Bangkok Blogger|Tales from Thailand

Has today been the coldest day ever in Bangkok? It certainly feels like it! It is almost Songkran, the Thai new year/Easter holiday which is usually the hottest point of the year and comes right in the middle of the hot season. But today as I stepped out of the lift and into the cold air I realised my usual Bangkok uniform of shorts, t-shirt and flip flops had left me a little under dressed. The skies were grey and there was a cold wind blowing.

The temperature in Bangkok today, according to a few weather websites, has been around 20°C which compared to most places around the world is pretty warm but out there where it is mostly about 10°C hotter. So while it is cold it’s not been the coldest day ever in Bangkok which according to wikipedia was 9.9 °C (49.8 °F) in January 1955.

But I’m not complaining. It makes a very nice change to be able to walk around and do exercise without building up a sweat. Its started to rain now though which puts a dampener on things but its great to have the air con off and the windows open and still be cold!

Today I woke  in Bangkok for the first time for a while after about seven weeks of holidaying.  I didn’t bother putting the air-con in the bedroom on last night before bed as I thought the fan would suffice but woke up at about 4am covered in sweat and feeling like I’d been trapped in a green house all night (note to self: always leave the air-con on at night).

When I finally woke up proper I got ready and then went out for some lunch. I’m not sure if it was the jetlag or being back in the humidity of Bangkok or just being in unfamiliar surroundings again but I felt a bit strange walking to the shops.  After being in England for a few weeks, being the only non-Thai person and hearing everyone speaking Thai felt quite strange.  I’m sure I will get used to it again in a couple of days but I did feel quite out of place.  No one was staring at me but I did get a few looks and definitely felt like I was in a strange land.  A bit like how I felt when I first moved out here a year ago.

The least favourite season, the wet season, has just ended.  The end was marked by the Loy Krathong festival in which a tribute is made to the water by launching wreaths into the river.  The first day of the following cool season was overcast, grey and quite chilly.  We had some friends staying who arrived on that day and it felt like they had brought the English weather with them.  Most of my kids didn’t come into school and some of the ones that did come in were wearing jeans and jackets!  Even though it was cold for the Thais I was still comfortable wearing flip flops, shorts and a t-shirt.  Since then the weather has been back to its old self and the sun has been out and it’s been pretty hot but not as humid as before which makes a nice change.  The cool season lasts until around March and then it is the hot season.  I thought the wet season was hot enough so it should be interesting to see how it gets out here.

As soon as I stepped off the plane into the tunnel linking the plane to the terminal I felt the hot heavy air I would soon discover would be all around me in Bangkok.  I knew I was arriving in the rainy season and I knew it would be humid but it was still a bit of a shock to feel it.  Once we entered the terminal I felt the cool embrace of the air-con and was glad to be inside.  The airport is very modern but I still approached the customs barrier with some trepidation having heard and read so many stories about corrupt Thai officials, failed drug smuggling attempts and the arbitrary immigration laws.  I was called to the desk my the customs official (with obligatory swine flu mask) where I handed him my passport with 12 month multiple entry visa stamp, stub from my one way ticket and immigration card.  After a quick inspection he handed them back to me and I went to pickup my luggage.

Once I left the airport I was welcomed by the heat once again which hit me with the same intensity as before.  My girlfriend had come to meet me and we were quickly in one of the many air conditioned taxi that make up most of the traffic on Bangkok’s busy roads.