Keeping Cool In The Hot Season

[chiangmaioldhand]

April was hot but May is always hotter.

Having lived here for quite a few years I thought I would pass on the wisdom I have attained in staying cool when it's hot.

I've seen numerous articles in local rags, such as Citylife and even in the National dailies, with some fascinating ideas. 

I tried one or two myself, including lying naked with wet towels over me under a fan on number 3.

Some of the cooling powders were of some benefit.

However, cold showers every hour aren't too effective at night when you want to sleep.

By far the most effective trick was to do as the locals (who can afford it) do.

Whack on the A/C at full blast and float away on a breeze of serenity and blissfullness.

I love A/C at this time of year - by far, it is Man's greatest achievement.

[Ulysses G.]

F the carbon footprint!

[Mapguy]

F the carbon footprint!

"F?" Does that stand for something?

If ever the awful expression "TIT" ("This is Thailand") should mean anything, than this is when! This is the tropics! This is not northern Canada! Or the Hebrides. Or the South Island. Deal with it --- without the air con! People here have been doing it for longer time than is recorded! Those who have lived here through many more seasons than we farang from wintry climes, deal with it. Nobody likes it, but it is not harmful --- like dealing with the pollution. It is just simply hot.

This, too, will blessedly end --- soon, I hope!

[Texpat]

I use the ac much as a Thai in Colorado Springs would use the heater.

It's all about my comfort.

[chiangmaioldhand]

F the carbon footprint!

"F?" Does that stand for something?

If ever the awful expression "TIT" ("This is Thailand") should mean anything, than this is when! This is the tropics! This is not northern Canada! Or the Hebrides. Or the South Island. Deal with it --- without the air con! People here have been doing it for longer time than is recorded! Those who have lived here through many more seasons than we farang from wintry climes, deal with it. Nobody likes it, but it is not harmful --- like dealing with the pollution. It is just simply hot.

This, too, will blessedly end --- soon, I hope!

   Using AC or not is nothing to do with 'we Farang'!

   Most of the people living in Europe are not in danger of hyperthermia but they still installed central heating when it became affordable and use it on plenty of days in which they weren't in danger of dying. As Texpat quite rightly said, it's a matter of comfort. If people can afford the comfort of AC in Thailand, just as people can afford the comfort of heating in Europe why not use it? We didn't use central heating for thousands of years or computers for that matter, but when they came available we took advantage of them. Did you never use any form of heating other than when the thermometer went below zero?

I think you'll find that the vast majority of ACs being sold in Thailand are to Thais. If you think that most Thais wouldn't use it if they could afford it then you may be mistaken. Not using AC doesn't make you more Thai - it makes you more poor Thai.

    Coming home in the hot season and whacking on the AC is pure bliss for me and a small luxury that I can afford. Other than Global Warming nonsense, why would I not want to have such a small luxury?  The small cost of an extra 30baht a day on the electric bill? Who cares?

    If you are happy sweating the days away that's fine by me. I like being cool though.

[Mapguy]

F the carbon footprint!

"F?" Does that stand for something?

If ever the awful expression "TIT" ("This is Thailand") should mean anything, than this is when! This is the tropics! This is not northern Canada! Or the Hebrides. Or the South Island. Deal with it --- without the air con! People here have been doing it for longer time than is recorded! Those who have lived here through many more seasons than we farang from wintry climes, deal with it. Nobody likes it, but it is not harmful --- like dealing with the pollution. It is just simply hot.

This, too, will blessedly end --- soon, I hope!

Using AC or not is nothing to do with 'we Farang'!

Most of the people living in Europe are not in danger of hyperthermia but they still installed central heating when it became affordable and use it on plenty of days in which they weren't in danger of dying. As Texpat quite rightly said, it's a matter of comfort. If people can afford the comfort of AC in Thailand, just as people can afford the comfort of heating in Europe why not use it? We didn't use central heating for thousands of years or computers for that matter, but when they came available we took advantage of them. Did you never use any form of heating other than when the thermometer went below zero?

I think you'll find that the vast majority of ACs being sold in Thailand are to Thais. If you think that most Thais wouldn't use it if they could afford it then you may be mistaken. Not using AC doesn't make you more Thai - it makes you more poor Thai.

Coming home in the hot season and whacking on the AC is pure bliss for me and a small luxury that I can afford. Other than Global Warming nonsense, why would I not want to have such a small luxury? The small cost of an extra 30baht a day on the electric bill? Who cares?

If you are happy sweating the days away that's fine by me. I like being cool though.

Global warning nonsense? How about resource depletion?

Nope, I'm not happy with the heat, either! Not a masochist! But a shower and shade do wonders. And less of one of UG's "F" carbon footprints.

Perhaps you can afford the AC --- and it is lovely --- but (1) not all folks can afford it, as you, and have been using alternative means of cooling off for ages and (2) such "Western practices" are problematic. For a rough tote, take India and China together. Add up the populations. Divide by four (conservatively) to get a family. Provide each family of this simple math with a refrigerator and an air con. Consider that simple result. Rough figuring, but it gives you a bit of the sense of the size of the problem!

Perhaps some of us should enjoy less!

[Ajarn]

Perhaps some of us should enjoy less!

Perhaps you should. I'll just enjoy my aircon on 24/7

[Ulysses G.]

Hear, hear!

[Texpat]

If I don't use my share of the global resources, some Chinese family will.

Maybe I'll turn on two ACs today.

Edited April 25, 2009 by Texpat

[bino]

Perhaps some of us should enjoy less!

Perhaps you should. I'll just enjoy my aircon on 24/7

I'm with you Ajarn. I'm shameless enough to leave the aircon on when I go out. Love walking into a cool comfortable house.

It's the exact same psychology (well... same same but different) as walking into a warm house at home in the middle of the winter.

[AceCafe]

Rattan armchair, feet up on footstool, good paperback, overhead fan on full blast, wearing sarong only, big mug of PG Tips daytime or tall Bombay 'n' tonic on ice evenings, cold shower any time of day or night....... sheer bliss! Guess I did learn something growing up in Singapore!!

Edited April 25, 2009 by AceCafe

[Dustoff]

~

Enjoying less is always a good thing but within reason, yes? I suppose I could sleep on a rock in the rain while wearing a loincloth for protection but I honestly don't mind keeping up a bit with modern times.

We do have aircon but make every effort to limit its use by having a large passive vent on the peak of our roof to remove heat, growing a virtual jungle around our home to shade the outside walls and open/close windows to take advantage of natural airflow to keep these high temps at a reasonable level in our home.

Our aircon comes on at 28 C. and shuts down when the outside air temp drops below that. We also keep all doors to seldom used rooms closed and cool only our actual living area. We never sleep with an aircon running.

Use reason in all things, eh? Very uncomfortable heat or cold increases stress which in turn hampers our immune system which opens us to disease and shorter lives. Yes, the 'natives' of hot and cold areas have dealt with their local extremes but I do not wish for their shorter lifespans...

[gpdjohn]

If I don't use my share of the global resources, some Chinese family will.

Maybe I'll turn on two ACs today.

F Yeah!

I'm running f'n 2 of 'em today...F' 'n A!

I figure if I'm going to leave a footprint, it may as well be as big as Shaq's. Several of 'em to be more exact. F' 'em !

Gots to keep the mojo cool.

[Rasseru]

Somehow, I feel particularly able on this thread to identify the posts made by Americans.

[cmsally]

Somehow, I feel particularly able on this thread to identify the posts made by Americans.

:D

[Texpat]

Somehow, I feel particularly able on this thread to identify the posts made by Americans.

Those not reduced to sleeping in loincloths on moss beds near the stream out back?

Imagine that. A group of people who don't strive to be miserable.

[Dustoff]

Somehow, I feel particularly able on this thread to identify the posts made by Americans.

Ah, thanks for that, Rasseru. Slow as I am, I didn't get that your posts such as your chipping at me on my retirement visa thread, was about anti-American prejudice. Understood - I suppose we have earned a bit of scorn from the masses. I will just accept that your countrymen are far superior...

Edited April 25, 2009 by Dustoff

[mdechgan]

Whack on the A/C at full blast and float away on a breeze of serenity and blissfullness.

Genius!

I really am confused at some people how complain about the heat yet are so stingy about the a/c. Yet they waste so much money on booze, designer clothes and the lottery. Set the a/c on to 25-26C and the cost is only about 10-20 baht per day.

Remember, BKK 30 years ago was not the concrete jungle it is today.

[Ajarn]

Whack on the A/C at full blast and float away on a breeze of serenity and blissfullness.

Genius!

I really am confused at some people how complain about the heat yet are so stingy about the a/c. Yet they waste so much money on booze, designer clothes and the lottery. Set the a/c on to 25-26C and the cost is only about 10-20 baht per day.

Remember, BKK 30 years ago was not the concrete jungle it is today.

It was a lot worse! Tons of traffic and pollution!

But you are right about aircon

[PFV]

Remember, BKK 30 years ago was not the concrete jungle it is today.

Excellent point indeed. And let's not forget the terrible European summer a few years back where hundreds of people (mainly the elderly) died because of an unusual heat wave.

To not use A/C in Thailand, if you can afford it, would be as ridiculous as not turning on the heater/stove/fireplace during winters in Northern Europe or America. Buring coal, oil, or uranium, btw, is a lot more polluting than electricity generated from natural gas, as here in Thailand.

What puzzles me, though, is the lack of central-air in this part of the world: I would think that running one larger compressor is more energy efficient than a larger number of smaller ones.

[Texpat]

The advantages of individual room units include only cooling the room you're in, if one breaks you don't lose them all, you can run them all thereby hoarding the dwindling planetary resources before the evil Chinese do.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Still don't use aircon at night.. last night was reasonably pleasant actually.

Today's high is 39.. In my living room downstairs without aircon it's.... 31. (Keeping the windows closed downstairs) Add the ceiling fan and it's really quite okay. Or I can turn on the aircon on a high setting like 28 to dry the air and bring the temperatures down a tad more. I'm on one of those triangle-cushions / thai mattresses on a cool tile floor and you wouldn't know there's a hot season going on.

Upstairs is another story; there it warms up a lot but I keep the windows open so in the late afternoon / evening the winds should clear out the heat there.

This is basically a Thai strategy: downstairs / under the house during the day, then rely on breezes to cool the upstairs at night.

Edited April 25, 2009 by WinnieTheKhwai

[Rasseru]

Ah, thanks for that, Rasseru.

You are always more than welcome, Dustoff.

Slow as I am, I didn't get that your posts such as your chipping at me on my retirement visa thread, was about anti-American prejudice.

Whether it is due to your slowness or not, I wouldn't venture to guess, but you have it wrong. Nothing that I wrote on your retirement visa thread had anything to do with prejudice of any kind, anti-American or otherwise. My earlier comment here? Well, maybe a little, but it was meant more in fun than anything else, and I hasten to assure you, and this may take some of the wind out of your sails, that any anti-American prejudice I might sometimes express is really just a tiny subset of my larger anti-human prejudice.

Understood - I suppose we have earned a bit of scorn from the masses.

Say what?

I will just accept that your countrymen are far superior...

I think you must have in mind the majestic and superior cackling hen.

[eek]

I rarely put on the air con. Mostly I like to open doors/windows to make an air flow and stick a fan on if I feel i need to. Its my bf thats the worse for air con. He loves arctic temperatures. I moved to Thailand to get away from arctic temperatures! At one point last winter my fingers were stiff from the cold here. I prefer being too hot to too cold. Easy to cool down, hard for me to warm myself up. Isnt it also correct that the bigger/more fat a person has, the more they will suffer from the heat too? So, if you are a bit on the pom pui side, might be a good idea to drop a few pounds to help you feel more comfortable.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Isnt it also correct that the bigger/more fat a person has, the more they will suffer from the heat too? So, if you are a bit on the pom pui side, might be a good idea to drop a few pounds to help you feel more comfortable.

Yes absolutely! I lost some weight and the difference is remarkable.. I used to get sweaty just walking around an airconditioned shopping mall.. Now I'm fine even in 38 degree heat.

Actually I think it may be 50% due to weight loss and 50% due to a change in diet away from empty carbohydrates. Eating mostly vegetables, good oils, meat and/or fish/egg (and very limited fruit) but no rice/bread/potato/pasta/sugar/caffeine/alcohol makes a near immediate improvement as well. (also you drop weight like a grand piano falling out of a skyscraper window doing that, the main problem is dropping weight too fast actually)

[Ulysses G.]

I will just accept that your countrymen are far superior...

We are his countrymen. In fact, I have always wondered if Benedict Arnold was as intelligent and pleasant a person as Rasseru is, when not doing what traitors do?

[Ulysses G.]

Isnt it also correct that the bigger/more fat a person has, the more they will suffer from the heat too? So, if you are a bit on the pom pui side, might be a good idea to drop a few pounds to help you feel more comfortable.

When I first moved to Thailand, I was downright skinny, but I suffer much less from the heat - now that I am more acclimated to it - even though I am huge. I did lose about 27 kilos (about 60lbs?) a few years ago, but felt almost no difference as far as being cooler. Maybe it is true for some people.

Edited April 25, 2009 by Ulysses G.

[Rasseru]

I will just accept that your countrymen are far superior...

We are his countrymen.

No, sorry, but you are not, not in any meaningful sense of the term.

[Ulysses G.]

Sorry if I am wrong. I could have sworn that you told me that you are American.

[eek]

Wow, thats a big weight loss. Well done.

Hmm..its just a theory that i read a while back. But im not really sure. Maybe its diet too as Winnie has mentioned. I dont eat too much carbs myself either. When i do it often makes me feel lethargic.

I also find that when i get lazy about exercising, i have less energy too.

Im not 100% sure if weight, diet, and exercise directly affect if you feel cooler or not in hot temperatures. But i think it must do.

I also agree that caffeine (of which im extremely addicted too) probably doesnt help either, as it dehydrates.

Alcohol is probably the worse for dehydrating...?