The Weather

Welcome back, and thanks for your interest in Thailand.  Last time we learned about the life of a traveler; this time I'm going to talk about the living in the tropics.

What is the weather like in Thailand?   It's hot and humid - like a sauna -  all year round, in most of Thailand, including Bangkok, the southern peninsula, and most of central Thailand.  You can walk around in a T-shirt and shorts 24 hours a day in these places.  In the north - Chiang Mai, for example - it is also hot and humid most of the year, but there is also a cool season in December and January, because of the high elevation and proximity to mountains. 

      There is also a lot of rain in Thailand, but it doesn't rain all year.  There is a dry season, from around December to June, in most of Thailand.  In April, when I first arrived in Chiang Mai, it was very humid and hot both day and night, but the ground was very dry.  Then in June it began to rain once in a while, about an hour or two at a time, increasing to almost every day by the end of July.  By this time, it was raining two or three times a day.  In September, the effects of the rain caused some flooding in Chiang Mai, and in October, downstream in Bangkok.  It was still pretty warm then, but not as hot as in April.  But after the middle of November, a curious thing happened: it got noticeably cooler in Chiang Mai, especially at night, and it stopped raining.  The humidity disappeared, replaced by a very pleasant dry heat in the daytime.  This month - January - it can pretty darned cold at night, especially if you're out riding around on a motorcycle, but the days are about 85 degrees.  It's hard to imagine that in another month and a half it will be getting hot and sticky again, but longtime residents assure me (with much resignation) that this is true. 

Can you really wear a T-shirt and shorts all the time in Thailand?  You can -  nobody will stop you -  but the Thais consider it disrespectful to dress that way, unless you're at the beach, or very poor.  A lot of farangs walk around a city like Bangkok dressed like they are in their own backyards, in tattered blue jeans and with lots of exposed skin.  Thai people would never do this: it's against their social rules, and they may see it as exhibitionistic or arrogant when farangs do it.  If you're doing something the Thais don't approve of, they won't tell you, but they may consider you unmannered or crude. 

What are some other aspects of living in the tropics?  Well, one thing that is interesting about this latitude is that the sun seems to set about the same time all year, around 6 pm.  None of  the long summer evenings where it stays light until 9 PM.  In Thailand, it gets dark about 6:30, all year round. 

      Another effect of the tropical climate is that so many shops are open-fronted; that is, there is no wall onto the street, just open space like a garage.  I would say this is because of  the climate; it allows the air to circulate and eliminates the need for air conditioning.  When they close up at night, they use a pull down corrugated metal gate, which they can lock.  Many restaurants are also designed like this, sometimes with two or three open walls under a roof.  So, day or night, you'll likely be sitting outside when you eat.
      Still another effect of the hot climate is the use of fans.  They're everywhere, and if you are working at a desk, or reading the paper, or anytime you need to turn the fan on, you need to locate several heavy objects, fast, before things starts blowing all over the room. 
      One more effect of the climate is that people sometimes move kind of slowly.  I guess you knew that already, right?  But Thai people know how to handle the climate: they stay in the shade (they think farangs are crazy for wanting to sunbathe -- besides getting too hot, who wants to get darker skin and look working-class), and they conserve energy in the middle of the day.   

What does the countryside look like?  Beautiful, absolutely beautiful.  I've never been in Florida or Louisiana, but it probably looks the same as those places.  In central Thailand (around Bangkok), the rice fields are flat, lush and green, with occasional groves of trees rising out of them.  In the north, it is hilly, with broadleaf trees mixed right in with banana trees in the forests.  Green stuff seems to grow everywhere in Chiang Mai, even around unsightly garbage dumps and back alleys.  The growth is always threatening to takeover civilization and give it back to nature.

What are the sounds you hear at night?  First, let me tell you about one sound I don't hear -- the sound of car alarms going off in the night.  I don't miss it, and I hope it never comes to Thailand. 
      On the other hand, I hear animal sounds in the night.  Really.  Different sounds for different seasons, too.  In the hot months, at sunset, I hear a short, high whining sound, repeated over and over again, like a thousand bows trying to tune a thousand violins but never quite ending up with exactly the same note.  I have been told these are crickets calling to each other.  Then, there is the animal that goes "tak-tawww!  tak-tawww!"  I never see him, but I am told he is big and ugly.  After a rainstorm, I hear the "ung-ang" outside my house; going "Ung-Ang! Ung-Ang!" steadily as he sorts out his life.  The ung-ang is a frog, and there are also other kinds of frogs, too,  making a big chorus, but only after it rains.  Recently, in the cool nights, their is a "crazy bird" that starts laughing slowly, and then goes faster and faster and higher pitched in an orgasmic frenzy: "Haaaaaw!  Hawww!"  then, "Haw! Haw! Haw! Haw! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! --"  This bird always wakes me up at three or four in the morning because of his wild lifestyle. 
      Another sound I hear is music.  It comes from restaurants, and singing clubs, almost all of which are open places under a roof, so the sound can carry gently into the night.  I hear the syrupy Thai pop music, or the upbeat country music, telling stories whose meanings I can only guess, but, it absolutely fascinates me to listen.   
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Well, folks, that's all I have for today.  Next time, I'll discuss markets and shopping.