when it is brought to their attention by some alien from another country...which my friend is you...

Either learn to cope...or move on...

[louse1953]

Go home John,Thailand is not for you.

[phuketruski]

change country.

[louse1953]

It's not the noise,upcountry for me it's the constant burning of rubbish,plastic and all other garden waste.

It doesn't happen where I live upcountry. The trash truck comes every Wednesday morning around 6 am and takes it all away for only 30 baht a month.

In this smallish town in Khon Kaen province, our binmen come every weekday about 5am. Despite that, my neighbours used to (don't now) burn their rubbish frequently and it pissed me (and my wife) off a lot but we lived with it, partly because Mrs.L didn't want to upset the neighbours even though they didn't seem to mind upsetting us - or, more likely, it never crossed their mind that somebody wouldn't like it.

It came to a head when one of them decided to burn some old tyres when the wind was blowing from his plot towards ours. A few minutes of the stinking black smoke was enough and I quickly doused it using our hose pipe. He said nothing at all. Another neighbour heaped a big pile of rubbish against our perimeter wall & set it alight - again, out came the hose; I didn't want a blackened & damaged wall. Again, no comment or reaction. Both times, my wife reminded them that the bins were very close by & were emptied every weekday. That was the last burning on our soi although we get smoke from more distant houses. Now, every morning I see those neighbours that used to burn taking their rubbish to the bins.

Clearly, my neighbours are more reasonable people & more open to change than some I read about on TV.

I should say that we live on the plot my wife was born on 60 years ago so she knows the locals very well as most of them have also lived in this soi for decades. Maybe that made my actions a bit more acceptable to the neighbours.

Noise - we get dogs, chickens, parties, screaming kids etc. I don't mind at all. We have an open invitation to any celebrations, although we very, very rarely take it up, and I like to hear my neighbours enjoying themselves. They work hard for little reward. The dogs - including my 4 - warn of passing strangers at night so serve a useful purpose. The screaming of the kids is usually because they're having fun & enjoying themselves - who wouldn't like to hear happy little kids? I like my neighbours and the only issue I've ever had with them is the burning of rubbish.

EDIT - my immediate neighbours are all just ordinary Thais, no foreigners anywhere near that I know of (but I don't put any effort into finding them if they are around). They cook street food, drive ambulances, work in shops, look after the family etc. They don't have big incomes, swanky houses, big cars or drape themselves in gold. Does that make them low class? Not for me - they're all TOP CLASS people because they're nice & friendly. Offer me a Moo Baan full of well-to-do Thais & foreigners and I think I'd run a mile or ten.

My making charcoal issue was with my ignorant bro inlaw.Murphy's law said that the smoke always blew my way and into the house,until my law placed two fans next to the stinking fire and blew it right back.He never batted an eyelid,but the next batch was done well away from me.

[louse1953]

Thailand is a noisy country.

Thais seem to be able to tolerate a high level of noise without complaining. I've always found that to be peculiar.

Presumably the reason is that they were raised with it, whereas most of us weren't.

This topic is a regular on ThaiVisa - especially the Chiang Mai forum.

Familiar remedies are proposed time and time again, replete with personal accounts. Retaliate with loudspeakers of your own; throw firecrackers into your neighbours yard; poison their dogs or livestock, etc., etc., etc.

These are the fantasies of macho blowhards... don't believe a word of it... they are pussies at heart.

Like Casper Milquetoast they dream of a virile response and sweet revenge.

Your only realistic option is to move into a gated community or a condo with fellow farangs and leun mai Thais.

Disabuse yourself of the notion that you can integrate or assimilate to any meaningful degree in Thailand. Most farangs have come here too late in life. They are set in their ways and unable to change in any fundamental sense. Too old to master the language, or start a family and be anything other than a cash cow for some mercenary woman and her scheming relatives.

That's the reality of the situation.

Yes, there are those of us who have been here for a long time, "gone native" to one extent or another; but that cultural change very often brings unintended consequences such as the loss of our sanity.

Much better to live here as a complaining misfit, bitching about barking dogs and loud music... TIT.

Sad pesamistic life you have there.

[ozyjon]

How would you feel if you just spent a few million

to buy or build your dream house, r-e-n-t then

you have the option to move.

[louse1953]

Oh really, I guess my total loss in the divorce scenario would be 450k max............ the Mc Mansion "YOU" mention is 50m2 + I built myself another house which is 48m2, both done for 450k, yes "built myself" .....NO I dont mean hired a local ,and NOPE nobody came and arrested me for doing it.

The land cost 800k and the Wife paid for the LAND out of her own cash NOT mine.

I NEVER said use yer own money............. 450k was my own money for materials concrete steel etc..............of course you could rent some condo box for 15k a month in the middle of a city but I have NO neighbours and NO noise. If you cant walk away form 450k you must be pretty damn poor.

At the current time that would be 45k a year as married 10 years almost

LOL, I risk a damn sight more than 450K every day of my life, mate, but I'm not stupid enough to risk it pursuing a "peace and quiet" strategy that's entirely dependent on others

I can get peace and quiet for a fraction of the cost and with zero risk

No prizes for 2nd Hill,kannot wins.

[thailanddogerator]

I totally agree with you, so many people do not understand that they are the problem by the way they manage their life or deal with problems.

I never had any problem and will never have but it seems that some should have stayed home as they cannot adapt to anything !

I guess that they also do not eat spicy ? keep complaining that service is not good enough ? etc....

They are just ridiculous and hopeless.

Buy earplugs!

I often feel I'm not living in the same Thailand as everyone else, no issues with noise, soi dogs, iffy neighbours etc.

We are in a village within 1 hour of Bangkok CBD (I commute every day) the only noise issue (if you can call it that) is the roosters going off at 5AM (including ours).

OK, we do occasionally get temple noises from weddings and funerals etc, but since we get invited not exactly a problem. Oh, and the dance club over the river is audible when the wind is wrong.

Right now it's 6.50PM on a Sunday, what can I hear? Aircraft flying in to Swampy and DMK, frogs, jinjoks, the wind noise from my fan, stuff all else.

EDIT Just heard a dog bark, it's stopped now.

[thailanddogerator]

Yes but all the genius on the forum cannot understand this ! For them life in a perfectly quiet 300 sqm condo at 20th floor with sea view is like hell :-)

move to the place I am currently living, the View Talay 5C in Jomtien. It is so quiet on the balconies of the upper floors ( 9 - 22 ) and the only noise you hear are the birds chirping by the mornings.

There are mostly farangs living and no one would dare bother the other tenants with loud music.

I am sorry for you but you need to put some more effort into the search for a more soundproof location

Have to agree with you. Many people disregard condo living in case you get bad neighbours but living in the sky immediately cuts out noise from soi dogs and the 'bar across the road' and windows can be opened without the risk of mozzies if you're high enough up. Great views too

[soistalker]

Thais think it is funny to annoy you. It is called schadenfreude. It seems to be just you complaining, so they will never ever ever change what they are doing. I used to work out at a health club there. The air con was on too low and I would always profusely sweat. I would turn it up when no one was looking. They caught on, and when the manager caught me once he confronted me in an overly angry tone. I told him it was simply too hot. He began yelling the same thing at me over and over again: "because of you?!Because of you?! Up air con because of you?!" Since I was the only one complaining, he just kept turning it down. I kept turning it up until I was offered my membership money back by him screaming my last name at me and asking for a refund. Thainess at its best.

And for some reason, Thais have gotten exponentially ruder and more aggressive since my first trip in 2000. And I have spent three to six months of the year there every year.

[Autonuaq]

think I depends on where you live.

most building have walls like paper.

move out and get an other place or visit china a few weeks and then you know how relaxed it is in Thailand again.

thai /asean do have a lot of noise around them.

so If you have a problem think you have to move to a place where it suites you and those place are everywhere,

Success.

[thailanddogerator]

Wrong, most CHEAP building have paper walls...

You get what you pay for.

think I depends on where you live.

most building have walls like paper.

move out and get an other place or visit china a few weeks and then you know how relaxed it is in Thailand again.

thai /asean do have a lot of noise around them.

so If you have a problem think you have to move to a place where it suites you and those place are everywhere,

Success.

[KittenKong]

Disabuse yourself of the notion that you can integrate or assimilate to any meaningful degree in Thailand. Most farangs have come here too late in life. They are set in their ways and unable to change in any fundamental sense. Too old to master the language, or start a family and be anything other than a cash cow for some mercenary woman and her scheming relatives.

Who would want to integrate into the Thai way of life? I see nothing very attractive about it, nor do I see anything about my way of life that needs changing (except perhaps that I should get more exercise).

As for being a cash cow for anyone here: dream on. The closest I want to get to having relationships with Thais is asking them for my bill in a restaurant.

[bbbbooboo]

Lol.....some Thai people are a good example of the empty gourd making the most noise

[kannot]

I sneaked out when the music started, cut the speaker wites and then megga tested the line back to the amplifier.

So you went to a temple grounds and vandalized their stereo equipment and nobody saw you, even though music was playing, nobody noticed the farang standing there with wire cutters in his hand when the music went off.....

Gotta love anonymous forums.

I didn't vandalise anything.

I was, mindful of electrical wiring practice in Thailand, genuinely concerned for the safety of the monks.

I did the comunity minded thing - I megga tested the cables for them.

Safety First !!!

I hope at least it was 1000v test? you need to be thorough

[kannot]

Oh really, I guess my total loss in the divorce scenario would be 450k max............ the Mc Mansion "YOU" mention is 50m2 + I built myself another house which is 48m2, both done for 450k, yes "built myself" .....NO I dont mean hired a local ,and NOPE nobody came and arrested me for doing it.

The land cost 800k and the Wife paid for the LAND out of her own cash NOT mine.

I NEVER said use yer own money............. 450k was my own money for materials concrete steel etc..............of course you could rent some condo box for 15k a month in the middle of a city but I have NO neighbours and NO noise. If you cant walk away form 450k you must be pretty damn poor.

At the current time that would be 45k a year as married 10 years almost

LOL, I risk a damn sight more than 450K every day of my life, mate, but I'm not stupid enough to risk it pursuing a "peace and quiet" strategy that's entirely dependent on others

I can get peace and quiet for a fraction of the cost and with zero risk

No prizes for 2nd Hill,kannot wins.

Ask Cyprus how much hes forked out in rent for the last 5 years in Asoke.............I think it might be a tad more than 450k

I sometimes stay in BKK but I dont like the "buzz" of any cities we've got condos at Phrakanong On Nut and Udom suk which seems to have gone crazy with new ones being built at more than 100k baht m2 now and a new cineplex shopping mall opening soon at On Nut

Now I have to wake up to this sh*thole everyday

Edited November 24, 2015 by kannot

[kannot]

I totally agree with you, so many people do not understand that they are the problem by the way they manage their life or deal with problems.

I never had any problem and will never have but it seems that some should have stayed home as they cannot adapt to anything !

I guess that they also do not eat spicy ? keep complaining that service is not good enough ? etc....

They are just ridiculous and hopeless.

Buy earplugs!

I often feel I'm not living in the same Thailand as everyone else, no issues with noise, soi dogs, iffy neighbours etc.

We are in a village within 1 hour of Bangkok CBD (I commute every day) the only noise issue (if you can call it that) is the roosters going off at 5AM (including ours).

OK, we do occasionally get temple noises from weddings and funerals etc, but since we get invited not exactly a problem. Oh, and the dance club over the river is audible when the wind is wrong.

Right now it's 6.50PM on a Sunday, what can I hear? Aircraft flying in to Swampy and DMK, frogs, jinjoks, the wind noise from my fan, stuff all else.

EDIT Just heard a dog bark, it's stopped now.

I cant decide which

[jacko45k]

The only good neighbours are no neighbours!

[thaibeachlovers]

Maybe they see you as being intolerant of their culture? Maybe this leads them to not care about you either.

Thailand is not a quiet place. Noise does not bother them as much as it does many of us. Me included. They do not feel they have the right to tell someone else what to do.

If you cannot afford to live in a place that is quieter, maybe it is time to go home. I think if you live in close proximity w/regular Thai people, you are almost sure to have this issue. If you move into an area with older people, a more expensive place, you are less likely to have this issue.

I also live in a village - parties can get noisy but not often or too bad and anyone is always welcome.

Good luck.

Just living in a village is not guaranteed to be quiet. Monks chanting on the PA at 4.30am, the talking petrol pump outside our gate, the unmuffled puk a puk trucks going to the rice fields make it pretty noisy.

I had to leave the village because a lout kept practicing his amplified bass guitar at midnight and it was driving me crazy. We moved to the city, where it is quieter.

As for the OP, if he really needs quiet, move to the gulf coast where there are plenty of unpopulated beaches. I stayed at one where there were only 3 habitations as far as one could see. VERY quiet.

[thaibeachlovers]

Disabuse yourself of the notion that you can integrate or assimilate to any meaningful degree in Thailand. Most farangs have come here too late in life. They are set in their ways and unable to change in any fundamental sense. Too old to master the language, or start a family and be anything other than a cash cow for some mercenary woman and her scheming relatives.

Who would want to integrate into the Thai way of life? I see nothing very attractive about it, nor do I see anything about my way of life that needs changing (except perhaps that I should get more exercise).

As for being a cash cow for anyone here: dream on. The closest I want to get to having relationships with Thais is asking them for my bill in a restaurant.

I agree. Why would I want to be like a Thai?

As for being a cash cow to relatives- why? Just say no. Would you be a cash cow to a woman/ relatives back home?

Not having kids is an excellent idea. Too many people in the world already.

[crutchy26]

get some good quality ear-plugs. I have HAD to use mine when this small Issan Village goes off-tap. Replete with a 1kW sound system and speaker stacks. Those same speakers are scraping because of the Bass Boost. (VERY typical of any 'loud' music system here in Thailand).

Not uncommon for kids to be within touching distance of the speaker stacks. The deafness will last a very long, long time.

The adults just smile.................... Ignorance is bliss.

[kannot]

The only good neighbours are no neighbours!

EXACTLY!!

[kannot]

Maybe they see you as being intolerant of their culture? Maybe this leads them to not care about you either.

Thailand is not a quiet place. Noise does not bother them as much as it does many of us. Me included. They do not feel they have the right to tell someone else what to do.

If you cannot afford to live in a place that is quieter, maybe it is time to go home. I think if you live in close proximity w/regular Thai people, you are almost sure to have this issue. If you move into an area with older people, a more expensive place, you are less likely to have this issue.

I also live in a village - parties can get noisy but not often or too bad and anyone is always welcome.

Good luck.

Just living in a village is not guaranteed to be quiet. Monks chanting on the PA at 4.30am, the talking petrol pump outside our gate, the unmuffled puk a puk trucks going to the rice fields make it pretty noisy.

I had to leave the village because a lout kept practicing his amplified bass guitar at midnight and it was driving me crazy. We moved to the city, where it is quieter.

As for the OP, if he really needs quiet, move to the gulf coast where there are plenty of unpopulated beaches. I stayed at one where there were only 3 habitations as far as one could see. VERY quiet.

The trick is to live outside the village, my nearest is about 600metres away, then im 3km from the main Phetkasem road and another 6 into Pranburi, still got the amenities there if required and 16km to the sea 3 hours to Chumphon for good snorkelling, suited me

[akentryan]

Very fortunate to live in a village on the darkside of Pattaya where noise at night rarely happens. Homes are in the 3 to 4 million baht range and we have excellent neighbors. One exception is my neighbor on the south side who recently chased his girlfriend down the street shooting at her with a pistol. There will always be strange occurences since TIT. Would not and could not live anywhere else.

[williet98248]

I see the "If you don't like it, go back where you came from!" folks are already out. I sympathize with you. I live in an upscale development that takes a card to get into. Quiet and genteel with upscale tenants and homeowners. Very good friends with my Thai neighbor for years. Until he got married and inherited two spaniel dogs. They bark, whine and cry all day long. Makes my and the other neighbors lives miserable. I have talked to him several times and he did remove the dogs for several days. But they are back again. will have another talk with him but don't know what will happen. But here is how the Thais handle these situations. One way is that a Thai wouldn't even say anything; just poison the dogs, commiserate wit the owners while having a drink with them. One solution I read about several years ago was a poor guy living next to a Hiso arrogant Dr and his wife who enjoyed having noisy drinking parties until the wee hours several times a week. The Thai neighbor complained many times and the Dr blew him off. Finally the neighbor went over during one noisy party, shot and killed eight people including the Dr and his wife and then killed himself. Radical but effective. Don't know what I will do if I can't come to an accommodation with my neighbor. Probably won't shoot him.

[TKDfella]

Once again I do sympathise with noise in general. Fortunately I have adapted and that it how it has to be if one wants to stay in Thailand but it isn't easy. A friend of mine married a Thai woman and began living just down the road to me and within six months he was 'pulling his hair out'. He came thinking if I could do it so could but we're all different and one has to decide according to one's own character. Another point many ignore is that they thinking leaving their native country to escape certain problems and be happy here is not always right either. When changing countries the problems don't just go away they're different. There is no real advice to offer except that if 'Thai ways' really do get you down it is perhaps time to leave because they aren't likely to change.