Cold snap and alcohol easing: Thai doctor warns that booze doesn't keep you warm, can kill you

[sambum]

3 hours ago, huangnon said:

Is hypothermia a common cause of death in Thailand?

Some of my office staff have the A/C on lowest setting, and wear jackets, so I suppose it's plausible. ????

 

Ever travelled on the night train from Southern Thailand to B/K in  Air Con 1st Class?  Man, that's cold!

[mran66]

Now that's impressive finding from a doctor. In my home country several drunkards missed that information! 

 

Dr Sarayuth Bunchaiphanichwattana candidate for a Nobel prize for the scientific finding! 

[Spock]

4 hours ago, sezze said:

Well they are right . It's perfectly fine to drink alcohol , but not if you are cold and trying a drink to heat you up , since in fact it does just the opposite . Alcohol widens your veins and by that more blood goes to your skin . This makes you feel warmer , but in fact it is cooling your core temp .

Nobody said you can't do , only give the recommendation for people who do try such thing .There are people dying many times in Thailand from undercooling , and many Thais do not have the knowledge that in fact the lao khao just does the opposite .

Is that you, Dr Sarayuth Bunchaiphanichwattana?

[thaibeachlovers]

4 hours ago, JimGant said:

Nothing like religious or teetotaler mentality to ruin objectivity when commenting on alcohol consumption.

Oh, hot sake and hot buttered rum certainly warm things up on a cold day; so be careful when you generalize.

No generalisation- any properly trained person done a survival course knows not to drink alcohol if suffering from a cold related trauma, as it can kill one. However, I find it hard to believe that one would get that cold in Thailand.

[Mangkhut]

Wasnt it a year or two ago the thai government put out roadsigns telling people:

»If you drive under the influence - please drive slowly»????????????

 

I mean how can it be any danger to freeze to death in one of the worlds hottest countries?

i live in Norway, one of the coldest countries in the world and its hardly and issue here….

[sezze]

4 hours ago, huangnon said:

Is hypothermia a common cause of death in Thailand?

Some of my office staff have the A/C on lowest setting, and wear jackets, so I suppose it's plausible. ????

 

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/30277820

This newspaper i can mention i think ? Anyway , it happens very regular . Not the coastal towns , because the sea always keeps the temp at nice lvls , even in the coldest seasons , but inside Thailand , it does get really cold .Remember that daytime can still be hot and that everything is build for hot and not for cold .

[BadSpottedDog]

6 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

For goodness sake stop all this mollycoddling, people are supposed to be adults before being able to consume alcohol so please stop treating everyone like children.

 

"Mollycoddling" ... that's new. Cute though!

[sawadee1947]

So to warm Up or heat up your booze is the solution?

Btw there are countries where warm beer and a Herring is very common.????

[huangnon]

6 minutes ago, sezze said:

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/30277820

This newspaper i can mention i think ? Anyway , it happens very regular . Not the coastal towns , because the sea always keeps the temp at nice lvls , even in the coldest seasons , but inside Thailand , it does get really cold .Remember that daytime can still be hot and that everything is build for hot and not for cold .

Agreed. I spent last New Year up in Chiang Mai, and at the top of Doi Inthanon it was a perishing 8'C.

Oop North, there is usually a rash of deaths accompanying Cold Season when people bring BBQ's / coal cooking pots into their homes for warmth, and suffocate from carbon monoxide poisoning. 

[jacko45k]

45 minutes ago, sambum said:

Ever travelled on the night train from Southern Thailand to B/K in  Air Con 1st Class?  Man, that's cold!

Well they have them to the North too..... also icy cold. Never figured out what a thermostat does in this country. Also had a very drunk policeman waving a gun about on one trip!

[rott]

1 hour ago, sambum said:

Ever travelled on the night train from Southern Thailand to B/K in  Air Con 1st Class?  Man, that's cold!

Done it 2nd class my first week in Thailand. Clad in t shirt and shorts. Couldn't get anything from my bag as it was the bottom of the pile. As you say that's cold, had to keep going for a walk to thaw out. 

[transam]

7 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

For goodness sake stop all this mollycoddling, people are supposed to be adults before being able to consume alcohol so please stop treating everyone like children.

 

Well he was talking to Thai folk, where being treated like children is the norm.......????

[RobU]

Sound advice published in the media in most western countries every year. This isn't aimed at westerners it is aimed at Thai nationals not used to really cold weather.

[jacko45k]

4 minutes ago, transam said:

Well he was talking to Thai folk, where being treated like children is the norm.......????

As is acting like them....

[Moo 2]

Wine can make you fat, what will it be, red or white?

[outsider]

Oh for crying out loud, it's just in the low 20s or at worst, late teens. It's just 'cool' however one looks at it. Where the Arctic is, where everything freezes over - now that is properly 'cold'. Funny how people here run around flailing their arms when Mother Nature just turned on the aircon for a bit.

[Bangkok Barry]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

He recommended putting on a coat if you're cold

I wonder how much he's paid for such medical advice.

Edited December 13, 2021 by Bangkok Barry

[tandor]

...another revelation...a pearl of wisdom...take heed people!

[Clarkey611]

I wish that he had told me last night as I would not have consumed so much watching the Grand Prix and the footie!

[michael888]

????

[transam]

The bloke has obviously never been outside of Thailand....????

[hioctane]

6 hours ago, sezze said:

Well they are right . It's perfectly fine to drink alcohol , but not if you are cold and trying a drink to heat you up , since in fact it does just the opposite . Alcohol widens your veins and by that more blood goes to your skin . This makes you feel warmer , but in fact it is cooling your core temp .

Nobody said you can't do , only give the recommendation for people who do try such thing .There are people dying many times in Thailand from undercooling , and many Thais do not have the knowledge that in fact the lao khao just does the opposite .

Not true. When you are drinking and getting a buzz going, your heart rate increases.. This means your body is working hard, therefore, you will sweat and warm up. A similar affect is to jog around the block if you are cold. 

[NanLaew]

The doctor quoted doesn't have a clue.

 

Kawee Sinboonthorn from Kalasin was our small boat mechanic on a project on the Huang He in China in 1984. Around this time of year, he was entrusted with going to the boat dock at 5 a.m every morning and making sure all the outboard motors were checked, started up and running to avoid issues with icing before the boat crews took them out on the river. He survived, as most Isaan country folk would do, on generous shots of maotai (sorghum wine and the closest thing to lao khao to be had in China) in his morning coffee. When I would catch up with him around 8 a.m. to check on any daily mechanical issues, it would be at the riverside noodle stall where we both topped up our bowls of steaming hot morning miantiao with a half-cup of maotai.

 

This went on for the best part of 3 years and AFAIK we are both still alive.

Edited December 13, 2021 by NanLaew

[hioctane]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

No generalisation- any properly trained person done a survival course knows not to drink alcohol if suffering from a cold related trauma, as it can kill one. However, I find it hard to believe that one would get that cold in Thailand.

Obviously, it is not a permanent treatment for cold issues. Alcohol will warm you up temporarily while it is in your system. After an hour or so, your liver will flush it out of your system.

 

In late December, one year, it got super cold for about a week. I had to use a blanket at a bar! It lasted only about a week though. It heated right back up in January.

[mrfill]

3 hours ago, MadMac said:

Alcohol burns, they fire your car with it. What is this guy talking about? ????

Yes and they also use petrol, but would you drink a pint of E85 as a nightcap?

[JohnHans]

Oh, WOW we will need to be extra careful when the temperature dips to minus 20 here in Thailand.
Sorry to say this so called doctor does not know what cold is!

[Pierre Hanot]

Is Covid a  new brand of Whiskey  ?

[brucegoniners]

Thanks for the memo big guy, lol

[stigar]

i gave ny lady 20 million...im i crazy

[malt25]

And while we are on the subject.... If you drink rum at 9:00 in the mornin, ya not an alcoholic... ya a pirate !