Getting Colder .

This year the cold spell is expected to start earlier than usual and be much colder than normal, according to information supplied to Women's & Children's welfare dept by the meteorological office .This is the dept that oversee's the distribution of warm blankets to the old and young of the region .It is forecast to be below freezing on many nights. Should make most of us feel quite at home but please remember if you have any vulnerable neighbours, keep an eye on them . Thanks .

Took the Grandchildren to Maccy Dee's last night, and then on to the amusements at UD Town.

Saw lots of stalls in the car park area selling padded winter jackets that would not look out of place on the Swiss alps.

The Thai Met Office website is showing a graphic of a man wearing a wooly jumper, when you look at the North Eastern region.

Some are saying it might be a winter like NE.Thailand had 30 years ago.

Bit parky this morning weren't it? went to give the dragon a bit of hows yer father this morning before the kids woke up, and she had bloody jeans on!

winter of 71-72 saw much hardship in issan many died of exposure to colder than normal winter hope you guys dont see a repeat of that one cheers john

It does make me laugh the word 'cold' being used for Udon! Maybe when i finally get to live in Udon i may shiver when it gets below 16c or so at night. I have been following the weather forecast in Issan for many years, never have i ever seen a temperature in single figures there, let alone 0c or lower. Now London, it gets cold, it loses its sunshine, its well horrible in winter. In Canada,the temperature plummets well below zero. So, you worry about your 'cold', i'd have your Udon weather in England ANY day, you lucky lucky people!

PhilR wrote:It does make me laugh the word 'cold' being used for Udon! Maybe when i finally get to live in Udon i may shiver when it gets below 16c or so at night. I have been following the weather forecast in Issan for many years, never have i ever seen a temperature in single figures there, let alone 0c or lower. Now London, it gets cold, it loses its sunshine, its well horrible in winter. In Canada,the temperature plummets well below zero. So, you worry about your 'cold', i'd have your Udon weather in England ANY day, you lucky lucky people!

Yes Phil you may be right if you just look at the temperature perspective. It won't affect many of us Farang, in fact , speaking personally, I quite enjoy it. The more comfortable feeling it brings enables me to do jobs around the house and garden that in the hotter months leave me exhausted after about 10 minutes . We all eat fat building foods and live in comfortable, walled and roofed houses . It wasn't US I am worried about. It is the local population I am concerned for . The majority live in houses with just tin roofs, wide open to the wind and the elements. No means of heating except burning a few bits of wood outside. Their bodies skinny and sometimes frail due to a lifetime of eating nothing more warming than a few insects and local vegetation. They are the ones that will suffer. Already on my morning jog I see them huddled around a small camp fire trying to get their circulation active before going about the daily routine of making a few baht .
This morning at 6.00am when I went out it was 16c. Not cold by our standard but at least 10c less than what these people normally experience. Just imagine a 10c degree drop in your normal range of temperatures ?
I am not having a go at you by any means, just trying to put things in perspective for those of us more fortunate .
As I said before. Please keep an eye open around you. If you see that poor kid going to school with a towel round her/him, its because they don't have a jacket or sweater, not the start of a new fashion .Maybe you wouldn't miss that old wooly jumper you brought over in case, and have never worn .It could save a life .Thank you .

Got me woolies on this morning, --- NOW!
After 10 years I think I'm acclimatized or the cooler season is early this year or I'm another year older or is 'Global Warming' BS?

I think the acclimatisation thing is right BD, for the last 3 or 4 years, I feel cold in the "winter". It is uncomfortable to sit outside in the evening, I wait for the beer to warm up before drinking it, and I always put a shirt and jacket/jumper on before venturing outside for my early morning smoke.
If we farang are having problems with the cold, just imagine what the old Thai folk in your neigbourhood are feeling.
Thanks for the "wake-up call" Truebrit, I think I'm off to the shops today to get a few things for Gran before it gets too cold. Don't like the old dragon, but if the temp is going to drop that much, she will need some extra layers at night.

I was here during the winter of '71-'72. There was a period of several days when the temps dropped below 10C/50F overnight. The coldest I remember was 5C/41F one morning. I had been here for over a year at that time, was no where close to being fat, and suffered right along with my Thai neighbors. And yes, there were numerous accounts of exposure deaths, particularly in the mountains of the northwest. Hopefully, we won't see that again.

IMO the recent weather / temp is spot on - not only comfortable but no AC needed on all day in the shop and over night saves a fortune on the leccy bill.
I remember living in Buriram approx 12 years ago during a "cold " spell some elderly folks dieing of hyperthermia , the people thought i was ting tong walking aboot in my shorts and t shirt whilst they had several layers and a big old fire to keep them warm.
The Thai met office is predicting the coldest "winter" for 30 years by all accounts , the best remidy im told is nice stodgy porridge and/or kippers for brekkie washed down with a mug a pg tips !! sets you up for the day - i think ive got a winter special coming up in CC.

Ok you got me wondering, what does one do for heat when it drops to 10c. I can't boom boom all night.

phayakk12 wrote:Ok you got me wondering, what does one do for heat when it drops to 10c. I can't boom boom all night.

A padded eskimo jacket from the night market cheaper at 499 bt and lasts longer than the boomboom eeeeer i think

phayakk12 wrote:Ok you got me wondering, what does one do for heat when it drops to 10c. I can't boom boom all night.

i wear my long johns ,
pulled out the old sally army blanket last night .

Thanks trubrit for pointing out it is the local people who suffer the colder temperature rather than Farang. I should know better really. I was over this September, and fulfilled a long term commitment finally, to get the tgf parents house in a village near Nong Hin shutters/windows for their one upper room which is the total living/bedroom space, for her parents and about four/five other family too. Just the toilet and kitchen to sort out now, there are no other rooms of course. I remember her saying, and from my friend and Thai wives translated emails to me, that no windows or shutters let all the elements in, the rain for one, and yes i remember now, the cold too. My tgf parents were really happy and thanked me profusely for the home improvements i helped them to get. Okay they didn't, but my tgf was happy which was great, and i felt better in myself, that the life in the old village homestead would be a bit better maybe, than it was before!

phayakk12 wrote:Ok you got me wondering, what does one do for heat when it drops to 10c. I can't boom boom all night.

Hence the phrase "bed warmer".

Reminds me of an old poem.

When the frost is on the punkin'
That's the time for dickie dunkin'.

But be careful:

When the frost is on the melon
That's the time for belly swellin'