Bangkok -- City of Angels or City of Noisy Assholes?

Finally a local Thai movement for noise abatement within Bangkok. This is great, because as long as this was regarded as a foreigners-only issue, there was little hope of progress.

Over the past 10 years the noise in Bangkok has gone from terrible to worse. Several times a day one is forced into situations where the screech from some megaphone, motorbike, or machinery actually makes your ears hurt. Nevermind the constant din that you must grit your teeth and endure anytime you leave your abode.

Most of this noise is the result of assholish, greedy, self-centered behaviour on the part of about 30% of Thais. Noise levels in Bangkok could easily be cut in half if existing noise ordinances were enforced.

from letters to the Nation

Three (silent) cheers for the People Who Love Quiet Club

Re: "Commuters want peace and quiet", News, June 21

Hooray for Panchalie Sathirasas and her People Who Love Quiet Club! And thank you to Pravit Rojanaphruk and The Nation for giving front-page prominence to her campaign to stop the ever-expanding noise pollution that has gripped every nook and cranny of Bangkok - and the country as well!

Skytrain operator Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc is a horrendous culprit. Not only is it impossible for commuters to get up to the platform without being bombarded by the loud and intrusive speakers used by video kiosks and other hawkers cluttering the ticket platform, but once upstairs and waiting for the train we must suffer from the greed of the management, who have rented out TV screens for advertisers to force their products on commuters. And for the past several months we have had to accept this inside the trains as well!

Don't bother to complain to customer service: several colleagues and I have registered at least 50 complaints over the past months, to no avail. Somebody is getting rich at the expense of our right to peace and quiet.

But while we're at it, let's not stop with the BTS. Those who manage every department store, hyperstore, restaurant, supermarket, shop and stall in this city, and even Thai Airways, seem to think that it's just fine to impose TV or loudspeaker advertising, music, irritating announcements, propaganda and all manner of noise and we poor consumers merely have to take it. Just see what happens when you ask someone to turn down the noise.

The din of traffic, crowds, mechanical equipment, etc is loud enough. One of our basic rights as citizens should be the freedom to enjoy silence in public places and venues.

It's a crime to throw trash on the streets, to smoke in public buildings, to release excessive vehicle exhaust into the air, to pollute the waterways. Please help to make it a crime to litter our ears, and help those misguided folk who run establishments to understand that the common denominator should be silence.

And please tell me how I can become a member of the People Who Love Quiet Club!

Another Quiet Lover