Great heavy rain this morning for a few hours. Pool full and gutters overflowing.

When it gets light and after the Wat visit, off to the Naa to see if the tractor and water pipes rearrangement is working.

After most of the local family have decided to leave this earth in the last 2 years Wifey has taken over about 15 Ry of rice fields to look after this year.

Going to be a big job and good way to get fitter. :)

Kuchinarari area.

Oh yes thunderstorms last two days. Not experienced for months.

Nice cool in the morning.

48 minutes ago, carlyai said:

Kuchinarari area.

Saw the clouds over your area yesterday and thought it must be raining there. In my area of the province we just had a really heavy shower this morning at about 5:30 and that's it. At least no need to water the garden today.

We had our first big short rain two days ago, and some few drops yesterday, but enough so I had to dump 25m3 out of my rainwater tanks this morning.

Indeed, Rain and Rain...

Once the hot season arrives in Isaan, the outdoor showers are back in business — though “refreshing” might be stretching it. By midday, if the water runs at all, it’s barely cooler than the air itself, and the air feels like someone left the oven door open. Even sitting still, shirts cling and foreheads glisten. In many shops open to the street, a loyal ventilator labours in the corner, bravely circulating the same warm air in slow, determined circles. No wonder the air-conditioned restaurants are packed at lunchtime — it’s less dining, more climate migration. Along the longest table, uniforms lined up shoulder to shoulder; the youngest had claimed a small table for four.

On Monday evening, 23 February 2026, I heard the first drops of rain tapping on our metal roof. The metal sheets amplified the noise, making a few hesitant drops sound far more decisive than they were. At first, I was surprised. “Is it raining?” I asked my wife. “Has the rainy season started already?”
“No,” she said. “The hot season has started.”

It was a cautious little announcement, still nothing compared to the real downpours that will mark the true rainy season. The sound brought to mind passages by Laurens van der Post, describing nights in the Kalahari, when people would lie beneath the vast sky and listen so carefully that even the faintest stir in the darkness became meaningful. There is something about the first hesitant rain that invites that same kind of attention. In our house at night, however, the stars are closer to earth: mice in the ceiling, cats on patrol, and pigeons shifting restlessly under the roof.

And spare a thought for our students, especially those looking for rooms next semester. In this climate, air conditioning quickly shifts from luxury to necessity.

On 2/24/2026 at 8:11 AM, carlyai said:

Kuchinarari area.

I know it very well. This weather, they reckon, could be in Kuchinarai for 5 or 6 days.

Furthermore, after many years of being a quiet backwater, there has been quite a bit of an uptick in foreigners up here in the last couple of years, visible in the town and Lotus.

20 hours ago, jacnl2000 said:

Indeed, Rain and Rain...

Once the hot season arrives in Isaan, the outdoor showers are back in business — though “refreshing” might be stretching it. By midday, if the water runs at all, it’s barely cooler than the air itself, and the air feels like someone left the oven door open. Even sitting still, shirts cling and foreheads glisten. In many shops open to the street, a loyal ventilator labours in the corner, bravely circulating the same warm air in slow, determined circles. No wonder the air-conditioned restaurants are packed at lunchtime — it’s less dining, more climate migration. Along the longest table, uniforms lined up shoulder to shoulder; the youngest had claimed a small table for four.

On Monday evening, 23 February 2026, I heard the first drops of rain tapping on our metal roof. The metal sheets amplified the noise, making a few hesitant drops sound far more decisive than they were. At first, I was surprised. “Is it raining?” I asked my wife. “Has the rainy season started already?”
“No,” she said. “The hot season has started.”

It was a cautious little announcement, still nothing compared to the real downpours that will mark the true rainy season. The sound brought to mind passages by Laurens van der Post, describing nights in the Kalahari, when people would lie beneath the vast sky and listen so carefully that even the faintest stir in the darkness became meaningful. There is something about the first hesitant rain that invites that same kind of attention. In our house at night, however, the stars are closer to earth: mice in the ceiling, cats on patrol, and pigeons shifting restlessly under the roof.

And spare a thought for our students, especially those looking for rooms next semester. In this climate, air conditioning quickly shifts from luxury to necessity.

Thank you for a nicely written and eloquent post

1 hour ago, Scouse123 said:

I know it very well. This weather, they reckon, could be in Kuchinarai for 5 or 6 days.

Furthermore, after many years of being a quiet backwater, there has been quite a bit of an uptick in foreigners up here in the last couple of years, visible in the town and Lotus.

Yes I have noticed more and more Farangs here as well.

Not a bad backwater as we have the mountains, lake, expanding town, close to airport and Mekhong river.

23 hours ago, GarryP said:

2 hours ago, carlyai said:

Yes I have noticed more and more Farangs here as well.

Not a bad backwater as we have the mountains, lake, expanding town, close to airport and Mekhong river.

It's unrecognizable from 20 years ago; there was nothing here.

Roi Et airport is in very handy distance from where I am, as is immigration in the main city.

It's the mini-monsoon. The winds come from the cooler north during the dry, but are now shifting to the south from the Gulf as the monsoon starts to built. The winds mix causing thunderstorms. But they only last a week or so until the southern monsoon winds prevail and bring the hot/sticky weather.

We got 6 hours of rain in Udon Thani Tuesday night, at least 10 cm. First rain in 3 months