I am currently on a small vacation visiting the south of Thailand for a few days while a friend is passing through. The area is just lovely and the island is amazing (more on that later.) However, I am finding it quite difficult to enjoy myself through the absolutely oppressive humidity.
Where i recently moved to in the north the humidity levels are around 30 percent this time of year, which is just wonderful. When it is like this I sweat when i deserve to such as getting some vigorous exercise. However, This island that I am currently on is around the same temperature, but with 75% humidity and it makes an absolutely massive difference.
Koh Phayam is a lovely, rarely visited island near about and hour and a half (by plane) south-west of Bangkok. I have fond memories of this place but already, on day one, i fear that I will not be able to enjoy myself here over the next 5 days. I am constantly uncomfortable.
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no, I am not Alec Baldwin
I took a cold shower before meeting my friend for a cold beer only to discover that just the walk from my bungalow to the beachfront restaurant, i was sweating again already. Even in the shade, drinking an icy cold beer, I was still sweating. It is ridiculous.
When I lived back in the USA and anyone made a distinction between heat and humidity, i thought it was dumb. However, here we are years later and I finally identify with what those people were talking about. I need to find you and apologize because you were 100% (close to our humidity level at the moment) correct.
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nah, I think i'll skip going out tonight
I think that when people are considering a travel destination it may actually be more important to check the humidity levels than the temp. At the moment both Chiang Mai (in the north) and Koh Phayam are around the same temperature (about 37 degrees Celsius) but in one of them i can sit on an upholstered sofa and comfortably watch TV with no air con or fan. In the other one I am currently sitting directly next to a fan after my 2nd cold shower in the past hour..... and sweating.