baabaabobo

amyb, on 2010-09-13 22:57:19, said:

Teaches them WHAT ? ? ? ? ? ?!!

Now i've heard everything !

The twice daily MK staff dance

Needs to be seen to be believed.  Would be classed as a crime against humanity in the West.  Thai diners pretend nothing's happening while I don't know whether to die from laughter, pity or pure shame to be watching it from outside.

CMX, on 2010-09-13 10:33:25, said:

OP

All "attack" solutions offered above are pure nonsense.  Quite apart from every other concern, they cannot work and probably would backfire.

Indulging in angers or self-righteousness is a misalignment in my soul, I think, and actions rising from it can provoke anger in others - that is all.  There are a number of countries where expressed anger and applications to higher authorities get you nowhere for a very long time, France is an example, and Thailand too.  

You owe it to yourself to take it easy on yourself find a workable solution, and there are several listed above.  Or anyway, that's what I decided.  I moved because of a nightclub, did not want to, just did, and I hate moving.  

In my case, the most difficult part was defusing my own frustration.  But what I was up against was that I was from a foreign place and did not understand new ways.  I cannot believe that Thai people are so practiced at tuning out noise, but they do.  And it is not the case that everybody has raised a dozen unruly children!  

After a while, I took my moving as a learning, and worth it.  Slept better for two reasons.

Good advice from CMX...

Agree that there is a problem, and would not appear to the simple solution that you would like there to be.

In this case, I would suggest that the answer in within yourself.....  I lived in and among the general Muslim population in Jakarta for quite a few years.  I would not be able to tell you how close the nearest Westener lived as I was among the Muslim locals, and I must say to this day, it bothers me to hear some people lambast all Muslims due to the actions of a few.   My neighbors there were were as nice as any neighbors I have ever had, anywhere.

I also found it somewhat disconcerting to hear the morning prayer call every morning and then throughout the other times of the day.  But the human body is a wondorous thing, it can acclimate and adjust amazingly.  After a short period of time, while I did actually hear the prayer call, at the same time I didn't , then later it became sort of a nice wake up call.   Along with these prayer calls, there were the street sounds of the mobile street vendors selling their wares.  Food stuff, like bread or other early morning , to me treats.  Each of these vendors would have theirown unique sound.  From tapping on a pot or plate with a spoon , to a honky, honky bicycle horn, to other various implements of soundmaking.

Believe me this for some reason, instilled within me a very warm, secure feeling of belonging just right there where I was.

Some time later when it was time to move and it was to CM, strange as it might seem I really missed those same sounds that gave me such a warm secure feeling.

Today, I hear at all hours , barking dogs, sirens, tuk-tuks or racing cars or motorcycles and it doesn't really disturb me.   The body, as I said earlier, aclimates and it has done so again.   My sleeping brain hears these sounds, I am sure, but at the same time tells me that they are not a threat to me, and sleep continues.   But let some one come into my courtyard and just step on some of the crushed stone within the gate and the same brain awakens me instantly,   This the brain sez may be a threat.

This , I would say to you, try and find a way from within yourself the consider these sounds as ambient and non threatening.  Much like the sound in someone elses home, the ticking of a grandfather clock or the turning on of a forced air furnace or A/C, it too will become nonthreatening and therefore not a problem...

I do think that this would be a much easier solution and not nearly so impossible to correct.as other means where by you try and change others.....

Find your peace within yourself and leave your worring to important things like the redshirts, political stability or the economy.

Sorry to make this ramble on for so long ....... and good luck to you......
G

make flyers to announce a morning event of burning Qurans and combination pork BBQ. Could call it the Holy book and porcine raging inferno extravaganza.

Will they turn down their speakers? I seriously doubt it but experimentation is the mother of invention. Warning could cause extended bloody Jihad.

OP

All "attack" solutions offered above are pure nonsense.  Quite apart from every other concern, they cannot work and probably would backfire.

Indulging in angers or self-righteousness is a misalignment in my soul, I think, and actions rising from it can provoke anger in others - that is all.  There are a number of countries where expressed anger and applications to higher authorities get you nowhere for a very long time, France is an example, and Thailand too.  

You owe it to yourself to take it easy on yourself find a workable solution, and there are several listed above.  Or anyway, that's what I decided.  I moved because of a nightclub, did not want to, just did, and I hate moving.  

In my case, the most difficult part was defusing my own frustration.  But what I was up against was that I was from a foreign place and did not understand new ways.  I cannot believe that Thai people are so practiced at tuning out noise, but they do.  And it is not the case that everybody has raised a dozen unruly children!  

After a while, I took my moving as a learning, and worth it.  Slept better for two reasons.

taurus88, on 2010-09-13 10:24:55, said:

Yeah, they have been turning up those speakers for thousands of years. LOL.

-buy earplugs
-move to another apartment
-buy loudspeakers and broadcast your own programming. i.e. rock and roll, cartoons etc
-close your windows in the morning
-pray each morning that you lose your hearing
-declare a Fatwa against anything
-buy a dozen vendor carts and have them surround the mosque to make pungent pork dishes. the porky aroma will drive them to another mosque

I understand your frustration, not being able to sleep can affect our health in many ways.

However, I think you are on a loser here.
As much as it irritates you, the fact is that Thailand has a population of Muslim's and Muslim areas in many cities.

Also, the fact that Thailand is tolerant of other religions and their practices, is to their credit.

I have heard some people complain about Buddhist monks chanting outside the homes next to them in the early hours whilst receiving alms. It's the way it is - it wakes them too.

Thai's have an amazing ability to shut out noise and I'm sure they just sleep through the call to prayer the same as they sleep through a pack of howling dogs.

I think you will just give yourself a lot of stress over this, which will compound your lack of sleep.

If you are renting, I suggest you move to an area that is Muslim / Mosque free, but don't discount that there might be irritating noises of another kind.

If you have bought I feel for you.

No

Nope.  Time for you to leave I think.  Otherwise you might turn into one of those bitter old expats we hear so much about.

It their own fault - they could have just joined the PAD rally with the PM - then it would have been OK. Kids! listen now,  this is what happens when you color outside the lines.  

Thank you, Endure!

(the following is from the website above)

Travel brochures often portrays Thailand as the happy-go-lucky 'Land of Smiles', an impression the Tourism Authority of Thailand are more than happy to go along with. Most visitors will even see a sign welcoming them to the 'Land of Smile' (sic) in the airport before they've even cleared immigration. Though the famous Thai smile is not so common in Bangkok nowadays, you'll certainly understand why this slogan has stuck for so long if you spend any length of time in the more rural parts of Thailand. Even in Bangkok, you can smile at any Thai person and it's pretty rare you won't get a smile back in return.

New visitors often assume that the Thais are a very friendly and happy people, but this is a bit of an oversimplification. After all, many of the Thais they meet may well be working long hours in relatively menial jobs and earning less than $200 a month - do they really have so much to smile about ?

The reason is there's a much broader range of uses for smiling in Thailand, some of which would be considered as inappropriate or even as rude in the west. For example, if a Thai bumps into you in a bar and spills some of your drink, he'll probably smile - a reaction that is unlikely to go down well with the average foreigner.

But the smile (yim in Thai) is perceived in Thailand as being just about the most appropriate reaction to any possible situation. It's used to show happiness, embarrassment, fear, tension, resignation, remorse etc...What the smile means depends on the 'type' being used - out of a possible 13.



So you can't necessarily assume that anyone smiling is happy or friendly, because, as shown above, there are also a few less pleasant reasons for them to do so. Similarly it helps to know, for instance, that people smiling if you happen to trip up may not actually be laughing at you (yim yor), but just giving you a yim yair-yair to try and stop you feeling embarrassed.

Obviously, being able to distinguish one type of smile from another is no easy task for the average visitor to Thailand. It helps to be aware of the less pleasant varieties though and not, as many visitors do, get so mesmerized by the 'happiness' of everyone that you don't see what's really going on underneath the sometimes superficial smile.