The association between road traffic noise and annoyance levels in residential and sensitive areas of ayutthaya, thailand

Abstract

© 2020, Khon Kaen University,Research and Technology Transfer Affairs Division. All rights reserved. In urban areas of Thailand, noise emission from road traffic has been found to be a serious concern among the general public. Therefore, socio-acoustic surveys of community response to road traffic noise were conducted to investigate annoyance level of people residing in sensitive and residential areas of Ayutthaya Municipality with a sample size of 265 respondents. Noise-sensitive receptors in this study included hospital, schools and temples. In addition, the relationship between the percentage of “highly annoyed” persons (%HA) and day-night noise levels (Ldn) were described using a dose-response curve. The results showed that road traffic noise levels in sensitive areas were greater than those in residential areas. Most measurement sites exceeded the national ambient noise standard, resulting in the number of individuals annoyed by road traffic noise totaling 75.1% of total respondents. However, highly annoyed persons were computed to be 23.1-37.5 and 30.0-40.0% of total respondents in residential and sensitively areas, respectively. When Ldn was greater than 70 dB(A), the %HA due to road traffic noise in sensitive areas was significantly higher than that in residential areas with the same Ldn. These indicated that people of Ayutthaya in sensitive areas were more sensitive to road traffic noise than those residi ng in residential areas. Therefore, mitigation measures to reduce road traffic noise should be implemented in these areas to prevent noise problems in urban communities.