My ears have just been bombarded with noise - human voices combined with a high pitched squeal. This can only mean one thing. Yet another pick-up truck has gone past blasting out something incomprehensible from ginormous loudspeakers attached to its roof. This is by no means a rare occurrence. At least once a week a pick-up truck - the vehicle of choice for Thais that can afford more than just a moped - will crawl down the road advertising anything from Thai boxing matches to political propaganda by way of either megaphones or a recording through huge speakers. Half the time I have no idea what they are advertising as it is generally all in Thai.
The sheer volume at which these speakers are blasting out is evidenced by the fact that it sounds like someone is shouting at me through a megaphone on my balcony when in fact they are driving down the road a couple of buildings away and three stories down from our apartment. At least there is no music accompanying this one. A couple of months ago a truck drove past blaring out a recording of what sounded like a deranged woman screaming, though I think she was trying to sing. What they were supposed to be selling I have no idea, although at that moment I would have been more than happy to pay them to go away.
Like the Chinese, the Thais seem to love noise in general. They speak loudly to each other, even when they are standing right in front of the person they are addressing, and any free open-air concerts I have been (or rather subjected) to, mainly outside shopping centres in the centre of the city, have been deafeningly loud. I pity the poor people living in the city centre sometimes. At least I only have to put up with a passing pick-up truck. However annoying the noise being emitted, I know that it will be over in a couple of minutes. For now, the screeching has passed. Silence really can be golden.
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