Thailand grapples with scorching 43C heatwave and health risks

[webfact]

 

The Meteorological Department of Thailand (TMD) issued a health warning today as Thailand grapples with a heatwave as temperatures soar to extreme highs of up to 43 degrees Celsius in the north, northeast, and central regions, compounded by moderate to high levels of dust accumulation and smoke haze.

 

Today, April 5, the country is enveloped in a heat-induced low-pressure system, leading to predominantly hot to very hot weather conditions and clear skies during the day, prompting a strong recommendation for the public to take care of their health by avoiding prolonged outdoor activities.

 

The prevalent hot weather is due to a low-pressure area caused by intense heat covering the upper part of Thailand. This condition results in generally hot to very hot weather across the country with partly cloudy skies during the day. People are advised to look after their health as the temperatures reach scorching levels.

In avoiding health risks during this period of excessive heat, it is recommended that outdoor work or activities be limited, especially for extended periods. Meanwhile, the southern winds continue to affect the eastern region, leading to occasional thunderstorms in some areas.

Residents are urged to be cautious of the dangers posed by these storms. Similarly, the Southeastern winds blowing over the Gulf of Thailand and the southern region, as well as the northwesterly winds over the Andaman Sea, bring thunderstorms to some parts of the south.

 

Dust particles and smoke haze: The north, northeast, and neutral regions are currently experiencing a build-up of dust particles and smoke haze, categorized from moderate to high levels, due to weak winds in those areas.

 

Hot hot heat

 

In the north, the weather is generally hot to very hot with partly cloudy skies during the day. The lowest temperatures range from 21-28 degrees Celsius, with the highest temperatures between 39-43 degrees Celsius. The southwesterly winds are blowing at speeds of 5-15 km/h.

 

The northeast also faces similarly hot conditions, with temperatures ranging from 22-28 degrees Celsius at the lowest and 39-41 degrees Celsius at the peak, accompanied by the same southwesterly winds.

 

The central region is not spared from the heat, with maximum temperatures hitting between 38-42 degrees Celsius and minimum temperatures of 24-27 degrees Celsius. Winds from the Southwest are stronger here, ranging from 10-25 km/h.

 

The eastern region is generally hot, with partly cloudy skies, and very hot in some areas with a 10% chance of thunderstorms, particularly in the provinces of Rayong, Chanthaburi, and Trat. The lowest temperatures are between 25-29 degrees Celsius, while the highest can reach 34-40 degrees Celsius. The southerly winds are moving at 10-30 km/h, causing sea waves to remain below one meter in height, but rising above 1 metre in storm-affected areas.

 

The southern region (east coast) experiences hot daytime weather with a 10% chance of thunderstorms, mostly affecting the provinces of Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Songkhla, and Yala. Temperatures range from 24-26 degrees Celsius at the lowest to 34-39 degrees Celsius at the highest. The southeastern winds, blowing at 10-30 km/h, keep the sea waves below one meter, but they can rise above 1 metre during thunderstorms.

 

On the west coast of the south, conditions are similar, with Krabi, Trang, and Satun experiencing daytime heat and a 10% chance of thunderstorms. The lowest temperatures are between 25-28 degrees Celsius, and the highest are 34-38 degrees Celsius. The northwesterly winds at 10-30 km/h create the same sea conditions as on the east coast.

 

Bangkok and its vicinity are also facing generally hot weather with partly cloudy skies during the day, minimum temperatures of 27-29 degrees Celsius, and maximum temperatures of 34-39 degrees Celsius. The Southerly winds at 10-25 km/h contribute to the prevailing conditions in the capital region.

 

by Nattapong Westwood

Picture of tourists neat the Grand Palace courtesy of Bangkok Post

 

Source: The Thaiger 2024-04-05

 

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[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The central region is not spared from the heat, with maximum temperatures hitting between 38-42 degrees Celsius and minimum temperatures of 24-27 degrees

And no alcohol sales between 2pm-5pm... an afternoon cold one in the shade is a nice idea for tourists.

Luckily as an expat I'm sorted at home.

[mommysboy]

Surely 34-38 is very hot- not merely hot.  I'm in Surat Thani where the temperature is recorded as '38 degrees- feels like 46.'   

[NativeBob]

Feels like heat emits from everything like walking on frying pan. Sad for those who can't wind their rooms - flats turn into torture chambers. Todays is very-very hot indeed

[quake]

39 in Nongkhai now.

No 3 Leo time, Air con 28, JAV time.

I Love Thailand, mostly. 

[248900_1469958220]

It makes me realise that, generally speaking I find Thailand reasonably comfortable most of the year......that includes sometimes teaching in classrooms with  no air , two broken fans on the roof and 40 sweaty kids....but this....THIS....This makes me appreciate the other 9 months of the year here!! 33 degrees is childsplay....I could run a marathon in it!!

[KannikaP]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

In the north, the weather is generally hot to very hot with partly cloudy skies during the day. The lowest temperatures range from 21-28 degrees Celsius, with the highest temperatures between 39-43

The only sentence which mentions 43 apart from the OPs headline.

Edited April 5 by KannikaP

[WHansen]

I always return to the UK before it gets into the 40's but i have experienced 45 degrees in the Sahara with boots,gloves,hard hat & coveralls on.

Fortunately the Sahara is a dry heat, no humidity.

I can imagine how unpleasant 43 degrees with high humidity is for everyone still in Thailand.

[248900_1469958220]

12 minutes ago, WHansen said:

I always return to the UK before it gets into the 40's but i have experienced 45 degrees in the Sahara with boots,gloves,hard hat & coveralls on.

Fortunately the Sahara is a dry heat, no humidity.

I can imagine how unpleasant 43 degrees with high humidity is for everyone still in Thailand.

I'll give you a hint......ITS SHYSTERHOUSEN!!

Edited April 5 by 248900_1469958220

[John Drake]

Not that hot to me.

[JensenZ]

46 minutes ago, 248900_1469958220 said:

It makes me realise that, generally speaking I find Thailand reasonably comfortable most of the year......that includes sometimes teaching in classrooms with  no air , two broken fans on the roof and 40 sweaty kids....but this....THIS....This makes me appreciate the other 9 months of the year here!! 33 degrees is childsplay....I could run a marathon in it!!

Perhaps you don't understand that the official temperature readings recorded are taken above ground, in the shade and that humidity makes a huge difference, especially when exercising. 

 

How Hot Is Too Hot to Hold a Marathon?

 

"It was also unseasonably warm at the Brooklyn Half Marathon—the largest half marathon in the U.S.—in May 2022, where one person died and 15 were hospitalized when temperatures reached the high 80s and the relative humidity reached 97 percent during the city’s first May heat advisory in 16 years.

 

"high 80s" is about 31C; It's all about physics, a core temperature of 37C must be maintained or you'll experience the dangers of heat exhaustion.

 

 

 

 

[248900_1469958220]

1 minute ago, JensenZ said:

Perhaps you don't understand that the official temperature readings recorded are taken above ground, in the shade and that humidity makes a huge difference, especially when exercising. 

 

How Hot Is Too Hot to Hold a Marathon?

 

"It was also unseasonably warm at the Brooklyn Half Marathon—the largest half marathon in the U.S.—in May 2022, where one person died and 15 were hospitalized when temperatures reached the high 80s and the relative humidity reached 97 percent during the city’s first May heat advisory in 16 years.

 

"high 80s" is about 31C; It's all about physics, a core temperature of 37C must be maintained or you'll experience the dangers of heat exhaustion.

 

 

 

 

All very interesting my kind sir....but I was not being THAT serious....

[JensenZ]

6 minutes ago, 248900_1469958220 said:

All very interesting my kind sir....but I was not being THAT serious....

It's hard to know who is serious and who isn't, but this topic is quite important and some factual information can be useful.

 

I've been in Thailand for 18 years, not in the north, but in cooler Pattaya. If I'm lucky, there are some comfortable weeks in November to January. I used to live in a sub-tropical climate in Australia.

 

Large-bodied foreigners are not suited to this climate, which is also a factor. The larger the body, the more difficult it is to cool. Some light-weight people might find the climate more suitable.

 

Here's an interesting fact - when the room temperature exceeds 35C, fans can heat you up...kind of like a fan-forced oven.

 

 

[248900_1469958220]

4 minutes ago, JensenZ said:

It's hard to know who is serious and who isn't, but this topic is quite important and some factual information can be useful.

 

I've been in Thailand for 18 years, not in the north, but in cooler Pattaya. If I'm lucky, there are some comfortable weeks in November to January. I used to live in a sub-tropical climate in Australia.

 

Large-bodied foreigners are not suited to this climate, which is also a factor. The larger the body, the more difficult it is to cool. Some light-weight people might find the climate more suitable.

 

Here's an interesting fact - when the room temperature exceeds 35C, fans can heat you up...kind of like a fan-forced oven.

 

 

Fair enough. Interesting info. 

[dinsdale]

IT'S NOT A HEATWAVE!!!!! Hot days and hot nights are normal for the HOT SEASON. Heatwaves are abnormally high day and night temps for an extended period. This quite simply is not the case. 

[JimTripper]

2 hours ago, JensenZ said:

Here's an interesting fact - when the room temperature exceeds 35C, fans can heat you up...kind of like a fan-forced oven.

Where did to hear that from?

 

Not in my opinion. I used to work in dry above 35c conditions. We had industrial fans blowing the whole time. Sweating in a humid environment would make it much easier then that to cool off. The body is constantly releasing moisture through the skin in hot conditions. You need that air flow to evaporate the moisture on your skin which cools the body.

[aseanfan]

Please - enough already. This is not hot.  It is normal.  This author is totally misinformed.  If you are a newbie to the tropics - welcome to a lovely climate that is hot - I came here to escape the dismal climate of the majority of Europe

[papa al]

If only there were some Thai holiday

where people cooled of with thrown water.

[ericbj]

3 hours ago, JimTripper said:

Where did to hear that from?

 

Not in my opinion. I used to work in dry above 35c conditions. We had industrial fans blowing the whole time. Sweating in a humid environment would make it much easier then that to cool off. The body is constantly releasing moisture through the skin in hot conditions. You need that air flow to evaporate the moisture on your skin which cools the body.

The lower the relative humidity of the air, the faster your sweat will evaporate and therefore the greater the cooling effect.
That is why, if you use one of those very cheap-to-run evaporative coolers, it is necessary to allow the saturated air from the cooler to escape to the outside.  Do not seal the room up as you might with an air-conditioner.
If you do as I do, you will filter the water you put in your evaporative cooler (although not suggested by the manufacturer) as this is likely to prevent calcium carbonate etc clogging the evaporative mat.

[JimTripper]

11 hours ago, aseanfan said:

Please - enough already. This is not hot.  It is normal.  This author is totally misinformed.  If you are a newbie to the tropics - welcome to a lovely climate that is hot - I came here to escape the dismal climate of the majority of Europe

I prefer something more temperate, not too hot or cold.

[gomangosteen]

17 hours ago, JensenZ said:

Perhaps you don't understand that the official temperature readings recorded are taken above ground, in the shade and that humidity makes a huge difference, especially when exercising. 

 

How Hot Is Too Hot to Hold a Marathon?

 

"It was also unseasonably warm at the Brooklyn Half Marathon—the largest half marathon in the U.S.—in May 2022, where one person died and 15 were hospitalized when temperatures reached the high 80s and the relative humidity reached 97 percent during the city’s first May heat advisory in 16 years.

 

"high 80s" is about 31C; It's all about physics, a core temperature of 37C must be maintained or you'll experience the dangers of heat exhaustion.

 

 

 

 

 

We're the happy running couple;  our seventh recent running event last Saturday night, traveled to Trat for a night run.

 

Start 8.30pm 29C and 91% humidity. Still a lot of heat up off the asphalt at night I'd say we were definitely in the 'realfeel' of 34C. Iced drink stops along the course.

 

And an armed Tourist Police man on a mountainbike, in case of heat-treated collapse he could issue a mercy killing.

 

That was our second night run, others have been 4-6am starts.

 

I do my cycling between hours of 10am-3pm, less traffic, dogs asleep.

 

Yesterday 12-2pm 37C and realfeel 43C. Think I've successfully adapted, but not quite ready to wear 100% body cover just yet as our friends do.

 

Water-electrolyte mix at around one litre per hour, and the occasional ice-cream at 7-11 though have to rush that before it melts away.

 

If I ever have thoughts about being too hot, remind myself of too many miserable cold years in New Zealand.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 6 by gomangosteen

[bannork]

Love this story. He thought, not unnaturally after reading that Songkran was running from April 1-21, that the action should have started already!

 

[Ralf001]

Wow, it gets hot in hot season.... who woulda thunk it !

 

[KhunLA]

Feels like is the kicker down here.  Actually not too bad in the shade w/breeze, for a short while...

 

 

[JensenZ]

11 hours ago, gomangosteen said:

 

We're the happy running couple;  our seventh recent running event last Saturday night, traveled to Trat for a night run.

 

Start 8.30pm 29C and 91% humidity. Still a lot of heat up off the asphalt at night I'd say we were definitely in the 'realfeel' of 34C. Iced drink stops along the course.

 

And an armed Tourist Police man on a mountainbike, in case of heat-treated collapse he could issue a mercy killing.

 

That was our second night run, others have been 4-6am starts.

 

I do my cycling between hours of 10am-3pm, less traffic, dogs asleep.

 

Yesterday 12-2pm 37C and realfeel 43C. Think I've successfully adapted, but not quite ready to wear 100% body cover just yet as our friends do.

 

Water-electrolyte mix at around one litre per hour, and the occasional ice-cream at 7-11 though have to rush that before it melts away.

 

If I ever have thoughts about being too hot, remind myself of too many miserable cold years in New Zealand.

 

First of all, I commend your exceptional ability to train in these conditions... quite remarkable actually. What is your size and body weight?

 

Having exercised for many years in NZ, that would be my choice of places to do it, of course, the climate does vary quite a bit throughout the country. It's a lot easier to stay warm than cool down. You mistake being able to exercise (adaptation) from optimum conditions to exercise. I'm a muscular 100kg, so I do hard cardio sessions in my air-conditioned gym (27 - 28C with fans). Running is out of the question. I can work up a sweat with night walking (6km/h pace) when the temperature is still around 30C. I don't even need to exercise to sweat in this climate. I miss the NZ weather. I haven't experienced a winter for 25 years; the last one was in Australia.

[gomangosteen]

46 minutes ago, JensenZ said:

First of all, I commend your exceptional ability to train in these conditions... quite remarkable actually. What is your size and body weight?

 

Having exercised for many years in NZ, that would be my choice of places to do it, of course, the climate does vary quite a bit throughout the country. It's a lot easier to stay warm than cool down. You mistake being able to exercise (adaptation) from optimum conditions to exercise. I'm a muscular 100kg, so I do hard cardio sessions in my air-conditioned gym (27 - 28C with fans). Running is out of the question. I can work up a sweat with night walking (6km/h pace) when the temperature is still around 30C. I don't even need to exercise to sweat in this climate. I miss the NZ weather. I haven't experienced a winter for 25 years; the last one was in Australia

187cm, 84kg. Here I'm mainly a cyclist, aim for 1000km/mth on a street -tyred mtb.

 

Once a full-time triathlete and ocean swimmer in NZ/Aust, I was 95-100kg; only recreational swimming now.

 

I had 6yrs going to NZ on fixed-term contracts, mostly in Wellington a fantastic location for real hill running, highlight four trips to Queenstown/ Arrowtown mountain trails, longest run was Arrowtown - Macetown return (Motatapu Track) 31km with 22 river crossings in 2022. Ran the cleverly named Big Hill both directions I'd rate as the hardest terrain, one at night, one in May with ice and light snow. Beautiful area with challenging trails.

 

No trails here, all road. Local club trains evenings at the naval airstrip, unexciting doing lengths of the 1050m runway. The cycling is more enjoyable, the running here is sociable, some have had prize money, others lucky prize draws.

 

But always another tshirt!

[JensenZ]

1 hour ago, gomangosteen said:

187cm, 84kg. Here I'm mainly a cyclist, aim for 1000km/mth on a street -tyred mtb.

 

Once a full-time triathlete and ocean swimmer in NZ/Aust, I was 95-100kg; only recreational swimming now.

 

I had 6yrs going to NZ on fixed-term contracts, mostly in Wellington a fantastic location for real hill running, highlight four trips to Queenstown/ Arrowtown mountain trails, longest run was Arrowtown - Macetown return (Motatapu Track) 31km with 22 river crossings in 2022. Ran the cleverly named Big Hill both directions I'd rate as the hardest terrain, one at night, one in May with ice and light snow. Beautiful area with challenging trails.

 

No trails here, all road. Local club trains evenings at the naval airstrip, unexciting doing lengths of the 1050m runway. The cycling is more enjoyable, the running here is sociable, some have had prize money, others lucky prize draws.

 

But always another tshirt!

I know the area well... I was born in Southland and spent much time in Queenstown in my youth. Back in those days (1960s), you'd hardly see any international tourists.

 

You're a competitive athlete, so you're at a different level; I'm just a 65-year-old trying to maintain muscle mass, strength and fitness to keep the body functioning as best it can. The only thing I don't like about Thailand is the weather LOL... I also used to do a lot of cycling and swimming. Cycling is out as my knees are no longer up to it. My main cardio exercises are rowing, ski-erg and Cybex Arc Trainer. It's a good combination of upper/lower body and core conditioning without any impact stress on the joints... and I get to do it all in air-conditioned comfort. I still sweat a lot, but I can work much harder in lower temperatures & humidity.

[superal]

On 4/5/2024 at 11:34 PM, ericbj said:

The lower the relative humidity of the air, the faster your sweat will evaporate and therefore the greater the cooling effect.
That is why, if you use one of those very cheap-to-run evaporative coolers, it is necessary to allow the saturated air from the cooler to escape to the outside.  Do not seal the room up as you might with an air-conditioner.
If you do as I do, you will filter the water you put in your evaporative cooler (although not suggested by the manufacturer) as this is likely to prevent calcium carbonate etc clogging the evaporative mat.

Can you recommend a cooler ? 

[earlinclaifornia]

4 hours ago, superal said:

Can you recommend a cooler ? 

I have gone with the Honeywell CL30XC.

[MrPancake]

34°c in Pattaya. Nothing out of the ordinary considering we're in April.

Just went for a little walk along the beach and the harbor towards Bali Hai lighthouse, then up Phra Tamnak hill and back down on the other side. A breeze as long as one has water in the backpack. Air quality is acceptable at 58 AQI.