Weather Variations

[aTomsLife]

I read that Siem Reap is hotter than Phnom Penh, which I found surprising. It got me wondering how each of the following Cambodian cities -- SR, PP, Kep/Kampot, Sihanoukville -- vary in weather and climate? What is each city's closest equivalent in Thailand?

I'm planning to scout each of the above destinations and upon choosing one will likely relocate some time in 2015. I'm currently in Chiang Mai and enjoy the cooler weather here, but to my knowledge there are no Cambodian cities at elevation that have a developed infrastructure and/or expat communities.

[Sheryl]

Cambodia is on the whole a bit hotter than Thailand.

The only parts of the country at all similiar to CM in terms of climate would be the mountainous northeast (Rattanakiri, Mondulkiri) but not much infrastructure and certainly few expats. And a long trip to and from PP.

SHV you'll get a breeze right on the water but other than that, as hot as anywhere else. Ditto Kep.

Frankly weather is not a selling point for Cambodia unless you like it really hot.

For which reason you want to think twice about living anywhere that electricity black outs are common, because you'll really need your AC.

[losworld]

Hotter than Thailand. I doubt it but likely similar. Chiang Mai may be cool in the winter but it is very hot in the summer. Bangkok has been named the hottest city in the world by the World Meteorological Society.

It is not surprising that minus the winter weather the further south is actually cooler. I have been to Phuke and I consider it less hot than northern Thailand. You get more cloud and more rain throughout the year as you go further south.

[aTomsLife]

Thanks for the replies. I know as topics go, the OP is far from thought provoking.

I've lived in a few different Thai cities, all in different parts of the country. It appears most of Cambodia's weather is akin to that of central Thailand's. Hot, sometimes very hot, but to me still preferable to icy winters.

I should have clarified that I'm not overly concerned about afternoon highs, which throughout most of the year in SEA seem to average 34 or so, even up here in Chiang Mai. Evening and overnight variances are of far more importance. Already I've accepted that, due to being at sea level, no where I'm considering in Cambodia is going to compare with Chiang Mai in that regard. Still, I would have thought a small town like Kampot, abutting a river and being somewhat near the sea, would enjoy relatively cool and breezy nights.

[Sheryl]

Nope, hot as H@#$ there most nights, just like everywhere else.

Phnom Penh is on the river too...doesn't help. If anything may add to the humidity.

[TheSiemReaper]

Siem Reap is the hottest place I've lived outside of the Middle East; my Chinese wife thinks it's hell on earth and she likes the heat better than I do... but it's liveable most of the year and I know a lot of people who manage without A/C (I'm not one of them - I run two A/Cs 24 hours a day most of the year round). Phnom Penh is a little cooler but not dramatically so - it's worth noting that Saigon is officially the hottest capital city in Indochina but I didn't find it as hard to bear in Saigon as in Cambodia. One thing people forget to take into account when choosing somewhere to live is that apart from SR and PP - the whole country is a malaria zone and drug-resistant malaria cases are on the rise here (which makes treatment and/or preventative measures expensive). In towns with rivers running through them... mosquitoes are extremely popular indeed. I've had malaria and it's no fun whatsoever; it's why Kampot and Kep (though both are quite lovely) are not places I'd want to stay in permanently.

[Sheryl]

The whole country is not a malaria zone. Malaria transmission is limited to specific parts of the country, mostly along the borders and densely forested. There is no transmission within cities or towns of any size. The National Malaria program maintains a list of villages where transmission occurs, it is a comparatively small list and getting smaller every year, thanks to deforestation.

Dengue on the other hand is indeed endemic country-wide, as is also the case in Thailand.

There is no malaria transmission within Kep nor within Kampot town. There are some endemic villages within Kampot province, though, especially in the mountains.

[TheSiemReaper]

The whole country is not a malaria zone. Malaria transmission is limited to specific parts of the country, mostly along the borders and densely forested. There is no transmission within cities or towns of any size. The National Malaria program maintains a list of villages where transmission occurs, it is a comparatively small list and getting smaller every year, thanks to deforestation.

Dengue on the other hand is indeed endemic country-wide, as is also the case in Thailand.

There is no malaria transmission within Kep nor within Kampot town. There are some endemic villages within Kampot province, though, especially in the mountains.

The NHS, CDC and WHO disagree. "Malaria risk is present throughout the year in all forested, rural areas including coastal areas except Phnom Penh and close to Tonle Sap. The risk in Angkor Wat is negligible."

http://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/destinations/asia-%28east%29/cambodia.aspx

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/cambodia

[Sheryl]

WHO, which assists the National Malaria program, does not disagree. They endorse (and assisted in the mapping out of) the Ministry's identification of malarious villages.

I have worked in this field, in Cambodia, for a very long time.

[TheSiemReaper]

Really? Because this is the WHO's latest map of malaria in Cambodia and it is pretty clear that the majority of the country is a malarial zone.

http://www.who.int/malaria/publications/country-profiles/profile_khm_en.pdf?ua=1

[Sheryl]

This chart does not show endemicity of malaria transmission. It shows the number of diagnosed cases per capita in various provinces of the country -- a very different matter.

The data comes from health facilities, which receive patients from a wide area (especially the provincial and national hospitals).

To get an idea of where transmission is taking place, need to look at where people diagnosed with malaria actually live and where they have recently traveled, and their age and sex (a preponderance of adults, and more males than females = likely transmission occurs outside the place of residence; where there is transmission in a village, children and babies will be affected as well as adults and male;female ratio will be even.

This is the sort of thing done in identifying villages with malaria transmission. Quite a bot of effort is put into it so that appropriate interventions can be directed to where they are needed. For example, while all health facilities need anti-malarial drugs, efforts directed at vector control are needed only in villages which have endemic transmission; use of impregnanted bednets needs to target both endemic villages and migrant workers/people who travel in forests to gather food, wood etc.