Temperatures In Thailand Dropped To 15 Degrees Celsius; 2 Dead

[balo]

15 degrees Celsius is close to a normal summer day in Norway .

It's a mystery that people are dying , must be other reasons than the cold weather.

[rfukata]

Very sad to hear that people are dying from exposure in what I find to comfortable temperatures.

Not sure, but I think this thread is about the weather, not the climate.....

agree. the people affected from the cold are just not acclimated to temperatures below 20'C, as stated

this is very comfortable temperatures.

(just imagine if the Temp deceased to 4' or 5' C in the city? what will be the reaction of the Thai's?)

[c64]

Bah! Dying at those pleasant temperatures?

Joke aside. What's going on since they're dying?

I've read all those posters about poor houses, missing blankets atc.

Didn't they get the message the last time it happened so they could do some planning ahead?

Giving the same people aid year after year ain't a good solution. They will only learn that aid will come if they just shout loud enough. Learning them to take care of themselves is a lot harder but more fruitful in the end.

[AskTheCPT]

Can these deaths really be attributed to cold weather ?

An 80 year old succumbs to a heart attack and that's cold related ?

Assuming these people didn't fall into a body of water at what point would hypothermia set in,

I don't even shiver at 10-15 c, (~50 - 60'f), perfect short sleeve weather.

There are temperature related deaths every year in the North which is why the likes of the Red Cross and others make such a big deal of donating blankets and warm clothes to the hill tribes etc - it's not unusual to see people huddled around fires at times when a Westerner feels the tempreture is actually quite pleasant. But it's all about what we're used to, if you live most of your life in 32/34 degrees, 15 degrees can be quite a shock.

Unbelievable

I was just in Taipei which had most people wearing arctic coats like you'd see in a Chicago snow storm. I've been living in Bangkok for a year (originally from california) and it felt like perfect air conditioned room, I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt the whole time.

[toybits]

Outside, inside, same-same. If the grass bundles catch fire, it going to be bad for those sleeping inside the house and possibly also the neighbors. This is why villagers don't like to use grass for roofing or insulation.

Lighting fires inside the house is common among rural people and among tribal people. Earthen hearths inside the house are used for cooking meals or boiling water for tea. It also doubles as a space heater and provides some lighting inside the house - especially in areas where there is no electricity. There may be more than one hearth inside their houses.

You assume that they threw away their old blankets. Perhaps this is what more affluent people do. But this is not so with rural people. Why is it that you seem to think that these people are idiots? What made you think they are lazy? Do I sense a bit of urban arrogance?

They would put the straw OVER THE OUTSIDE of the galvanised metal not on the inside , rural homes in the UK had straw roofs for generations , but of course , they did not build fires INSIDE of the house to get warm Should the villagers know what is good for them , they would have at least saved the blankets donated last year , do they not THINK it will get cold again ? They have next to nothing to do most of the year except WATCH THE RICE GROW .

[ding]

They call it climate change because some people want to hide their head in the sand. Calling it warming made it simple for the simpletons to refute it for its name alone, prima facie.

A scientific THEORY is a set of fact that tells a story.

A scientific THEORY is not a "best guess".

Scientists agree it is an urgent problem. Propagandists and profiteers don't care if all of life itself stops, as long as they get to the BMW dealer before it does.

Climate / weather discussion is not apples and oranges. More like orange trees and oranges. But then, even oranges and orange trees are affected by climate.

[nakachalet]

ding, excuse me.... pls

A scientific THEORY is a set of fact that tells a story.

A scientific THEORY is not a "best guess".

-------

we must have been to school in different era.... lol

since whence does THEORY IS A SET OF FACT THAT TELLS A STORY....?

THE VERY FACT THAT A THEORY IS ONLY A THEORY.... IT IS NOT FACT.... NOT SO FAST, YET....

STRICTLY SPEAKING.... and

"Definitively speaking, a theory is a unifying principle that explains a body of facts (not facts in and of themselves) and the laws based on them....

besides, a theory.... is not "conclusively established...." that is one reason why it is referred to as a theory....

In other words, it is an explanation to a set of observations.

Additionally, in contrast with a theorem the statement of the theory is generally accepted only in some tentative fashion as opposed to regarding it as having been conclusively established."

no harm done, right, ding?

Edited November 24, 2009 by nakachalet

[shamus]

Semantics aside, ding please can you post the list of leading scientists who agree we are so powerful we are changing the 6 billion year old earths climate in the last 100 years since the birth of industry and rise of the automobile?

I have never seen such a list. One may exist but I have not yet seen it. What I am seeing is no decline in 4x4s in my surrounding towns paying the £400/year road tax. MPs must have been so surprised what a revenue stream 'green policies' have become

[torrenova]

People could roll rice straw into bundles to secure around and on top of their tin shacks for no cost , they get enough when they harvest the rice , this keeps the weather out and the warmth in . In scandinavian countries with more severe winters , they build in around the 'Stilts and suround them with straw also , with the cattle inside a lot of heat is provided which permeates up to the living quarters . Use a little thought and inginuity , they have the time to do it and stop complaining .

Unfortunately this means someone has to think beyond today and then do some work. That means it won't happen.

And ain't that the truth !

[dumball]

Toybits , instead of trying to be thaiwise and giving an argument against suggestions that worked successfully for many generations elsewhere , why not come up with a few 'Do-able' cures of your own ? Then again your avatar suggest why you might find that a little difficult . , also , where do I say the people are idiots and lazy , your adendum , not mine .

[denissr]

Well, it's clearly due to global warming, no doubt.

Seriously, we're undergoing global cooling at the moment and unless the sun revs back up again soon things could get worse.

This is a good watch, for those who haven't seen it yet:

The Great Global Warming Swindle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeY8oqAGhyA

I'm of the understanding that we're to receive a mini-ice age before global warming kinks in....

Didn't you read Scotts message. You can't talk about "global warming"?

[dumball]

'c64' date='2009-11-24 08:31:55' post='3160233']

Bah! Dying at those pleasant temperatures?

Joke aside. What's going on since they're dying?

I've read all those posters about poor houses, missing blankets atc.

Didn't they get the message the last time it happened so they could do some planning ahead?

Giving the same people aid year after year ain't a good solution. They will only learn that aid will come if they just shout loud enough. Learning them to take care of themselves is a lot harder but more fruitful in the end.

Throwing money at poor people defeats the object of trying to help them , they have no real clue what to do with their new found 'Fortune ' and it will often be abused(misused) , training on how to improve what they already have would be more to the point , but taking advise for their own good does not come easy to Thai .

Read the multitude of posts in various threads from good samaratans that have failed .

[bina]

the blankets fall apart. they are synthetic, loosely woven, thin and useless. we have ours for use on the sofa while watching tv since our heater doesnt work (kibbutz wiring not good, and it is, as far as i am concerned, freezing outside at about 10 c).

OT

Forgot the teaspoons

-- hubby has a special teaspoon that he takes back and forth with him to work as he uses it as a measuriing spoon (the restaurant owner doesnt measure but hubby is a real pedantic with these things). last week when going to ministery of interior for visa for him, he went htru the metal detector which, lo and behold, beeped because of the spoon. try to explain that to israeli security guy....

i was freezing in ban chiang in february many years ago, when all the other farang volunteer teachers, obviously from nordic cold places, were in shorts and short sleeves. i was with the thai contingency wearing my light weight polar fleece jacket, which i left there with some workers' family, after i realized that it does indeed get cold int thailand.

i am originally from maryland with snow storms cold and icicles. i hate it all. i like the israeli summer: 30+ dry heat. i liked the thai heat. i like being able to wear only one layer of clothes.

bina

israel

[COSMO22]

very sad when any person dies but hey give me a call when it gets below -0 then its cold

[Shazza]

MMMmmmmmm........ a friend of mine comes from a village way up a mountain.... each year the people in her village (where they are pretty poor compared to us lot) try to raise money among themselves to buy blankets and warm clothing for the people in the villages further up the mountain..... who are waaaaaaaaaaaaay poorer than them.....

I'm looking forward to asking her what she thinks happens to the blankets and clothing.... I would imagine they have nowhere to store them for the rest of the year so likely sell them.... I would....

Pran tells us stories about winters in the mountains... her and her sister sharing one blanket and not sleeping much at all as they rolled the blanket on and off each other all night.... most the people there exist on a diet of rice, salt and chilli peppers.... a lot of the villages up there are desperately poor since the people from the west came and told them they can't grow opium any more but didn't really stick with them until they had other crops that would feed their families as well!!! They were poor when they grew opium but not as poor...

I laugh (rather than ranting and throwing things) when I read some of the posts that are written here... think, people, think..... if you live in a tiny shack where are you going to store your winter stuff that saves your life for a couple of months? If you are desparately poor and need food why would you keep something that can be sold that you have nowhere to store? If you store winter stuff for most of the year in a place where you have no storage space, do you think creatures might end up living in it? If you are in a cycle of poverty, how easy is it to get out?

[chuckd]

I have spent the better part of the last 35 years in either Saudi Arabia or Thailand. We are now spending most of our time between Udorn and Loei.

With my history of living in warmer climates, the cold now causes me some distress. I wear long sweat pants and the occasional jacket to ward off the chill. I have become acclimated to warmer climates and colder weather makes me uncomfortable.

All you snow birds can scoff at my predicament, but at the same time, I have played golf when the termperature exceeds 50C in Saudi. I'm wondering how many of you could walk 18 holes in that heat?

It's all relative.

[cheshiremusicman]

I have spent the better part of the last 35 years in either Saudi Arabia or Thailand. We are now spending most of our time between Udorn and Loei.

With my history of living in warmer climates, the cold now causes me some distress. I wear long sweat pants and the occasional jacket to ward off the chill. I have become acclimated to warmer climates and colder weather makes me uncomfortable.

All you snow birds can scoff at my predicament, but at the same time, I have played golf when the termperature exceeds 50C in Saudi. I'm wondering how many of you could walk 18 holes in that heat?

It's all relative.

I'm the same. Came from the UK 3 years ago to get away from the cold and damp for health reasons - very successfully I might add! The other week the temp dropped to about 20C( 68F) one evening and I was soon hunting out a vest and jumper.

Been watching the Thai Met offices weather maps and the very strong high pressure zone that has caused nearly all the problems seems to be dissipating, so hopefully the cold northerly winds will abate somewhat.

I wish all the people in the North well and take care.

[gotlost]

I have to thank that this thread is out of date (3 days old).

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingne...-Doi-Inthanon-a

[ballzafire]

When I was younger, cold weather felt invigorating.

Now it just makes me feel oohhhhhhlllldddd....

[Johpa]

I'm looking forward to asking her what she thinks happens to the blankets and clothing.... I would imagine they have nowhere to store them for the rest of the year so likely sell them.... I would....

The blankets that are donated are of fairly poor quality and often only last a season or two. Thet are not an item that can be washed easily in a stream bed. I doubt there is much of a market for dirty used cheap blankets, even amongst the upland poor.

[chris1101]

"27 posts already and nobody has mentioned porridge"

My Thai wife and I are in the UK for a short holiday. The average morning temperature is 6C and she is definately feeling the cold. This week I have managed to persuade her to start the day with porridge, to which she has taken a liking. However, whilst this has clearly had a warming effect it has also thrown her bodily functions into disarray. Oh well, back to the drawing board and more winter woolies!!

Edited November 25, 2009 by chris1101

[ballpoint]

The blankets that are donated are of fairly poor quality and often only last a season or two. Thet are not an item that can be washed easily in a stream bed. I doubt there is much of a market for dirty used cheap blankets, even amongst the upland poor.

Judging by the smell coming from the local cigarette connoiseurs, the old blankets are chopped up and smoked. What once was a harbour for rough shags now turns into one.

[eTiMaGo]

I'm loving this weather, I can walk around outside for more than 5 minutes without getting drenched in sweat

Those dismissing rural Thais as intellectually challenged could do with a bit of education themselves. What about the dozens killed in Europe every time there's a "heatwave" and the temperature soars above 30 deg? Surely THEY should have prepared? Any Thai could have told them how to survive a bit of heat.

Absolutely, a few years back (2003 I think) I was in Europe in the summer and there was one of those deadly heat waves. And nowhere, and I mean NOWHERE was there any kind of desk or floor fan available for sale... houses were just stagnant with heat, if people could have gotten a little circulation going it would have helped heaps, even for me who is mostly used to tropical heat, it was unbearable! Next time there's one of those heat waves I am taking over a cargoload of Hatari fans and selling them 200 Euros each

[MarkTSpalding]

Global warming, is a scam that was developed by Al Gore, and has been found to be a fraud...

Investigation's have been started on the scam and law suites have been filled again Gore and his Socialist Liberal Sceintist...

This will become a massive topic in the next coming week's..

So far Investigator's have found and uncovered E-mail's on mis-leading information and making up

false climate data for the last 10 years or more. Some data was somehow misplaced...

FOX NEWS here in the US has had many stories concerning this issue this week ..

Sorry, Global Warming Is A SCAM ....

Reason I do not put link's in here to confirm this, is that one of the moderator's got very upset with me giving out the truth on this issue. There are one's that will go to length to keep one from telling the REAL TRUTH ....

Even this message may get flagged ...

[GungaDin]

FOX NEWS here in the US has had many stories concerning this issue this week

That says it all.