Thailand's North and Northeast coping with drastic drop in temperatures

[chiang mai]

Currently 20 degrees in my living room, 15 degrees outside my front door, very pleasnt.

[metisdead]

Posts containing offensive and inflammatory references have been removed.

[gemguy]

Yep...15 degrees is nice and cozy for many people from North America and Europe

The Thais do not really understand truly cold weather such as minus 40 degrees Celsius in Northern Saskatchewan.....every year...like clock work.

Coldest temperature I experienced was -57 degrees Celsius.....for ever imprinted in my memory

Meantime....a surprising percent of Thai people want to experience winter weather and experience snow and touch it and play in it and think it looks so beautiful and all ...which it is ..visually that is ....as long as you are inside a nice warm comfortable home looking outside at the winter scenery and not outside having to work in it 12 to 14 hours everyday.

Cheers

Edited December 10, 2015 by gemguy

[daveAustin]

The funniest thing is when they bung tshirts and whatnot on their dogs. The mutts are like, w.t.f?!

[daveAustin]

It does get chilly up there mind. 12C at night is a different experience than a uk 12 due to humidity levels. Feels colder here plus the acclimatisation aspect. Having said that, it is kind of amusing to see them bunging tshirts on their dogs when it dips below 20. Poor mutts are like, w.t.f?! [emoji3]

Edited December 11, 2015 by daveAustin

[louse1953]

Flu is a virus and cold weather does not carry it any more than warm weather.

[DrTuner]

Horrible. Coming from a climate where it can get below -30 degC regularly I can say with confidence anything under +25 is unlivable. Time to build a fireplace in the house.

[louse1953]

"Areas in Thailand’s northern and northeastern regions are experiencing a drastic drop in temperatures."

It's not like this hasn't happened before. Every year it's the same thing and nothing changes. The mindset, as with many other issues, seems to be, "We will worry about the cold when it gets here", with no planning or preparation. As for the people living in some of these areas being too poor to afford warm clothing and blankets, it appears that everyone who receives donations appears to have cell phones, and not the basic models, but the fully loaded ones.

Also, smoking indoors by adults doesn't do much to prevent some of the respiratory diseases which affect the children. Perhaps the inhalation of second hand smoke makes them more susceptible.

It's a matter of lack of education and prioritizing resources by both the government and community.

What happened to last years hand out of blankets and warm cloths,and the year before.

[chiang mai]

Flu is a virus and cold weather does not carry it any more than warm weather.

I don't know what you mean by carry but transmission of the virus takes place, 95%+ of the time, in winter months.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/health/research/05flu.html?_r=0

[kiwikeith]

My first year in Chiang rai was the same. I ended up hospitalised with pneomonia. Needed heater in our home before Drs allowed me home. Everywhere was sold out. The issue is the lack of heating when indoors. I really did not enjoy the cold weather in the north. Interestingly all the other expats told me it had never been that cold before, but it's seems it is a regular occurrence, and in hindsight wish I would have been better prepared. In the uk no way will people work in offices below 17c without heat.

In NZ 17deg C is a nice comfortable temp , 12 or less in the winter is comfortable , but here IM frozen at 17c due to acclimatising, your blood gets thinner when you live in high temp areas.

[chiang mai]

My first year in Chiang rai was the same. I ended up hospitalised with pneomonia. Needed heater in our home before Drs allowed me home. Everywhere was sold out. The issue is the lack of heating when indoors. I really did not enjoy the cold weather in the north. Interestingly all the other expats told me it had never been that cold before, but it's seems it is a regular occurrence, and in hindsight wish I would have been better prepared. In the uk no way will people work in offices below 17c without heat.

In NZ 17deg C is a nice comfortable temp , 12 or less in the winter is comfortable , but here IM frozen at 17c due to acclimatising, your blood gets thinner when you live in high temp areas.

"the concept of developing "thinner blood " by moving from a colder Northern climate to a warmer Southern climate is only a myth. People may often feel colder at times after moving to the South from the North, but this is not the result of their blood getting thinner. I suspect it has to do with a person's tolerance to the cold weather changing, or perhaps to a loss of some "insulating" fat that may disappear after living in a warmer climate".

http://www.islandpacket.com/news/health-care/professional-opinion-column/article33554922.html

[seedy]

One Disrespectful Post hidden

[bim]

Wow....18 degrees ! Chip the ice off the old truck in the morning......I swear people have no concept of what cold really is !

I have to admit when I first came to Thailand I thought the same. However over time I realised people feel the cold more because there bodies have acclimatised to the warmer weather. I landed at heathrow some years ago in February from Thailand and was told by family and friends how warm it was for that time of year. They were correct however it didnt feel that way to me as my body had adjusted to a warmer climate. I have never felt the cold as I did at that time and couldnt wait to get back on that plane out of there. Its not as black and white as your statement. The real truth is people die every year here from the cold mainly older more vulnerable people. I wish some on here would show some compassion and not these knee jerk thai bashing statements.

[fang37]

At night, it is chilly. During the day, perfect.

[Shiver]

Flu is a virus and cold weather does not carry it any more than warm weather.

When I first got here, I was in a restaurant with ice cold aircon, and when I left the building and felt the blazing sun, I got a temperature shock and started shivering in what must have been high 30's Celsius at least. Within a couple of hours I started with the symptoms of coming down with something that lasted about 10 days.

I don't know as a fact, but I suspect that temperature shock maybe stalls your immune system for just a short while. Now when I go anywhere I sit outside whenever possible, and have never had a cold/flu since (I used to get one in summer and one in winter like clockwork back in UK).

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

Shucks...and just think it is only December. Wait until January...when it is colder than tits on a brass monkey.

[brownknees]

Here just north of Udon its down to 18 degs by morning but soon heats up.People are not complaining and most just put a jacket of some description on until after 8AM when its warm again and yes they get it most years so are used to it .So why is the rst of north Thailand bleating on about it?I worked in central africa years ago and they had winters that got down to 2-3 degs at night but they all had blankets to wrap up in!!Guess Thaiand people are poorer than Africans!!!

[thaiduncankk]

Here just north of Udon its down to 18 degs by morning but soon heats up.People are not complaining and most just put a jacket of some description on until after 8AM when its warm again and yes they get it most years so are used to it .So why is the rst of north Thailand bleating on about it?I worked in central africa years ago and they had winters that got down to 2-3 degs at night but they all had blankets to wrap up in!!Guess Thaiand people are poorer than Africans!!!

If people suffer from serious respiratory problems, which many do in remote parts of Isaan and Northern Thailand, I fail to see where wealth comes into the equation ?

You can put as many winter clothes on to combat the cold weather, but it will not really help the people with preexisting health problems. It may raise the body temperature, but it will not lessen the death rate of people with these conditions.

[taff33]

I think many people on here think that the government blankets are top quality,let me tell you the ones that I have seen are absolute crap and I don't think that they made to last,just like the roads.

[springheeled jack]

I have noticed a drop in temperature here in pattaya although I usually check the thermometer I didn't today but there was a cold breeze this morning which I commented on to a friend of mine a portent of things to come?

[Dmaxdan]

I do believe that these warnings are not aimed at affluent Farangs living in their expensive houses of cosy condos. They are probably just Thai news stories translated in to English. The real people at risk from the cooler temperatures are the elderly Thais who live in simple houses made of wood or concrete blocks, no glass in the Windows, with outside bathrooms and no hot showers. Just imagine tipping cold water over an already cold body. It is going to take along time to get warm again especially if you have no meat on your bones.

I live in a rural area south of Chiang Mai and during the cool season there is a notable increase in local funerals, nearly all elderly people.