Another Bangkok Park Acoustically Polluted

Seri Thai Park could be a refreshing place to relax in the evenings, were it not that it is acoustically polluted by noise machines distributed throughout the park, one of them shown in the above picture. On the evening of the 6th December the noise reading near a play park for children was 67 dB. In the vicinity of the noise generating loudspeakers it was 76 dB. Admittedly, the park is quiet during the day when visitors are few, but the merry-go-round of noise comes to a peak during the hours of 5.0 pm to 7.0 pm, the most popular visiting times for urban parks throughout the world. While the measurements were spot measurements the averages over these two hours would hardly differ.

This noise is deliberately generated by the park management broadcasting, ironically, a programme of ‘health radio’. One may deduce that they are little aware of the damaging effects of noise on health. Noise is the 3rd most hazardous environmental type of pollution according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

There is growing agreement by countries setting standards for noise levels that noise in an urban park, such as Seri Thai, should not exceed 55 dB. Hong Kong, being one of the most densely populated places on earth, pays great attention to noise limitation. The authorities welcome the 55 dB figure, noting that chatting with others in parks is an important recreational activity and while interference begins at about 50 dB it is no great hardship to chat at 55 dB. This is certainly not so at levels of 67 dB, less still at 76 dB!

So what, the Bangkok City Administration will ask. Thai people want pop music while they relax. Especially children! Quite so, train them while they are still young to be dependent on loud music, as they grow older they can have their own portable music boxes which will damage the hearing of each individual child, and make they look out on the world like pop-eyed aliens, no longer caring to communicate other than by the frenzied screams which are heard from school playgrounds throughout Bangkok. Besides, the park management does not hesitate to ban other activities of people visiting the park, irrespective of their possible likes or dislikes.

I have a further question. How can a park with trees and lakes be so void of bird life, the delight of children everywhere? Have they all been chased away by ‘health radio’?