Thailand Is Using Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRAD) | Hacker News Reader

Thailand Is Using Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRAD)

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36 pointslaikerkh23 comments

Thailand is using Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRAD) as sound-wave disruption equipment. At high levels, exceeding 120–160 decibels, it can cause harm and lead to ear pain or deafness, dizziness, headaches, nausea, and difficulty breathing.

https://x.com/BongSeiha/status/1959953357277470757?t=kKBVeXW8s6CJNg7Wv4TonA&s=19

#CambodiaNeedPeace #ceasefireviolation

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It's not exactly novel at this point for LRADs to be deployed by law enforcement in many countries, as well as by 20+ navies around the World.

The Wikipedia article on them has a long list of countries using these in a variety of contexts [0], but that is not to say they are a good solution. NYPD is prevented from using them in alert mode due to the lawsuit that suggested physical harm was present in crowds where they were used. However, they can use them to make announcements, and they've been used in many crowd control scenarios in other parts of the World.

So, can someone explain why Thailand using them is explicitly of note?

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-range_acoustic_device

It is noteworthy for several reasons: it represents the deployment of a controversial, military-grade sonic device in a volatile border dispute, escalates tensions between the two nations, and raises serious human rights concerns about the use of potentially harmful non-lethal weapons.

Wasn’t this border dispute an actual shooting war earlier in the month?

If anything I would think using a non-lethal device to be a deescalation in that context?

it's a note, not of note, one little check mark in the escalation of the conflict between a vast working class and an out of touch elite that has squeezed too hard and is too arogant to back off and let people enjoy some of the benifits they worked for thailand is an absolute monarchy,or close enough in practise to dispense with discussing the parlimentry theater, to be a place to watch for a mass revolt which would then signal an end of western power in asia and a more general sentiment of dissatisfaction everywhere else that is living under false democracy and broken constitutions

feed this through an llm and ask it to edit this into a readable state.

NO!, no, no , no! I am learning how to write short messages that try and cover a lot of ground, spelling ,punctuation, and structure in text are not my native tallents. Writing here and a few other places is helping me with learning how to utilise, cutting and pasting my own writing into a more cohearant structure, but it is slow, as I am also new to the limitations of useing a hinky walmart phone as my primary communications device. No AI, no spell check, no auto complete, or suggestions, except where they cannot be dissabled, and in those cases, I refuse then to look while my inputs jitter and jumble from bieng hijacked, NO!, no, no, no! says my internal steel toe booted seven year old self.

edit: your recomendation seems like it could cause trouble, https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/26/breaking_llms_for_fun...

The police in Serbia used it during the peaceful demonstration on its own folk: https://europeanwesternbalkans.com/2025/03/17/did-the-serbia...

Can you protect against those with deep earplugs + overear hearing protection or does it vibrate right through your face and skull?

How about riot shield type gear for protection?

iirc a sheet of glossy cardboard is sufficient to reflect the majority of the noise

I've seen this described as the dumbest conflict in history, given the trigger this time is a break-down in the personal relationship between ex-leaders, over gambling and scam compounds and trafficking. Of course, there's a long and complex history to the border dispute, but it's been calm for about 12 years otherwise.

What's notable is the level of propaganda and brainwashing of the populations, on both sides, and an 'if you're not echoing the propaganda maybe you're on their side', kind of atmosphere.

It's extraordinary to witness. I get a sense of how Germans must have got caught up in Nazi Germany, or at least, kept silent out of fear.

> I get a sense of how Germans must have got caught up in Nazi Germany, or at least, kept silent out of fear.

In Nazi Germany that fear had a very real basis, as protestors who shared anti-Nazi information were executed. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rose

I have yet to see any police strategy involving harmful crowd control, that deals with the retaliation by dronestrikes.

I've yet to see drones being used against police. You wouldn't see a strategy to counter something that doesn't happen.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/21/americas/colombia-police-...

cambodian landmines are ok though

Nothing personal .. And the atrocity screaming breaks down fast, nobody cares about the Russians doing human safaris in kherson. Fucked up things tolerance, build up..

[flagged]

This is sickening. What is the countermeasure to these?

Edit. The countermeasure, according to an AI model is:

Avoid the direct beam of the LRAD by moving out of its narrow 15-degree coverage angle. Stepping off to the side drastically reduces exposure

Sound-dampening shields or barriers

Range style earmuffs and high-quality earplugs that attenuate sound significantly

Run!

I remember some engineer doing tests on youtube. TL;DW:

* Double-bagging your ears (plugs + shooting range plugs) seems to help a lot.

* With a little more effort, you can build a handheld shield. Thin, hard layer on top (like plexiglass), which acts like a reflector, then a standard foam layer and cardboard to dampen whatever makes it through the reflector.

Besides that, it's not that much different than a water cannon truck or a phalanx shooting tear gas. Confronting both is a relatively high risk activity, and should be avoided by most protesters.

That is good to know about the engineer doing tests to prove the effectiveness.

Seems crazy considering the fact that this is capable of deafening someone

Ear muffs, earplugs, shields: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXKTBQBugIA

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