The Plague of Construction Noise.

                                                                                               
The never-ending curse of city noise. (A view from my bedroom window)
An article in a recent issue of "The Guardian" reminds us of a much worse situation in Bangkok, and of course, elsewhere in Thailand, the unending plague of construction noise. Guardian readers, of course, suffer from an elevated source of noise, neighbours who construct two story underground wine cellars, whereas we in Bangkok suffer the plebian pounding of pile drivers, adding further weight to our city destined to sink slowly underwater. Meanwhile the frantic rush before doomsday to cover every square centimeter of land space and raise higher piles to block the sky, goes on.
The article, "Why is the quiet life in Britain reserved for the rich?", by one Mary Dejevsky, was published on Wednesday 26th April, and may be accessed at

<https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/26/quiet-life-britain-celebrity-building-disruption>

The tone of the article is carried in the following brief extract:
"Those who work from home – an increasing number – or who are housebound because of frailty or illness have little choice but to suffer in silence, or rather what used to be silence, but is now the pounding of demolition balls, the constant vibration from the excavators and the ear-splitting agony of heavy-duty drills. That is before the constant wheezing of ill-conditioned lorries, and the dust that penetrates everything, everywhere."

Recognise the feeling?
But then there are regulations, possibly EU inspired and which may soon be jettisoned as the UK is returned to its  "rightful  owners" under Brexit:
"There are regulations, of course. But these allow continuous and almost limitless noise from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays, which hardly gives those who do not leave home for 9-5 work much choice but to batten down the hatches and insert the earplugs. There are supposed to be air quality and noise controls, too. But they are lax compared with most European standards; construction companies are well versed in where to place such devices (to least effect), and enforcement by cash-strapped councils – whether on hours or decibels – leaves a lot to be desired."
Oh for such a relief in Thailand!
 The article sets the field of play. But the gist is in the comments submitted by readers who tend to be an unruly bunch . There, is matter for tears and laughter, which we leave to the private perusal of our blog readers.