Concerned absentee neighbor's tree may fall on my house

[Big A]

I have a neighbor's large tree resting against the wall between our properties, damaging the wall and growing such that it may fall on either my or a another owners house.

Offending property is supposedly Thai owned, vacant with vegetation and trees only, with an absentee landowner, and local caretaker not willing to divulge contact details.

What is the best strategy to get them to cut the tree back?

[moja]

we have an absentee owner next to us and as and when the trees adjacent to our wall get overgrown we just have them chopped down and nothing is ever said. We also weed-kill as much as we can over the wall to stop anything growing up our wall again nothing is ever said. So I would have the offending tree pruned and as far as I can see there is nothing they can do; also by Thai law anyone owning land developed or not should maintain said land.

[Big A]

It is a pretty substantial tree, and quite risky to cut down if it not done correctly. This is why I want to notify the owner and place responsibility with them. Is there a legal procedure to be followed that will allow me to do this?

[Takiap]

Not sure what your rights are, but "enforcing rights" is not always the best approach to take in Thailand because it's seen as being confrontational. My guess is the owner would gladly have the tree chopped down if you spoke to him/her about it but your problem is you don't know who or where the owner is. Also, the gardener might not even have contact details for the owner. If you have a Thai wife or you can speak Thai, just start asking around in your area as to who the owner is. Someone is likely to know.

[Big Boy]

we have an absentee owner next to us and as and when the trees adjacent to our wall get overgrown we just have them chopped down and nothing is ever said. We also weed-kill as much as we can over the wall to stop anything growing up our wall again nothing is ever said. So I would have the offending tree pruned and as far as I can see there is nothing they can do; also by Thai law anyone owning land developed or not should maintain said land.

We have an undeveloped/overgrown plot at the back of our house. When things start to invade, we just cut everything back - nothing's ever said.

[PeteC]

The below method or other variations work. No need to "glue the bark back". Roundup and diesel can be replaced by easily available Thai vegetation poison, or the acid you use for a swimming pool. Pete

"Get hold of a cordless power drill and fit the biggest bit into you can find.

Go out to the tree and remove a piece of bark, say at least the size of a matchbox from the base of the trunk. Drill a deep hole into the tree towards the base and then fill with a mixture of diesel and Roundup. Replace the piece of bark you removed and superglue into place covering the hole.

Repeat 6 or 7 times then go and celebrate with a cold beer. The tree will be dead in less than 6 months time."

[Big Boy]

But won't that add to the danger of the tree falling onto Big A's property?

[PeteC]

^ The branches a piece at a time eventually. Depends upon the greatest risk: 1) Ongoing damage to the wall by living roots and trunk or, 2) Rotten pieces eventually falling down.

Indeed cutting the whole thing down and removing it is the best option if the cost isn't too great for whoever is going to be paying for it. Pete

[Big A]

^ The branches a piece at a time eventually. Depends upon the greatest risk: 1) Ongoing damage to the wall by living roots and trunk or, 2) Rotten pieces eventually falling down.

Indeed cutting the whole thing down and removing it is the best option if the cost isn't too great for whoever is going to be paying for it. Pete

Thanks for the replies,

This is what I would like have happen, cut down and removed. I won't be damaging the tree to hasten its demise as suggested.

Mainly, I want to get the absentee landowner on the hook and not have to carry it out removal myself. This means I need to talk further to the neighbors and security.

[brianks]

Just chop it down and get rid of the headache. Your wasting your valuable energy trying to get someone else to take it down. This is not farangland. Move on with life as it is too short to let these things take so much of your time and mental energy.

[Brit Jim]

I have several small trees, plants, etc invading my back garden from a rural dirt track. At the back of the track there is a small rural village community. Every Monsoon season this over growth is a problem plus we seem to get alot of snakes! I believe the track belongs to my Thai developer who is a difficult man to track down!

So at 7 AM this morning armed with my machete I remove this plantation from the back of my house!

Within 5 minutes a local guy arrives and tells me to 'Stop' and that he is calling the police! He thinks Im breaking into my own house? Eventually I show him the problem and he understands. We shake hands and he wants to show me where he lives in this village for a beer. I politely decline and off he wanders!

Several minutes later another villager comes out and its the same situation! My limited Thai language reassures this guy that Im not a burglar! Once I tell him that I support Manchester Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Plymouth Argyle, etc he is happy!

I did suspect that some of these villagers may object. If they really wanted me to 'stop' or they were the land owners then obviously I would have respected their wishes. Anyway good to meet the neighbours seem like a nice bunch. Very security
conscious!

Hopefully you can resolve your situation! If you really believe this tree is going to fall onto your property then talk to the neighbours or telephone the Land Dept and explain the problem. This must happen alot with absent owners and there must be some legislation / procedure if there is risk of significant damage to property or risk of life.

Good Luck

[PeteC]

I do what you've done frequently as well Brit Jim. Unfortunately if you don't or didn't use something like Roundup on the chopped down bushes and small tree trunks, all will be back in its glory about 3 months from now. Even with the poison things spring to life again in about 6 months. Pete

[Big Boy]

Once I tell him that I support Plymouth Argyle he is happy!

Didn't want any bovver from a Devonport End lad

[Big Boy]

I do what you've done frequently as well Brit Jim. Unfortunately if you don't or didn't use something like Roundup on the chopped down bushes and small tree trunks, all will be back in its glory about 3 months from now. Even with the poison things spring to life again in about 6 months. Pete

In the front of our house is a huge piece of undeveloped land, that I refer to as 'my jungle'. A few months ago the lady that was caretaking the land had it cleared in an attempt to alleviate the snake problem neighbours were having (we had no problem, our rotweiller dealt with it nicely ).

Here's that land a few months later:

20130807_120535b.jpg (174.36 KiB) Viewed 2383 times

[Brit Jim]

I do what you've done frequently as well Brit Jim. Unfortunately if you don't or didn't use something like Roundup on the chopped down bushes and small tree trunks, all will be back in its glory about 3 months from now. Even with the poison things spring to life again in about 6 months. Pete

I tried to get some Round Up yesterday at Home Pro but they did not have any. They did have a small bottle of weed killer
for 450B which I thought was excessive SO.....I bought some cheap big containers of Vinegar and put that down which is supposed to be Ok.

Any ideas on where to buy Round Up?