Thai Village Noise, Finally Had Enough.

[PostmanPat]

I live at Nongkwai, just off the Samoeng Road. As I type this at 11.45pm I hear the inane drivel of Thai Village Karaoke but this time ( its happened before) the volume is louder than the Woodstock or Isle Of Wight festivals from all those years ago, I mean, really, really loud, so much so that items on tables in my house are literally vibrating with the volume and bass.

I know its a question thats been posed many times before, but I ll pose it again.....why the hell does the noise have to be ramped up to a point where its unbearable for us 2 kilometres away, heaven knows what its like at the venue, its unbelievable, just totally outrageously ridiculous.

Are these people thick, stupid, cloth eared, deaf.......or a combination of all these elements. Stupid, stupid stupid and rude and unthinking and it cant possibly be pleasant for the majority of the people attending.

Now heres the "coup de grace". Do you know what this jolly late night of fun and frolics is for? Its to "celebrate and commemorate" the opening of a new funeral/ crematorium/ burning place for the dead. Kind of sums it all up doesnt it?

[dru2]

I live at Nong Khwai and it doesn't bother me at all.

[PostmanPat]

I live at Nong Khwai and it doesn't bother me at all.

Ahh. The usual apologist! My wife has to go to work as a tour guide at 6am and there is no prospect of sleep at this time. Stupid, unreasonable and unthinking !!!

[worgeordie]

What are you going to do move ?,as you have finally had enough.

regards worgeordie

[dru2]

I'm not an apologist. Dogs howl, Roosters crow, locals play music.... I'm just very glad not to be living in Aberdeen any more.

[cyberfarang]

I live at Nong Khwai and it doesn't bother me at all.

Ahh. The usual apologist! My wife has to go to work as a tour guide at 6am and there is no prospect of sleep at this time. Stupid, unreasonable and unthinking !!!

My guess is if the event is happening 2 kilometres away then you can probably only hear it as background noise. It would be impossible for the sound to be overpowering from that distance.

We get this about twice a month where I live, karaokes complete with a band, people that sing like they are in agony as if someone has stuck cactuses up their backsides, loud speakers, mics and all, sometimes go on till 2 in the morning.This all happens in a soi only one block down. But we have got used to it and hardly notice after a while.

[jobin]

Adjust or cry. But few of us are interested in your moans.

[1FinickyOne]

People who like different things than we do are not necessarily stupid - they just like different things... I like quiet. I understand it is upsetting even to have the bass notes vibrate softly in my home - it is an unwanted intrusion into my life - but not that bad and I live with it on rare occasions here. If I were to run out and call everyone stupid for doing what they like - well, then I would be the... well, never mind.

[kurtramsbottom]

OP what time does your round start?

[Pheat123]

Buy yourself some earplugs or go buy yourself a monkey to take your mind off the noise

[saakura]

Your house is 2 kilometres away, the noise cant be all that loud. Move away if you cant bear it.

[daoyai]

Audio tresspass, the curse of the subwoofer. Usually only dullards are not disturbed by intusive noise, that is the answer to the OP's questions. Many Thai people are also bothered and lose sleep and their health from the noise... but the culture being what it is only the higher classes can expect quiet in their neighborhoods and only if the noise is generated by the lower class. .... in this case, the celebration of a new "wat men" is temporary and tied to religion so.... this too shall pass.

[PostmanPat]

Ok, Thanks all for your "helpful and sympathetic" (Not!) responses. Its morning now and gone. I suppose my post last night was borne out of the frustration of just how loud this was. Honestly, it wasnt just the usual village event, I m used to those, I ve been here eleven years, this one last night was ramped up to a noise level where you could hardly hear the telly on full volume, and it was across an open field from me so perhaps I was the nearest "Falang" house to this "evening of entertainment".

If this had been in the UK, the "noise abatement" authority would have gone in and turned it down ( they forced a Bruce Springsteen concert in a stadium to reduce the volume last year!) but of course, no such authority exists here.

So, apologies for my grumpiness last night, but it really was a lot more awful than it normally is !!!!

[kurtramsbottom]

^No need to go postal!

[kingalfred]

Villages are noisier than living in BKK. Always some idiots with large bass speakers in the back of a pickup . "Boom

Boom"

Edited February 10, 2016 by kingalfred

[ramrod711]

people that sing like they are in agony as if someone has stuck cactuses up their backsides,

Love it, describes the lady that sings karaoke in our village perfectly. Fortunately they only do it 4 or 5 times a year, it isn't very loud and they shut down at 11:00 pm. I wonder if the ear shattering racket that the OP was enduring had anything to do with frightening ghosts away from the new crematorium?

[FolkGuitar]

Foam earplugs. God's gift to people who want to sleep in noisy environments.

Flying bores the heck outta me so I always try to sleep through the flight. But when there are crying babies, screaming kid, and jet engine noise it's not an easy task to fall asleep. Out come the foam ear plugs and blackout eye mask. Sound asleep quickly.

Foam earplugs work. They are the least intrusive physically so after a minute or so you don't even know you have them in your ears.

You can buy them in packs of 5 pair for just a few baht in most drug stores and at the airport, so you always have them in a drawer for those 'special nights' or flights.

[Loaded]

I'm also a foam earplugs fan. I put in every night. Most noise is blocked and what gets through is a low-level hum that doesn't keep me awake.

[augustwest]

My place in SanSai is extremely quiet all day and night,except for the occasional dog barking! Very peaceful.

[Ricardo]

"Now heres the "coup de grace". Do you know what this jolly late night of fun and frolics is for? Its to "celebrate and commemorate" the opening of a new funeral/ crematorium/ burning place for the dead. Kind of sums it all up doesnt it?"


But then the music has to be loud, if it's got to wake the dead !

Rest-in-peace, except in Thailand !

[Ricardo]

A memory from the recent-past ?

... and of course a bit of dancing too ...

Edited February 10, 2016 by Ricardo

[mrmillersr]

I live at Nong Khwai and it doesn't bother me at all.

Ahh. The usual apologist! My wife has to go to work as a tour guide at 6am and there is no prospect of sleep at this time. Stupid, unreasonable and unthinking !!!

you had it right at stupid, though you could have added inconsiderate, arrogant, two faced, etc etc etc

[bangmai]

It's often quieter in the city than the suburbs...fewer roosters/dogs/caged dogs/dog breeders and more people sleeping, who would potentially put a stop to it. Living within 100 m of one of the largest unis in the country is considerably more quiet than Baan Wang Tan.....go figure.

[sharktooth]

Valium and earplugs.

[northernjohn]

Ok, Thanks all for your "helpful and sympathetic" (Not!) responses. Its morning now and gone. I suppose my post last night was borne out of the frustration of just how loud this was. Honestly, it wasnt just the usual village event, I m used to those, I ve been here eleven years, this one last night was ramped up to a noise level where you could hardly hear the telly on full volume, and it was across an open field from me so perhaps I was the nearest "Falang" house to this "evening of entertainment".

If this had been in the UK, the "noise abatement" authority would have gone in and turned it down ( they forced a Bruce Springsteen concert in a stadium to reduce the volume last year!) but of course, no such authority exists here.

So, apologies for my grumpiness last night, but it really was a lot more awful than it normally is !!!!

You have answered your own problem. Move to the UK

that wasn't so hard now was it?

[Trujillo]

It is interesting how little the Thais feel about other people. Be it letting their dogs out to shit in front of the neighbors' house (repeatedly) to the same dogs barking incessantly to cranking up the music volume to mind-numbing levels, there seems to be no limit to the lack of concern for their fellow man.

If I were challenged repeatedly by noise and could not have the offenders desist, I would have to move. Life is too short (retired or otherwise) to live under a cloud of anger and frustration (and sonic punishment).

By the way, on the BASS note (no pun intended), a few weeks back there was a thunderous THUMPING bass coming from across the wooded area in the back of my house. It was really loud, but it was in the afternoon and these thing around here are rare, but just to see where exactly it was coming from, I motored over to the source. It was the next, very small mooban over and when I pulled up, I was surprised to find that the music actually was not nearly as loud as it was in my side yard, some 200 meters or so away. Something about the very low bass and the acoustics of the area was serving to modulate the sound. I was genuinely surprised.

[bangmai]

One night at BWT, when I was at my wits end with the dog breeder across the street (actually it was early morning)...I decided to answer with a concert featuring The Who at full volume....just to show that if it was acceptable for a dog to bark from a concrete carport all night, surely there would be no objections to some classic rock at 4 am. I even grabbed a cooler of beer ( to you locals, that means a container with ice, with bottles or cans of beer chilling in the ice), a chair, and a cigar and parked myself in the front yard. Strange thing was, no one ever complained.

[mesquite]

Helps me...but not a cure all https://simplynoise.com/

[roger1999]

I play a CD with white noise (rain) when my neighbors get too loud. It works well.

[JaseTheBass]

I've found the villages here (even on the outskirts of cities) to be pretty unbearable due to ignorant fools. The 2 quietest places I've had are at the end of Soi Coboy in Bangkok and Sirimangkalajarn in chiang Mai.