The Quiet Bangkok Club, a group of some 500 Bangkok residents concerned with the increase of noise and its impact on health, will organise visits to quiet, pleasant places in Bangkok to raise public awareness about the intense noise pollution in the capital city.

The decision was reached after some of the members met yesterday at Wat Pathumvanaram, a city-centre temple which is flanked by mega-malls on both sides and a Skytrain route in front.

"We are concerned about the health hazard posed by the threat which is reducing the quality of life," said Uthong Kovindha, a core member of the club and a lecturer in philosophy at Thammasat University. "We want to do something before it's too late. Children today can't concentrate, and they show increasing signs of erratic behaviour due to the noise pollution, which affects their psychological state."

Another leading member, Oraya Sutabutr, also a lecturer at Thammasat University, said people in Bangkok found it hard to know themselves or search within their souls. The constant noise such as the prevalence of loud, irrelevant advertising on public transport like the Skytrain takes away their concentration and peace of mind. "It is everywhere, and many people still do not realise it is a problem," she said.

Kritika Lertsawat, a former official at the Department of Pollution Control and a member of the group, said that in some department stores it was difficult to have a conversation without shouting. She said that if people had a hard time hearing one another at a range of one metre, then the background noise was too high and long exposure could lead to stress, psychological damage and permanent hearing impairment.

One trip to be organised in the future will be dubbed "Bangkok Oasis Tour". Some members of the group want to launch a more adversarial approach through protests against business operators that thoughtlessly subject the public and customers to noise, but it appears that the majority of the club membe rs want a quieter approach to address the issue.

Pravit Rojanaphruk

The Nation