Escape to Isaan heat

Temp 40 C (104 F) at our farm house today, radiant wall temps to 43 deg. Wet rags under fan cool to 27 (thankfully)

Mango shower

Yesterday the gathering 95F heat broke with a pleasant morning "mango shower", first of the year, which kept skies gray and temps down all day for pleasant neighborhood and canal-side walking in deep Ekamai. These light pre-season rains are common in SE Asia and India, said to help ripen the mangos. Sure enough, the market was loaded with the fruit, though the ones on our deck tree are still green. Our US visitors were delighted with the taste.

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.

Bangkok flooding with hot humid air

Yesterday Bangkok smothered in humidity. Long slog of the hot season arrives.

Invented in Thailand: world's best tropical hat

World's greatest hat for hot weather. Perfect shade and ventilation. Additional bonus factor: the layered structure of the hat provides an extra R value of about 0.5, so that significant temperature drop occurs between the outside and inside of the hat. Example: today with an air temp of 30, the outside of the hat had a temp of 38 (from solar heating) and the inside surface was 33. Would addition of a little foil on the underside of the hat improve things?

Invented in Thailand: world's best tropical hat

World's greatest hat for hot weather. Perfect shade and ventilation. Additional bonus factor: the layered structure of the hat provides an extra R value of about 0.5, so that significant temperature drop occurs between the outside and inside of the hat. Example: today with an air temp of 30, the outside of the hat had a temp of 38 (from solar heating) and the inside surface was 33. Would addition of a little foil on the underside of the hat improve things?

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.