Take a bath in front of the whole neighborhood

That's what my wife does in her Southern Thai village, doesn't think a thing of it, carrying on several conversations at once. The Thai bathe at least twice a day, and in all the years -- more than 50 -- I've been here, I've never smelled a single case of B.O., even on crowded buses in the heat of the afternoon in Bangkok. Remarkable how at the end of a hot day, everyone's shirt seems as freshly pressed as in the morning.

It was a shock to move from Thailand in 1963 to England, where many people bathed once a week. Standing in line next to nice English ladies one day at Sainsbury market, I actually thought I might be downwind from the cheese department.

Sleep without aircon

My (Thai) wife not using air conditioning at night late this week (in the Bangkok hot season) when midweek freak rains (causing serious local flooding) cooled Bangkok very nicely and brought night breezes from the lovely north.

However, this is,  as always, with a table fan directed at the bed.

less than this, you don't need it.

Sleep without aircon

My (Thai) wife not using air conditioning at night late this week (in the Bangkok hot season) when midweek freak rains (causing serious local flooding) cooled Bangkok very nicely and brought night breezes from the lovely north.

However, this is,  as always, with a table fan directed at the bed.

less than this, you don't need it.

Take a bath in front of the whole neighborhood

That's what my wife does in her Southern Thai village, doesn't think a thing of it, carrying on several conversations at once. The Thai bathe at least twice a day, and in all the years -- more than 50 -- I've been here, I've never smelled a single case of B.O., even on crowded buses in the heat of the afternoon in Bangkok. Remarkable how at the end of a hot day, everyone's shirt seems as freshly pressed as in the morning.

It was an olefactory shock to move from Thailand in 1963 to England, where many people bathed 
once a week. Standing in line at Sainsbury, you thought you were in the cheese department.

Bangkok hot season

Following life through Bangkok's hot season -- without air conditioning. Well, most of the time.

I will try to keep this blog growing from now until the crazy peak of the hot season in April.

View from my bedroom follows. See the little circle? We'll be talking more about that place, my traditional teak Thai house right in the middle of the city, a study in thermal contrast.

Everyone smiles here -- even in the heat!

Today we visit our village neighbors near our Korat farm. A hot  afternoon – temp 35°C (95 F) – and we find them sleeping in hammocks underneath their house. Can they be comfortable? Well they look and act comfortable and according to my CBE Berkeley thermal comfort calculator (you can google this great tool) the average person, dressed very lightly as they are, sedentary or sleeping, with surrounding surfaces at less than 30 deg C (86 F) and with a floor fan turned to medium, should be happy with a temperature of 32 to 34° (91 F). But the saving fact is that the ground temperature, because of its high thermal mass, is only 29 C (84 F) and they are enjoying radiant cooling from underneath their hammocks, which according to the ASHRAE-based tool, put them right smack in the middle of the comfort zone -- with no aircon. We don't need to bring in any race-based factors to explain this("these people are used to it") to reach this conclusion. But we do have to permit a certain afternoon laziness; everything is quiet in the village at this time of day.

Down with democracy! Wear a hat!

It might surprise urban Thai, some of whom know more of cellphones and expensive cars than they know of the country’s history and traditions, that the village tradition is quite relaxed when it comes to bodily exposure. Many older women went bare-breasted even when I came here in the 1960s. The traditional “commoner” dress shown here suggests that the top may have been put on only for the purpose of the picture. Given that the face, neck, and chest is the hottest part of the body, exposure meant more comfort in the warm weather.

It is amusing to me that this old style was banned by pseudo-fascist political leaders in and during WW2 who aspired to a Mussolini  style of government within what they expected would be an Asian Japanese empire. Ironically “Proper” western style was required of women according to this government edict in 1941:

The people of Thailand must maintain national prestige ... by not dressing in improper manners which will damage the prestige of the country,e.g., wearing loose-ended sarongs, wearing only underpants, wearing sleeping garments, wearing loincloths, wearing no blouse or shirt, women wearing only undershirt or wrap-around ... and must maintain proper etiquette [by refraining from] unnecessary noise or improper language or behavior which ridicule those who try to promote national customs.

Some Thai history professors are claiming that the current call for "peoples government" is very similar to the call by Benito Mussolini in 1938, much copied and admred by the Thai Prime Minister Phibun in those same years.. What might the impact be in Thai fashion?

Dress required by law by royal decree in 1941. Bangkok Thai were to wake up one morning to face a government command that all women were required to wear hats like these. This is the same time as Thai were instructed to greet each other with "Sawatdee" an entirely made-up phrase previously unknown in the country.

Down with democracy! Wear a hat!

It might surprise urban Thai, some of whom know more of cellphones and expensive cars than they know of the country’s history and traditions, that the village tradition is quite relaxed when it comes to bodily exposure. Many older women went bare-breasted even when I came here in the 1960s. The traditional “commoner” dress shown here suggests that the top may have been put on only for the purpose of the picture. Given that the face, neck, and chest is the hottest part of the body, exposure meant more comfort in the warm weather.

It is amusing to me that this old style was banned by pseudo-fascist political leaders in and during WW2 who aspired to a Mussolini  style of government within what they expected would be an Asian Japanese empire. Ironically “Proper” western style was required of women according to this government edict in 1941:

The people of Thailand must maintain national prestige ... by not dressing in improper manners which will damage the prestige of the country,e.g., wearing loose-ended sarongs, wearing only underpants, wearing sleeping garments, wearing loincloths, wearing no blouse or shirt, women wearing only undershirt or wrap-around ... and must maintain proper etiquette [by refraining from] unnecessary noise or improper language or behavior which ridicule those who try to promote national customs.

Some Thai history professors are claiming that the current call for "peoples government" is very similar to the call by Benito Mussolini in 1938, much copied and admred by the Thai Prime Minister Phibun in those same years.. What might the impact be in Thai fashion?

Dress required by law by royal decree in 1941. Bangkok Thai were to wake up one morning to face a government command that all women were required to wear hats like these. This is the same time as Thai were instructed to greet each other with "Sawatdee" an entirely made-up phrase previously unknown in the country.