Thailand is Hot
20 March 2019
And that post title isn’t referring to either the attractiveness of Thai ladies or Thailand as a holiday destination!
The motivation for this post came about as a result of a recent comment left on the blog by Mel, an Australian who wrote:
Hi Tony. I enjoy reading your posts especially as I am considering a move on a more permanent basis to be with my partner and family who live in Surin province. I have a very simple question that I’m hoping to shed some light on. How do you cope with the weather there? I have lived in Brisbane for 30 years and still have some reservations about our hot & humid summer. But I see that your weather (like Surin) is positively stifling for about a 3-month period and then of course comes the wet with all the uncomfortable humidity it brings. Your best tips for farangs? Oh yes, my partner lives in her sister’s home sans air-con, so investing in someone else’s house isn’t ideal, lol.
I have to say it isn’t a topic I have given any special thought to before in a blog sense except for endlessly banging on about the importance of designing and building a cool house, if you enjoy your comfort, and the occasional comment about how hot it does get and for what an extended period it continues.
This question about living in a hot climate is, in fact, a discussion that is worth having because the heat has a huge effect on how you cope with every day and your retirement lifestyle. Funnily the impact of heat may come as a surprise to newly retired expats and I will quickly explain how that might happen because it doesn’t sound logical.
Just before I do, I need to qualify any specific remarks about the climate I make in this post, because it is mostly based on the weather in my part of Thailand, in the northeast, which is different to the more southern and coastal regions. Also, I am Australian so all temperatures are in centigrade.
Why might the impact of hot weather come as a surprise to some people who have packed up and moved here permanently? I believe this is because most people have their first or repeat pre-retirement experiences of Thailand while on holiday, as I did. We specifically select a place like Thailand because it is tropical and hot, which has an obviously positive payback of a more relaxed atmosphere, warm water if close to the ocean, lying around, cool drinks and all the other benefits of a couple of weeks in the sun. Many of us are escaping cold temperatures at home and the blast of hot, humid weather is a relief, not a burden.
As with most holidays, we have a terrific time and go home with the image of what a permanent retired life replicating that holiday period might look like, which fills in work time boredom. Some of us eventually turn that brief escape from reality into a totally new life and that can end up being a brilliant life change, as it was for me, or less so for others. The catch is that some people think that a permanent life here will be exactly like that holiday dream but never-ending, which for all sorts of reasons outside the scope of this topic, is not likely to happen.
The weather is one aspect that relates to the holiday/retirement comparison. The heat and humidity, which helped knock the stress out of us on holiday and was entirely wonderful for a few days might not look so attractive on a semi-permanent basis. Life as a retired person may involve some of the maintenance stuff you coped with fine back home in a more moderate climate. Unfortunately, it most likely isn’t all lying around the pool with people to bring you a cold cocktail or beer. Normal life now includes shopping, home repairs, gardening, sporting activities (even golf in the ’40s might not look so attractive), just walking around is more uncomfortable in high temperatures. If you are used to contrasting climate then the constant heat can either be a blessing or sometimes it can become boring and repressive.
For those of you who plan to end up in the south of Thailand, you will find humidity is an extra consideration to add to your list. I personally hate it and prefer the north, where humidity is far less of an issue. I remember my six weeks in Phuket when I came to Thailand in 2013, and the humidity was a real energy sapper. You only had to leave the aircon and in moments you were dripping perspiration and your clothes were damp. I suffer from claustrophobia and in a scenario, you’d never think of, I had a couple of times in Phuket where the heavy humidity felt like it was restricting my breathing, which was an unpleasant feeling. Needless to say, I had a rental property that had standard Thai maintained aircon, meaning it was both underspecified and also installed and then forgotten so worked to 50% of capacity. It was no great help in making life comfortable.
So, after that lengthy introduction to provide some context here are my thoughts in response to the blog comment. If you are considering retirement in Thailand please have a think about the following:
1. Do you believe that you would enjoy living in the heat (and humidity sometimes) on a semi-permanent basis? Don’t put on your holiday glasses but have a think about living every moment where outside air conditioned spaces it is in the mid-30s plus. Some people just aren’t hot weather types. My dad loved the sun and would lie in it all day if he could. My mum was the opposite and much preferred a cooler climate. I have a friend who was useless in the heat and ended up returning to the UK from Australia for a bunch of reasons but climate (heat) was one of her considerations.
2. What type of retiree will you be? If sitting inside watching sport on TV and doing not much is your plan, then what’s happening outside is less of a concern. You can go from an air-conditioned house to an air-conditioned car to an air-conditioned supermarket. The bits in-between are just an inconvenience. If, however, you want to continue to enjoy say your sporting interests such as cycling, jogging, golf, tennis etc then are you physically the type that can cope with doing these activities in the heat? If not, then will a change in list of hobbies or activities make a big difference to the quality of your retirement? You need to ask the question because it will become an issue.
In Australia, I was a keen gardener and DIY type person on weekends. I thought that this would continue to be a core activity when I retired and started to develop my new home and garden in Isan. The reality is that it hasn’t worked that way. Firstly, I have a wife who is a mini-superwoman and has made ‘our’ garden her life’s work, much to my visual enjoyment. Secondly, I find that I just can’t put in the hours doing manual projects these days. I am older of course and the back and wrists aren’t what they used to be, but also while 35 degree plus is fine when sitting in the shade, once I become active it becomes a real effort after an hour or two. It is just too hot and the body won’t cooperate any more.
Luckily the blog, the amazing number of contacts it has generated, my ongoing interest in local events and enjoyment of watching other people work 😊 has come to my rescue, all of which doesn’t require me to be highly physical. If I was totally reliant on the garden as my main time-filler and ‘feeling useful’ activity I would be in trouble.
- What standard of home base will you have? This gets back to my pet hobby-horse aimed at encouraging people to build a cool, comfortable home that copes with the heat without endless reliance on air-conditioning. If you build a Thai-style home, which is often badly positioned, with basic concrete blockwork and no insulation, then the heat will be an ongoing pain. High levels of air conditioning is the only answer unless you enjoy life in whatever the outside air temperature is at any moment. I don’t. For me, part of coping with a hot climate is having a home that feels like a 7/11 when you walk in without the aircon even being turned on. My home sits 10 degrees below outside air temperature, which for most of the time means we don’t need to run cooling
The shade temperature at 4:00 pm outside today (21 March 2019)
And inside – no airconditioning. 11 degrees cooler.
And the same sort of hea the next day (22 March)
Although this photo is taken outside for improved lighting it reflects the inside temperature of 28 degrees – 13 degrees les than outside with NO aircon.
Two hours later still a little warm.
Inside hasn’t changed – still 28 degrees.. Oh, the joy of building a cool house.
4. Create large outside undercover living areas. Why move to tropical Thailand and then spend your life trapped inside? Insulated outside areas knock 5 degrees off the temperature and makes for a liveable experience with fans only. Forget your cold weather house designs with all the emphasis on internal spaces. A new life needs new thinking
5. Greenery cools the surroundings. Even if you only want a limited garden make sure it provides shade and visual enjoyment to the key areas around the house.
I am getting carried away yet again. I won’t ramble on with more point about house design because I have started to update my eBook ‘Building a House in Thailand’, HERE, which is going to add a lot of these basic design aspects to the introduction. A steady seller and essential if you are considering building here.
- Do understand the weather patterns in the area you have selected to live. The simplistic tourist concept that the weather here is ‘hot and dry and hot and wet’, isn’t the reality everywhere. The far north, Chiang Mai/Rai/Nan etc (top left on a map) as well as the northeast, where we live (top right on a map) has a climate that is not the same as Bangkok, Phuket or Pattaya areas. If heat is a concern and you’re not committed to a beach retirement then you will get some relief in these regions. It may well be hotter during the brief very hot season (April/May) but as these months are normally pretty dry the humidity is relatively low. Southern Thailand may have lower temperatures but the high humidity makes it seem hotter in my opinion.
We do actually get a real cool season, in relative terms, from November to February/March (not March this year which has been a scorcher so far). Evenings can drop to low 20s and night-time low to mid-teens. You will see fires on the side of the roads in the early mornings and everyone dressed up in beanies! Days will be high 20s, although the last couple of years have been warmer but even so ‘only’ very low 30s. Low humidity too as this is the dry season with little rainfall between Nov – May.
Nong Bua Lamphu
April and May are super-hot here and it can get around 40 plus for weeks. The following charts compare Phuket in the far south (bottom on a Thai map) to Nong Bua Lamphu, our province, and they really demonstrate that not all retirement destinations are the same when it comes to weather. These charts come from a terrific website BTW HERE. Well worth entering your potential home and seeing how the statistics rate with your ‘heat’ comfort levels!
Humidity in Nong Bua Lamphu.
Compared to Phuket. We get some relief from humidity in the cool season.
And in another example see how we have a temperature drop Nov – Feb compared to the more consistent level in Phuket.
Phuket is more consistent, which for heat lovers and holiday makers is a plus. For others like me, the cool season is a real enjoyable break from endless hot.
So, in summary, don’t just ignore the reality of the heat in Thailand. It definitely needs to be on your list of topics to assess how it fits with your expectations along with the culture, the people, language, driving, food, living costs and possible isolation. All good fun for two weeks but a whole different ball game for the rest of your life.
Excellent and well reasoned and no doubt experienced perspective on the subject of heat here in Thailand. I am a Bangkok dweller due to marriage circumstances and envy your beautiful garden-scape which we have to visit a park to find here.
After 4 years I find I have adjusted living patterns to cope with the really hot days but find I have acclimatized to a certain extent, as I walk daily along one of the bigger klongs between 5-8kms every evening…and yes Tony getting older we seem to feel things a bit more compared to walking around Lake Burley Griffen etc in Canberra in a much more cooler climate.
Thanks Lucas. Yes, I agree that we do adapt to the hotter circumstances. Sometimes I do miss those amazing crisp, clear, sunny Canberra mornings, but I wouldn’t swap. 40 plus here today. They were forecasting a hot summer and it looks as if they were right.
Good to hear from you.
Hey Tony,
As above, well thought out and written.
After spending most of my Adult life in Brisbane and now in Pattaya I would have to say humidity, heat and the “sunburn” factor the award goes to Brisbane, hands down.
I can be out on the boat all day here with little sunburn, try that back home and after 30 mins it’s time to turn over ! The humidity is certainly no worse here than back home and I love the constant temperatures (mostly) day in, day out. The only fashion issue I have is what thongs today 🙂
I do use the Aircon for sleeping but for the most part we can get away with fans. The main difference I have found is the ‘volume’ of rain when it does here, very different to home (most of the time).
Having said all this, our climate is changing, seasons back home seem to be running a month late….
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Yes, I find the same Shaughan. I burn easily and there’s no way I could be outside without protection there as I can here. It’s a vicious sun in Australia. High levels of pollution must have its benefits in Thailand! Nothings gets through.
Coming from Canberra we had high heat in summer but low humidity, so a bit like the hot season in Isan. The saving aspect to the coastal areas like Pattaya must be the sea breezes. We get very little air movement here and the concept of opening a house up in the cooler evenings to let the air flow through is a waste of time. Dead still. Mind you it is still over 30 degrees outside as I type at 8:00 pm and inside is 28 so no point in letting hotter air inside. I designed the house to have windows on opposite walls to achieve air flow. A waste of time 🙂
Whatever one’s opinion is of the reason for climate change I think there is no doubt that the ‘change’ aspect is happening. The timing of seasons and the intensity of the variations doesn’t fit with my memories of the past.
Cheers.
I guess Thailand’s tourism department won’t be endorsing your post. Hot and Humid are two words that I don’t like to hear used together. Living here in my very comfortable Mediterranean like climate in SoCal has always been a huge plus. Having moved from the very humid Southern region of the US, I don’t miss those summers one bit. Of course, many older people in the US retire to the very warm, and humid, region of Florida, so maybe there’s something to it as you age. We only get really hot a few odd weeks of the year, but it is a dry heat, so fans work pretty well. However, most of my neighbors just run their A/C round the clock, because well, they don’t want to suffer, even a little. Don’t know if a dehumidifier would help in the muggy season, but it is cheaper to run than A/C. However, that would mean you would need to take shorter, cooler, Thai showers, so you don’t increase the humidity unnecessarily. Look at it this way, at least the more humid climate is better for your complexion over desert dry. Acclimatization to the region is the key to happiness, or just move somewhere else. Also, like me, you have a big pool/pond to swim in to cool off. Thanks for the insight into living in a more tropical and warm environment, and the potential consequences.
Stay cool,
Jim
Another revenue source scuttled. Yes, heat and humidity aren’t on everyone’s list or if they are it may be on the list without any long term experience of living with that combination. Some people love it of course and can cope just fine. I can live with it because I don’t have the sort of lifestyle where the more extreme times of the year affect my schedule of daily activities. Like all hot countries it is best to be out and about in the mornings, which is when we visit the farm, and then for me inside is the place to be during the peak temperature early afternoons, where I write posts and comments, before emerging early evening, which can still be hot (34 at 7:00 pm yesterday) but relatively cooler than earlier. Gaun is totally unaffected. She is in the garden as I type. She’s up a ladder trimming hedges and will be until evening. Endless energy and an Isan constitution. As long as people are aware of the limitations heat can apply and happily adapt then all’s well. If it becomes yet something else to add to the Thailand list of shortcomings then they haven’t done their research.
I have Mitsubishi Electric inverter air conditioners and they have a dry mode which works like a dehumidifier. Cheap to run and really effective as it drops the temperature without kicking in the full compressor cooling mode.
The farm pond has become a wonderful addition to my routine, such as it is, since it was enlarged. Because it is quite deep, 3 – 4 metres, the water under the surface is still cool and it is a very refreshing swim. Farang spend hundreds of thousands of baht building swimming pools and ‘mine’ cost less than 30,000 to dig and 3,000 baht to fill. Bigger and deeper too 🙂 Mama watched me swim this morning and I wish I could access what was going through her mind!
Thanks Jim.
Hi Tony
Yes it is hot, but bearable.
I think a lot has to do with frame of mind.
Having lived and worked may years in Perth in the building industry and up north on mine sites in the Pilbara,, many February days are 38 or more,but often The ‘Fremantle Doctor’, sea breeze alleviates the stress a bit. I used to say to my guys,’ above 32 is hot, but just drink plenty of water.
I think new comers should realise that there are basically three seasons, especially here in Chiang Mai, hot, wet and cool.
We are coming to the end of the cool season here now and find that from 5.30 in the morning until 9.00 is a good time to get the hard physical work done. Yes, we are retirees, but a bit of hard work, like shoveling half a cubic meter of buffalo manure keeps the ‘ticker’ in good shape! I wonder why the Thai construction workers prefer to start at 9.00 am rather than 6.30 or 7.00??
Another thing for those contemplating a move to Chiang Mai, is the horrific air pollution. For the past three weeks Chiang Mai has had the dubious honor of having the world’s worst air quality thanks to hill tribes burning in the forests to make it easier to pick the buried mushrooms in a few months time! Why the authorities don’t crack down hard on it is beyond me. The health costs and implication are huge.
Hey Brian,
Very true.
I recall going to Chang Mai when I first got here, about 5 yrs ago… We had scheduled a 3 day stay, but had to leave after 2 days, the air as you point out is intolerable…
Mind you here in Patts and BKK has not been much better in the last few months, I have never noticed it this bad and only getting worse. In fact one day we went up the hill in Patts and could not see to Mikes mall… Then we were up the other end of beach rd and could not see the Pattaya sign….
When you away from the city you see people burning off all the time, I get it, they do not have a garbage service, so what are they meant to do ?
Like most things here there are laws already in place to stop most things, the lack of enforcement and being held accountable is non existent… So people will continue to do what they want, when they want…
I agree Brian. The Mediterranean attitude to living in a hot country works as well here as there. Activities early morning, a siesta or at least inside time during the peak heat early afternoon and then enjoy the relatively cooler evenings. Like you I do wonder why Thai building workers don’t start early to take advantage of the cool. Maybe it just doesn’t register with them. Gaun has been working both at the farm and here the last couple of weeks in a big cleanup before the wet season, and she totally ignores the heat. It just doesn’t slow her down or affect her ability to do physical work. We still have villagers cutting sugar and we had 41 yesterday. Amazing. You mention water and aren’t the Thais great with that aspect. They are far better than many of us westerners with their regular intake of water. The plastic water buckets with a tin cup are everywhere Thais are and they constantly dip into it.
We certainly get high pollution here but from all accounts it is slightly less oppressive than a bad season in Chiang Mai. I know of folk who have left CM for exactly that reason and understandably so. The skies are clearing here a bit and we are getting some weak sunlight but the far distance is still a hazy view.
Thanks for your comment.
Hi Tony, thanks for the informational blog. It was interesting reading about the pollution in Chang Mai. i visited Chang Mai in the late 70’s and it wasn’t polluted then. I guess thats happening a lot now all over the world. I remember the night markets in chang mai and also some water falls that we drove up to. We also visited Dui Sutep (not sure of the spelling of that). We loved Thailand but I did find the heat oppressive. I remember how very friendly the people were, always smiling.
The very Best
Petrina
How very nice to hear from you Trina. A treat. The north of Thailand has always had smoke problems early each year but never as bad as this year. Evidently more farmers have taken up growing corn and that produces as much waste as corn, which is burnt. Hillsides are burnt to encourage a certain type of mushroom and rice paddies are set alight to clear stubble prior to replanting. All in all a good time to stay away.
If a trip to Thailand ever comes your way again plan to visit the north or northeast October – February. I think Oct/Nov is the pick. Cooler weather, the rains are finishing so everything is lush and the rice hasn’t been harvested so the fields are full of crops. No smoke either!
The Thai people in general are a delight. If you are open to them they will repay double in friendliness and smiles 🙂
All the very best to you as well Trina.
We are 35 km north of Chiang Mai and the pollution has been bad — until it got worse. The other day I was looking out on our garden and the haze was so bad that it looked like fog. It was actually hazy within a 100 foot distance.
Just a shocking year David. Here in the northeast we don’t have the smoke caused by burning corn residue, which I think is the basis of some of your problems. We obviously had smoke but not at the levels you guys have endured. Ours is mainly due to sugar burning and rice paddy burns prior to planting in June. Next year we have been promised that the sugar mills won’t accept burnt sugar cane, which will reduce the local impact but I will believe it when I see it happen. I have met two farang recently who have crossed Chiang Mai off their retirement options because of the smoke.
Mate,
There has to be more to the problem.
We have huge cane farms back home, they burn off each year, yet we don’t have the same issues… Lack of wind (except the politicians), lack of knowledge and like most laws here a severe lack of enforcement.
The later will see burned sugar cane accepted at the mills for sure…
I’m a big fan of compost piles and I’m having fantasies of a huge program provide technical and practical infrastructure to encourage Thai citizens to compost instead of burning.
It’s just the quantity of the waste vegetation David that’s a bit daunting and not being a farmer that works for large areas. I do agree with the theory and would love to hear how this project goes. There must be some solution to this endless burning.