This combined with the smog and humidity in Chiang Mai are making this my least favorite time of year. I have been told that the Songkran festival is meant to indicate the beginning of a cooler season in this country but I am starting to think that someone is just messing with me when they said that because it is extremely hot here right now.
I've complained enough about the pollution and smog in Chiang Mai already so I'll just leave that alone henceforth unless something crazy happens but in the meantime that certainly doesn't help with the really hot weather that is all day, every day. Even in the evening when I try to go out and do something outdoors the heat from the day lingers and just doesn't seem to ever fade away. Like most people I am running my aircon like crazy every day normally from 10am onward. The school that I work part-time in has a rule that we are not allowed to turn on the AC units in the classrooms before lunch but I will admit that I have violated this rule nearly every day in the past few weeks.
For some of you out there 38 degrees at high noon might not seem that hot but to me it is extremely hot. If you look at the bottom there it indicates that rain is coming but I don't trust that prediction at all. For the past few weeks they have been saying that it gonna rain! and it never does. If we did get some rain I don't think that would necessarily cool anything off, it would just make it more humid once it stops.
There is also a near complete lack of wind so the heat just stagnates. Seriously, it is painful for someone like me that was brought up in an area that actually has seasons complete with snow. Now that I've said that I will go ahead and say that I would much rather deal with intense heat than have to deal with a bitterly cold winter. Hot is uncomfortable, but really cold hurts.
I can't imagine how unbearably hot it is in the Southern parts of this country because Chiang Mai is actually a sought after destination because due to the elevation it tends to be quite a lot cooler here than other parts of the country. A friend of mine who lives in Phuket has decided to go on a month long vacation to another country because he has told me that you can't do anything outdoors right now due to the heat wave. I also remember seeing some report about how the temperature is actually expected to get even hotter as well. Phuket rivals our own temperatures but also has the bonus of 70% humidity this time of year. I don't like the sound of that at all!
So if you were thinking of heading this way anytime soon you might want to delay that call. If i so much as walk from my cold shower to my room to put on clothes and the AC isn't on, I already start to sweat. As far as doing anything outside, even walking, you can forget about it.