Thais vs. Thai Landowners

Something happens to the jovial Thai people when they become landowners. Let’s try to find out what it is.

The word Thai means Free, as in freedom to drive a motorcycle the wrong way up a one-way street, or freedom to sell food on the beach without a license. Freedom also means that you are free to do exactly as you please on a piece of land you own.

In Thailand, it’s in fact considered rude to contact a landowner and suggest that, as his neighbor, you’re troubled by certain things, which may include

- A private karaoke bar between 2 and 6 a.m.,

- Half-a-dozen dogs that alternate barking all night, or

- Teenage boys who “repair” motorcycles by revving the engines up to 6000 rpm.

Thai Freedom also means that you can make additions to your house exactly as you please. In many countries there are building codes. That’s true for Thailand as well, although you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. Take any residential street with attached houses. You can usually count on one hand the number of houses that still have their original designs. The others have extra floors, roofs, walls, you name it. And don’t think you, as the neighbor, can just complain about all the rainwater ending up on your property, or that the sidewalk in front of most houses is blocked. Because that’s rude, you see. If you do that, you’ll encounter the Thai Homeowner, and he’s not smiling.

Some Thais get so comfortable with their status and wealth that they start to look at the State’s property as their own, like vassal kings a few hundred years ago. If you drive around a bit in Thailand, you’ll see perimeter walls built half-way into what used to be sidewalks--or, built right into an intersection, causing all kinds of accidents. But do the Thai Landowners care? Well, why don’t you ask them.
(From Thailands Tidende Nett 2012)