Humidity

[freebyrd]

People can acclimatize to their conditions, over time, but I think you really have to force that change. I'm sure that biologically, people in different regions have evolved, if ever so slightly, to be able to handle the conditions more easily. That is why it is harder for people from different regions to adjust.

Most Thais I know would literally die if they had to spend a winter in the Canadian Rockies where I grew up, where -5^o C was a pleasant winter's day and long periods (weeks) of -15 was just "normal for that time of year".

Or Winnipeg (aka "Winterpeg") where we used to go for 8-10km jogs in the morning when it was -35^o C ! (I'm not missing that at all !)

On the other hand, we used to watch the local in Afghanistan working with pick and shovel in the 50^o(+) C heat, with nary a bead of sweat to be seen. It helped that the place was so arid that most perspiration evaporated very quickly, but when "westerners" worked in the same conditions they'd be soaked in minutes (and bone dry again minutes after stopping). We'd walk a little over 500 meters in the blazing sun to get to/from the dining facility at lunch time and not have a drop of sweat, but if I walk the barely 200 meters from my house to the edge of the village here, I look like I've just gone through a car wash (without the car) even though the temperature is almost 20 degrees cooler !

Here, if you are outside there isn't much you can do about the humidity. Move up north and higher in the mountains maybe, or stay indoors with the air-con on. Could try using one of those "dehumidifiers" (but that also means you need to keep all your doors/windows closed otherwise you'd just be defeating the purpose of the dehumidifier).

Some say exercising (and eating right) can help, but that may be more because the humidity would feel less oppressive when you weren't exercising than it would while you were exerting yourself. Still, probably a better option than being cooped up indoors all day running up your electricity bill !

Personally I'd much rather put up with the heat and humidity than the cold and dank weather in other places.

Thanks for expressing my sentiments about cold Canadian winters. When I tell my fiancée about how cold it can be, she says "I'd die if I ever had to live in cold like that". And when she tells me about the heat and humidity of Thailand, I say "bring it on".

Too right, I would rather be hot than cold. In 1976 I spent a week in the UK playing soldiers living in a hole in the ground, minus 18C and I got frost nip. I said to a sidekick then "If I ever get the chance to go and live somewhere hot....."

[SoiBiker]

I've seen some hilarious nonsense posted on here about Thai people, but the idea that they don't sweat is particularly ridiculous. I swear some of you think they're a different species.

Yes, they sweat less than some farangs. Mainly because they're not as fat.

[gandalf12]

People can acclimatize to their conditions, over time, but I think you really have to force that change. I'm sure that biologically, people in different regions have evolved, if ever so slightly, to be able to handle the conditions more easily. That is why it is harder for people from different regions to adjust.

Most Thais I know would literally die if they had to spend a winter in the Canadian Rockies where I grew up, where -5^o C was a pleasant winter's day and long periods (weeks) of -15 was just "normal for that time of year".

Or Winnipeg (aka "Winterpeg") where we used to go for 8-10km jogs in the morning when it was -35^o C ! (I'm not missing that at all !)

On the other hand, we used to watch the local in Afghanistan working with pick and shovel in the 50^o(+) C heat, with nary a bead of sweat to be seen. It helped that the place was so arid that most perspiration evaporated very quickly, but when "westerners" worked in the same conditions they'd be soaked in minutes (and bone dry again minutes after stopping). We'd walk a little over 500 meters in the blazing sun to get to/from the dining facility at lunch time and not have a drop of sweat, but if I walk the barely 200 meters from my house to the edge of the village here, I look like I've just gone through a car wash (without the car) even though the temperature is almost 20 degrees cooler !

Here, if you are outside there isn't much you can do about the humidity. Move up north and higher in the mountains maybe, or stay indoors with the air-con on. Could try using one of those "dehumidifiers" (but that also means you need to keep all your doors/windows closed otherwise you'd just be defeating the purpose of the dehumidifier).

Some say exercising (and eating right) can help, but that may be more because the humidity would feel less oppressive when you weren't exercising than it would while you were exerting yourself. Still, probably a better option than being cooped up indoors all day running up your electricity bill !

Personally I'd much rather put up with the heat and humidity than the cold and dank weather in other places.

Thanks for expressing my sentiments about cold Canadian winters. When I tell my fiancée about how cold it can be, she says "I'd die if I ever had to live in cold like that". And when she tells me about the heat and humidity of Thailand, I say "bring it on".

At +50C remember you get look as if you are sweating. You are but it evaporates as soon as it is produced. You get th same in th deserts in the Middle East. Like you I dont ike th cold. Spent a winter in Northern Alberta and several in Kazakhstan not my kind of weather at all

[Shiver]

I've been 9 years here, and every time in the hotter months I walk anywhere, I'd spend 5 minutes in front of a fan to normalise as I'd be dripping sweat at max rate with a soaking shirt. This year it seems different. I don't do that and don't feel that hot particularly... but ... when I sleep in front of a fan I wake up with what feels like dust/grit all over my forehead. It took me the longest time to realise that when I checked it, it wasn't dust, but white salt crystals! I have to drink really large amounts of water (I don't count beer as hydration) to keep urination levels looking normal, but it doesn't appear as sweat, it just evaporates immediately. I'm a little concerned about it as that could potentially cause issues without proper management. I don't think the sugary electrolyte sachets are anywhere near enough. It's big loads of the local natural salt now for me to get a better mix of minerals rather than the supermarket mono mineral variety, and as much water as I can handle. But oh how I love the 'cold' season here, when a T-shirt only, might be a little nippley.

[buhi]

I've seen some hilarious nonsense posted on here about Thai people, but the idea that they don't sweat is particularly ridiculous. I swear some of you think they're a different species.

Yes, they sweat less than some farangs. Mainly because they're not as fat.

Some are and many are fatter than me.

Yes the 90% humidity was an exaggeration; it was how it felt to me!

[KuhnPaen]

Every time I went to LOS to visit my gf I would drop 10 kilos in 2 weeks just from the sweating, diet and walking. My gf was at turns surly and affectionate but she became downright unbearable during a heat wave.

Letting her run the air con for an extra 5,000 baht/month made her happy and if she was-then I was too.

Cranky gf problem solved by air-con, watermelon, and 3 showers/day. If that failed, there was always the stagnant, malarial, parasite-ridden "swimming pool" that had the color of dung and smelled like a corpse. Best times of my life....sigh.

[Crazy chef 1]

Between my swimming pool and favourite seat outside the pub with the fan gently fanning me its hell.

But that's only ten minutes a day.

take a cold beer for this long journey... i reckon it will help....

[curtklay]

Thais sure look like they sweat to me. They are constantly wiping their faces with little towels they carry, and complaining about how hot it is. Just like me.

Agreed, but I see workers on a building site, fully clothed, even a balaclava on, working in the mid day sun.

One minute doing that for me would be impossible.

Yes of course Thai sweat, natural cooling mechanism. Human's do not hold their tongue out like a dog to cool, neither do we need large ears; unless a British royal!

Thais out in the sun all day cover up because they are so afraid of the sun darkening their skin. Take a look at a cosmetic section of a store. Every product from face creams to deodorants contain a whitening/bleaching agent. Thais hold the belief that the darker you are, the lower your class standing is.

There actually is some science behind covering up in the sun. The clothing holds the perspiration in so it doesn't evaporate. That lessons dehydration, and supposedly makes you feel cooler.

[chrisinth]

It might actually surprise people that the average humidity is higher in the United Kingdom than it is in Thailand.

Always has been............

http://www.currentresults.com/Weather/United-Kingdom/humidity-annual.php

average humidity, UK

http://www.weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-Humidity-perc,Bangkok,Thailand

average humidity, Thailand