All I can say is that some of the posts in this thread have actually made me laugh
Thank goodness I moved away from my "democratic" western homeland to a country where it's all about "live and let live".
Tolerance, tolerance, tolerance people. If you ask me, I would simply say that if you want to keep chickens, then go ahead and keep them. All this nonsense about level playing fields - since when has life been a level playing field in the first place? Perhaps I hate dogs (I don't), and yet neighbors can keep dogs while I can't keep chickens. Perhaps I'm opposed to birds being caged. Now, in order for us to enjoy a level playing field, all types of animals should be forbidden, rather than only chickens.
Anyway, since I moved here to Thailand, I no longer need to worry about such things. In fact, I could live in the heart of a major city, and I could keep a pig if I wanted to
Does this cause ill feeling over here? Most certainly not. I keep chickens, and I live within the city limits, but hell would freeze over before any Thai person even considered complaining. I guess I need to count my blessings