Noise annoys: Miscarriage blamed on neighbour’s Buddhist music

A Thai woman and her husband blamed a neighbour for her miscarriage, claiming she was stressed by the Buddhist music the neighbour played all day and night over several years in the central province of Ayutthaya.

The 37 year old man, Chok, asked Channel 7 to share their story in order to reach an agreement with their neighbour. Chok stated that he and his wife had been suffering from their neighbour’s anti-social behaviour since 2016.

Chok explained that he crafts masks for traditional Thai dance and drama called Khon and also opened his home as a learning centre for anyone interested in Khon mask crafts.

Chok said he and his family have lived in this home for over 40 years and had never had a conflict with anyone in the community, even though his house was always crowded with students coming to learn mask making.

According to Chok, the issue began when his neighbour moved next door in 2016. They never spoke but he always filed complaints against his family with the community leader and police.

Chok stated that each complaint was nonsensical, such as the smell of cooking, smoke from his charcoal stove, noise from a washing machine, and disturbance from a cat. The neighbour also claimed their pet cat damaged the roof of his house. Chok said the cat was not their pet and belonged to someone else.

Chok disclosed that the conflict with the neighbour worsened five years ago when he began playing Buddhist music 24/7. Chok could not concentrate on his work and family members had to shout at each other while talking because the music was very loud.

Neighbour defends himself

Chok clarified that he reported the matter to the police and several relevant authorities to no avail. The music was not louder than the legal limit but they were forced to listen to it all day saying it affected his family’s mental health.

Chok claimed that the neighbour once threatened him with a gun in anger over his reporting the issue to various local officials. Chok added that the neighbour also let his dog attack a monk receiving food in the community, adding that the dog once attacked his mother-in-law.

Chok’s wife, Noo, revealed that she was very stressed and had a miscarriage three months ago. Noo insisted that she took good care of herself and was confident that the stress from the conflict with the neighbour caused the miscarriage. She is now pregnant again and worried about another miscarriage.

Channel 3 provided the neighbour with an opportunity to share his side of the story. The neighbour said Chok, Noo, and his family members disturbed him as well.

The neighbour claimed that Chok’s family created a lot of smoke from their charcoal stove, communicated via walkie-talkies all day, played musical instruments loudly, and often set off firecrackers.

According to the neighbour, he had to play Buddhist music all day and night to chase away the cat. The cat never came to his house again after he started playing the music.

The neighbour also insisted that he did not own a gun and had never threatened Chok’s family, as he claimed. He saw the conflict as a normal thing that happened between neighbours.