Noise pollution tops list of complaints nationwide

Noise complaints top the list of complaints lodged by the public across the country, according to new research funded by the Thailand Research Fund (TRF).

Noise-related complaints comprise nearly one-third of all complaints — 32.98% to be exact, according to the report titled “Study of Complaint Management: Noise Complaints and Financial Support for Education”.

Traffic congestion complaints make the next largest segment, coming in at 22.53% of all complaints. Of this number, 7.55% of the complaints are related to service problems, 7.44% to air pollution and other foul smells, while the rest can be attributed to miscellaneous problems.

The northern region lodged the highest number of noise-related complaints at 41.56%. Close behind was Bangkok with 40.34%, 35.66% for the eastern region, 34.67% for the Central region, 29.83% for the Northeast region, 29.99% in the South and 27.40% in the West.

Most of the noise complaints relate to distracting noise from entertainment activities at night and from business operations in a residence, according to Sittidaj Pongkijvorasin, head of the research team.

The study found that noise complaints are not managed and solved appropriately.

Mr Sittidaj suggested that state agencies should provide training courses for officials and staff members assigned to handle complaints.

“Training courses provide much-needed skills in communication and negotiation as well as knowledge on environmental impact and the law,” he said.

He also said that digital technology, such as a mobile application for filing complaints, could be effective for recording the frequency of specific complaints, which is a significant indicator in filtering complaints at the initial stage.

Lack of specific information regarding the scale of a problem may lead to more incidents like that at Wat Sai on Rama III Road in Bangkok, according to Mr Sittidaj.

“In the case of Wat Sai, if authorities had the appropriate information relating to the frequency of such complaints, then they would have been able to assess the scale of the problem and handle it accordingly,” Mr Sittidaj added.