Ear muffs anyone?

Re: “A fair hearing”, (PostBag, March 20).

Khun Sordomundo raises many noiserelated facts that seem to be unknown here, or, that no one really cares about.

People who live in large, noisy cities or within noisy environments, suffer a 10 to 15 decibel hearing loss across the board by the time they are between 18 to 21 years old. Noise damages the cilia, those specialised hair structures in the cochlea in the inner ear. While this hearing loss is probably negligible to most, it is a loss nevertheless.

Thais spend a lot of their hours living with noise and creating more noise. Kids glued to mobiles, loud disco music, sound trucks, whistles, shouting, construction jackhammers, pile drivers, etc, all impair hearing. Thais seem to have a preoccupation with loud noise, from blasting concert speakers in temples to noisy school assemblies. A public place without a loudspeaker or public address system is unheard of.

I’ve always questioned those loud “coyote” dancing events at weddings, ordination ( buat) celebrations and others.

I’ve measured decibel levels on a portable decibel meter I keep in my truck, and found, without exception, levels exceeding 140 decibels, which is legally defined as the threshold of pain. How anyone can sit through hours of this “entertainment”, at times drunk as a lord, shouting and laughing, defies belief.

However, a lot of early exposure and cilia damage account for this ability, as the listeners develop a higher threshold. This also accounts for louder speaking, as a speaker monitors one’s own speaking level by the way one hears one’s voice.

Khun Sordomundo should be happy he still hears a school assembly, even in his car. Many Thais are probably oblivious to the sounds, having long ago lost the ability to hear much of it. CONIGLIO