'I think you should talk to them yourself,' said Bom. 'The old woman doesn't understand Thai, but the child's mother does.'
Where foreigners might suppress the urge to say certain things to spare others' feelings, Thais prefer to get it all out there.
'Imagine how bad the noise will get when the other child arrives,' she said, smiling.
I didn't want to hear that.
Then Bom moved on to her favourite topic - why don't I buy my place, rather than rent.
'I can give you a special price - B1m. Your currency is strong compared to ours, so it's not expensive. And if you buy, I'll ask the Chinese family to return the two rooms they rent on your floor.'
So there it is - if I buy, the condo will fix my noise problem. If I don't, I will have to tackle it myself.
Before, the office was willing to ask my neighbours on my behalf to keep down the noise. Now they will not.
As a mere rental tenant, I am now testing the office's patience. Thais can afford to buy, so why can't I?
The only problem is, I am no longer on polite terms with the Chinese. I am not sure I can talk to them civilly any more, just as they are no longer polite to me when we break our stony silence.
Postscript: While Maiyuu paints, I clean up after him, wiping off paint marks from places where it has spilled. Maiyuu paints at a furious pace, and if paint spills, and I can't get it off, he tells me to just keep going. 'Don't worry about it.'
It is hard work. At this rate, we might even get it done in...another month, if we are lucky.
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