# love thy neighbor...



## falangjim (Jul 8, 2011)

I recently moved from the United Arab Emirates where I worked and completed a 3 year contract. Overall, it was a positive experience. Now I'm in Bangkok living in a decent apartment and suddenly, I feel a passionate disgust for my GCC Arab apartment neighbors who leave their rotting trash outside their door. Above me is another Arab family who let their kids stomp around at all hours of the night. It sounds like a shot put competition when they walk across their floor. My Thai wife is fed up. I'm fed up. Several polite requests/complaints have been directly sent to both families and to Thai management. Of course, nothing has come of this. Now it's getting ugly. Thai management apologizes, calls the parties involved, but nothing really has changed. This has been going on for 4 months and we'll move for sure when our lease is up in another two. But how can I deal with this? I'm not talking about Thai Muslims. I'm talking about GCC and Gulf families who move here with their disgusting, somewhat cultural habits. (I suppose they miss their Indian and Filipino lackeys back home) Can we live in harmony? I'm losing faith we can. Someone help me cope before I throw these neighbors off the balcony.


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## pamela0810 (Apr 5, 2010)

Ahh....sounds like another rant of a 65 year old white man with a 19 year old Thai wife!  How on earth are the people in Dubai supposed to help? You need to take some happy pills and you'll be fine. Or...rent a villa.


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

You're not in the UAE any more, take advantage of this and smack them in the teeth.


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## Ogri750 (Feb 14, 2008)

You should should remember that very often in the GCC, the polite approach doesn't often work with some of the locals (not all, there are decent locals).

Forget going through the management, deal with it yourself. Face-to-face.

Not that I would ever advocate violence, but Gavtek's approach is surely one option


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## Kawasutra (May 2, 2011)

falangjim said:


> I recently moved from the United Arab Emirates where I worked and completed a 3 year contract. Overall, it was a positive experience. Now I'm in Bangkok living in a decent apartment and suddenly, I feel a passionate disgust for my GCC Arab apartment neighbors who leave their rotting trash outside their door. Above me is another Arab family who let their kids stomp around at all hours of the night. It sounds like a shot put competition when they walk across their floor. My Thai wife is fed up. I'm fed up. Several polite requests/complaints have been directly sent to both families and to Thai management. Of course, nothing has come of this. Now it's getting ugly. Thai management apologizes, calls the parties involved, but nothing really has changed. This has been going on for 4 months and we'll move for sure when our lease is up in another two. But how can I deal with this? I'm not talking about Thai Muslims. I'm talking about GCC and Gulf families who move here with their disgusting, somewhat cultural habits. (I suppose they miss their Indian and Filipino lackeys back home) Can we live in harmony? I'm losing faith we can. Someone help me cope before I throw these neighbors off the balcony.



This can and is happening every where. How would you handle this issue in the U.S?


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## Confiture (Jan 9, 2011)

Could your wife not make some noise to rival that of your neighbours?


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## Ogri750 (Feb 14, 2008)

Confiture said:


> Could your wife not make some noise to rival that of your neighbours?


Now that is a personal question


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## CDN2012 (Jun 15, 2011)

When i was living in Canada, i had a similar issue (they weren't from the GCC, they were Canadian) but they would let their 3 year-old daughter run at all times of the night. I tried to explain them that this wasn't appropriate but they continue to let hit happen, so i turned my sub-woofers up as they were directly above me and everytime they would let her run with her shoes on i would blast some reggae music with the heavy bass.
I soon had the father of the girl visit me and he said he would put an end to his daughter running around at night if i put an end to the reggae, lol. 
Least to say it worked without getting violent. Since I been training mma for over a decade i would of been prepared to take it where ever he wanted it to. But i'm not advocating violence.


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## cami (Aug 11, 2010)

falangjim said:


> I recently moved from the United Arab Emirates where I worked and completed a 3 year contract. Overall, it was a positive experience. Now I'm in Bangkok living in a decent apartment and suddenly, I feel a passionate disgust for my GCC Arab apartment neighbors who leave their rotting trash outside their door. Above me is another Arab family who let their kids stomp around at all hours of the night. It sounds like a shot put competition when they walk across their floor. My Thai wife is fed up. I'm fed up. Several polite requests/complaints have been directly sent to both families and to Thai management. Of course, nothing has come of this. Now it's getting ugly. Thai management apologizes, calls the parties involved, but nothing really has changed. This has been going on for 4 months and we'll move for sure when our lease is up in another two. But how can I deal with this? I'm not talking about Thai Muslims. I'm talking about GCC and Gulf families who move here with their disgusting, somewhat cultural habits. (I suppose they miss their Indian and Filipino lackeys back home) Can we live in harmony? I'm losing faith we can. Someone help me cope before I throw these neighbors off the balcony.


i honestly don't get it. what's the point of posting this on the dubai forum?

does the op want to

a. raise awareness that gcc and gulf people have "disgusting cultural habits?"
b. moan and whine on a night when the level of noise triggers rhetorical questions?
c. follow the wife's "advice" and have an attitude about the neighbours to shut her up and have a peaceful night's sleep?
d. let us know how long he will still be living on the premises?
e. offend indian and filipino people who, i'm sure, try to make some money by coming to this area and accept sometimes not so "noble," menial jobs keeping in mind their families' well being back home?
d. your suggestion goes here...

but then again, i'm a blonde, so i don't necessarily find a logically sound explanation in a lot of things i read these days...


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## ccr (Jun 20, 2010)

Kawasutra said:


> This can and is happening every where. How would you handle this issue in the U.S?


We have guns in the US


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## Guest (Sep 19, 2011)

falangjim said:


> I recently moved from the United Arab Emirates where I worked and completed a 3 year contract. Overall, it was a positive experience. Now I'm in Bangkok living in a decent apartment and suddenly, I feel a passionate disgust for my GCC Arab apartment neighbors who leave their rotting trash outside their door. Above me is another Arab family who let their kids stomp around at all hours of the night. It sounds like a shot put competition when they walk across their floor. My Thai wife is fed up. I'm fed up. Several polite requests/complaints have been directly sent to both families and to Thai management. Of course, nothing has come of this. Now it's getting ugly. Thai management apologizes, calls the parties involved, but nothing really has changed. This has been going on for 4 months and we'll move for sure when our lease is up in another two. But how can I deal with this? I'm not talking about Thai Muslims. I'm talking about GCC and Gulf families who move here with their disgusting, somewhat cultural habits. (I suppose they miss their Indian and Filipino lackeys back home) Can we live in harmony? I'm losing faith we can. Someone help me cope before I throw these neighbors off the balcony.


You have 1 neighbour whose habits you don't like, and now you are tarring all GCC people as having disgusting cultural habits? ??? Speaking of disgusting.....

Your question "can we live in harmony" is so ironic. In other words, everyone should adopt your cultural habits so you can get along with them 

Surely this thread is a wind-up. On the other hand, I'm bored and the lounge and sandpit are so quiet these days


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## Guest (Sep 19, 2011)

falangjim said:


> I recently moved from the United Arab Emirates where I worked and completed a 3 year contract. Overall, it was a positive experience. Now I'm in Bangkok living in a decent apartment and suddenly, I feel a passionate disgust for my GCC Arab apartment neighbors who leave their rotting trash outside their door. Above me is another Arab family who let their kids stomp around at all hours of the night. It sounds like a shot put competition when they walk across their floor. My Thai wife is fed up. I'm fed up. Several polite requests/complaints have been directly sent to both families and to Thai management. Of course, nothing has come of this. Now it's getting ugly. Thai management apologizes, calls the parties involved, but nothing really has changed. This has been going on for 4 months and we'll move for sure when our lease is up in another two. But how can I deal with this? I'm not talking about Thai Muslims. I'm talking about GCC and Gulf families who move here with their disgusting, somewhat cultural habits. (I suppose they miss their Indian and Filipino lackeys back home) Can we live in harmony? I'm losing faith we can. Someone help me cope before I throw these neighbors off the balcony.


Good question by Kawasutra: If an American Christian family (of course in the 4 months you have lived there you have gotten to know your neighbours well enough to know they are Muslim and are not assuming it), with their "disgusting cultural habits" left garbage outside their door and let their kids run around all night, how would you handle?


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## clean slate (Aug 25, 2011)

I guess falan... must have had issues living in UAE and find it appropriate to vent his anger while he is in Thailand.
If you feel a bit better, at least you have achieved something. I trust you are not really looking for advice from Dubai... Are you now?


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## falangjim (Jul 8, 2011)

HI all,
I posted this same scenario on the Thai forum. It's had over 80 hits, but no replies. I post it here and all of you jump on it. Hilarious. I took care of the upstairs neighbors after exhausting my polite requests by making their life a bit more challenging. (I'll just keep to myself what I did, but the stomping around has stopped) And as far as the filthy garbage leaving neighbors across the hall, surprisingly Thai management told me today that they've terminated the family's housing contract as he was receiving too many complaints about them. So hopefully that is the end of the story. 

What I find awesome is that the tipping point for the Thai management was the fact the Arab woman used profanity when speaking with me. Had I used profanity in the UAE, I would have lost my job and been drummed out of the country. Ha! This little GCC hussy leaves garbage out, swears and gets her family booted from an apartment. I can't tell you how much this makes me grin with delight. It makes me grin because we all know how Asians are treated by Emiratis and GCC dwellers in the UAE.

The post about me being 65 years old with a 19 year old wife really made me laugh. Thank you for that. I should be so lucky. I'm far from the sunset of my life, but perhaps I've still got some residual grit in my from the Middle East that needs working out. I'll try to control it. Well, I think I hear a dolly and trolly next door. Nice Persian rugs. I hope they enjoy their new home ... away from ours.


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## falangjim (Jul 8, 2011)

nola said:


> You have 1 neighbour whose habits you don't like, and now you are tarring all GCC people as having disgusting cultural habits? ??? Speaking of disgusting.....
> 
> Your question "can we live in harmony" is so ironic. In other words, everyone should adopt your cultural habits so you can get along with them
> 
> Surely this thread is a wind-up. On the other hand, I'm bored and the lounge and sandpit are so quiet these days


Hello Canadian from Canada. What are you doing on expat forum?


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## Felixtoo2 (Jan 16, 2009)

Same Same but different!


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## ManiChamar (Sep 19, 2011)

))) Don't throw your neighbors off the balcony.


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## falangjim (Jul 8, 2011)

cami said:


> i honestly don't get it. what's the point of posting this on the dubai forum?
> 
> does the op want to
> 
> ...


You sound like me when I worked in the UAE: underworked and overpaid.


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

Did you really live in the uae??? I dont know anyone who is under worked in dubai except locals....


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## ManiChamar (Sep 19, 2011)

Jynxgirl said:


> Did you really live in the uae??? I dont know anyone who is under worked in dubai except locals....


And where are you live?


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## falangjim (Jul 8, 2011)

Jynxgirl said:


> Did you really live in the uae??? I dont know anyone who is under worked in dubai except locals....


I guess it's all relative. In the US, I worked a lot of hours for a lot less money. I worked in Abu Dhabi doing less work than I did in the US, but earned quite a bit. Oh, the locals don't work. I'll give you that. That is if you count sipping coffee all day and texting friends on a BlackBerry work.


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## clean slate (Aug 25, 2011)

falangjim said:


> I guess it's all relative. In the US, I worked a lot of hours for a lot less money. I worked in Abu Dhabi doing less work than I did in the US, but earned quite a bit. Oh, the locals don't work. I'll give you that. That is if you count sipping coffee all day and texting friends on a BlackBerry work.


Let all out. Don't keep it bottled in.
And by the way, where did you work? I just might give it a shot and apply. It's high time I get some easy living.


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## Felixtoo2 (Jan 16, 2009)

I work harder when I work, but I only actually do work for about 80 hours a month. Gotta love Dubai!!


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