Construction And Noise In Bkk!

[dekthephouston]

I am living on the crown property land on Rajadamri Road behind the Four Season Hotel. This area is undergoing heavy building and hotel construction projects and it creates a lot of noise and disturbance... But the noise it creates at night when Bangkok comes to a more quiet and peaceful path is becoming unbearable. It has reached the point where using Earplugs has become useless.

It is clearly illegal in Thailand to let construction sites operate at night but only in my soi there are two sites that are working non-stop and the next two sois also have their lot of nocturnal activity. These project will become international chain 5 star hotels and luxuary condominiums for rich expats and well-off Thai.

Trucks unloading material, workers bawling and barking at each other without any consideration for working people who need their night of sleep or without even thinking that the neighbor 5 star hotel has some guest who would like to rest... all this is allowed thanks to the little envelope that some brown uniform team on a motorcycle come and get at dusk time. (I personally witnessed the scene several times).

Before getting into depression and sleep depravity, I am wondering which action can be taken. Write to the King and to his Crown Property Management office will surely be done soon. But I'd like to receive some more suggestion.

[LifeConvo]

You live with noise if you live in the middle of BKK, thats just the way it is.

Most people have that figured out in the first 5 minutes of being here.

[kmart]

Sorry, but thats Bangkok all over. It will never change; the people here have no concept of noise pollution at all.

Move out to some other place.

[steppenfaerie]

I really sympathise with your plight but I'm not sure there's much you can do about it, besides change apartments or get some kind of sound-proofing on your windows (perhaps you can enquire with the landlord?)

Every morning starting at around 6 I get some dude with a megaphone outside my apartment. I don't know what the heck he is shouting about, but he sounds very angry. It goes on all morning and drives me insane. Ear plugs don't work for me, either.

[jumnien]

Yes, I have two condos in Royal Regent 1 behind 4 seasons. My wife and I moved back to Hua Hin 6 months ago partly motivated by the neighborhood construction climate. With a small boy in a carriage it feels like a war zone. We stay about 3 - 5 nights a month in BKK so its bearable. Our southern exposure seems fairly quiet at night. With the aircon on I don't hear a thing. Down in Hua Hin it's so quiet you can hear the birds fart. As has been said, noise comes with the territory in the big city. Don't bother complaining...

[redrus]

What a bummer.

I hate it when people just say "ha ha, I told you so" or "so, you chose it, live with it" and, don't offer anything constructive but, there is really only two things you can do.

1/tough it out or,

2/move.

There are quiet places in Bkk but, you will pay for them....!

I hope you make the right decision and all sorts itself out, I don't envy you.

Infact, that's a lie, I take it all back, <deleted> to you, stop moaning, you live in Bangkok. Its +2 degrees outside my flat in North England now, although its serenely quiet, I'd rather be there with the noise ....

redrus

[jasreeve17]

I am living on the crown property land on Rajadamri Road behind the Four Season Hotel. This area is undergoing heavy building and hotel construction projects and it creates a lot of noise and disturbance... But the noise it creates at night when Bangkok comes to a more quiet and peaceful path is becoming unbearable. It has reached the point where using Earplugs has become useless.

It is clearly illegal in Thailand to let construction sites operate at night but only in my soi there are two sites that are working non-stop and the next two sois also have their lot of nocturnal activity. These project will become international chain 5 star hotels and luxuary condominiums for rich expats and well-off Thai.

Trucks unloading material, workers bawling and barking at each other without any consideration for working people who need their night of sleep or without even thinking that the neighbor 5 star hotel has some guest who would like to rest... all this is allowed thanks to the little envelope that some brown uniform team on a motorcycle come and get at dusk time. (I personally witnessed the scene several times).

Before getting into depression and sleep depravity, I am wondering which action can be taken. Write to the King and to his Crown Property Management office will surely be done soon. But I'd like to receive some more suggestion.

I feel sorry for you. The lack of noise pollution laws / enforcement is a serious problem - No sleep - stress - health problems - early death. Which is as serious as it gets really.

I used to live close to that exact area and the noise was one of my considerations to move. My new area has no construction, but I do get woken up by the call to prayer every day at 5am. Muslims, nice people, but you'd think they'd get an alarm clock in the 21C. I'm thinking of getting a loud hailer and shouting out some Buddhist / Jewish / Christian / Any prayers at 4am.

[dekthephouston]

Nice guys, thanks for your motivated responses... people like you would just stop fighting back if they were bitten by a shark... I don't complain about the construction noise, I manifest my anger about a total disrespect and selfishness of those Isaan workers (well thanks and total respect to them for building our nice appartments by the way) and especially greedy foremen who just don't give a shit about what's going on around them

after 17 years here, I know a bit about noise pollution in this country, thanks for reminding it though, just in case I forgot or didn't go to MBK for a while, today you can barely have a phone conversation in Panthip or in the BTS because of the noice created by their commercial speakers and screens

So it's not about waisting my time and energy trying to resolve the problem, it's about making it public that a crown property land next to one of the top hotel in Asia is just abandonned to those stupid truck drivers and foremen who sound their horn at 3am or scream in their microphone atop some stupid thai techno music at 5.30am to cheer a bunch of lazy ants/workers who just want to get back to sleep or smoke their krong thip in the back of a pick up... this is called corruption and pure egoism or lack of interest for other people, and it's not a good reason enough for me to move from this neighbourood that I like!

[jasreeve17]

Nice guys, thanks for your motivated responses... people like you would just stop fighting back if they were bitten by a shark... I don't complain about the construction noise, I manifest my anger about a total disrespect and selfishness of those Isaan workers (well thanks and total respect to them for building our nice appartments by the way) and especially greedy foremen who just don't give a shit about what's going on around them

after 17 years here, I know a bit about noise pollution in this country, thanks for reminding it though, just in case I forgot or didn't go to MBK for a while, today you can barely have a phone conversation in Panthip or in the BTS because of the noice created by their commercial speakers and screens

So it's not about waisting my time and energy trying to resolve the problem, it's about making it public that a crown property land next to one of the top hotel in Asia is just abandonned to those stupid truck drivers and foremen who sound their horn at 3am or scream in their microphone atop some stupid thai techno music at 5.30am to cheer a bunch of lazy ants/workers who just want to get back to sleep or smoke their krong thip in the back of a pick up... this is called corruption and pure egoism or lack of interest for other people, and it's not a good reason enough for me to move from this neighbourood that I like!

You are of course correct in your views, but what can be done / changed? Also the people that are driving the profits (complete on time... sell the condos) and demanding these work hours are, at the end of the day, the consumers like you or I (although recently they seem to be mostly Singaporean). In this society the baht rules which allows market forces to be powerful with no respect for the environment..... If the locals don't give a toss, and they don't, then it alll goes to sh_t, governments are taken over by... you get the picture.

You get the government that you deserve. You also get the environment that you deserve and if the indiginous population doesn't give a toss, then nothing changes. It's just a mystery how things work as well as they do here.

[warriors]

That is why you always should try to get a short term rental agreement so that if things change around you you can move ( go with the flow)

Rent do not buy, you have heard it time and time before, so this is just another reminder as to why you should rent.

Sorry about your problem, but you should get out of there, unless you have bought the place in that case you will have to grin and bear it. Or try to sell it on to some other poor unprepaired person.

[kmart]

Nice guys, thanks for your motivated responses... people like you would just stop fighting back if they were bitten by a shark... I don't complain about the construction noise, I manifest my anger about a total disrespect and selfishness of those Isaan workers (well thanks and total respect to them for building our nice appartments by the way) and especially greedy foremen who just don't give a shit about what's going on around them

after 17 years here, I know a bit about noise pollution in this country, thanks for reminding it though, just in case I forgot or didn't go to MBK for a while

So what was your point again? You think whining here is going to make a lick of difference? Why don't you get "motivated" enough yourself to try and do something about it? You ask for advice and then disparage the people polite enough to reply? <deleted>?

Edited December 21, 2006 by kmart

[popshirt]

That is why you always should try to get a short term rental agreement so that if things change around you you can move ( go with the flow)

Rent do not buy, you have heard it time and time before, so this is just another reminder as to why you should rent.

Sorry about your problem, but you should get out of there, unless you have bought the place in that case you will have to grin and bear it. Or try to sell it on to some other poor unprepaired person.

I couldn't agree more! Rent, do not buy! I happily moved from noisy Sukhumvit to more placid Sathorn. Still central but what a difference in noise level.

[pbkk]

Build, Build, Build