What is wrong with Thai tropical climat ?

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Alīno
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What is wrong with Thai tropical climat ?

Post by Alīno »

Hello dear friends,

Many people say that Thai climat is to hard to western monks, but what is so difficult in it actualy? What make is to hard to live in ? :thinking:
(i have never been in any tropical climat country)

:anjali:
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dharmacorps
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Re: What is wrong with Thai tropical climat ?

Post by dharmacorps »

Some examples based on what I have heard:

Heat, humidity, mosquitos that carry malaria, water bourne illnesses/diarrhea, food bourne illnesses, different foods than one is used to, remoteness of modern medical care, lack of modern toilets, wild animals (insects like ants and millipedes that bite), wild dogs, tigers, elephants, every kind of snake imaginable. Living conditions are shacks or huts.

Add to that the poverty of the people in these regions. Largely they don't speak any English. Not an easy situation for any westerner used to different conditions, even with the Thai people being incredibly caring and supportive, its sounds very challenging.
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Alīno
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Re: What is wrong with Thai tropical climat ?

Post by Alīno »

Oh! And there is many monks who die because of it?
Ajahn Nanadassano (before ordaining) : Venerable Ajahn, what is the bigest error that buddhist do in their practice?
Ajahn Jayasaro : They stop practicing ...
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Kim OHara
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Re: What is wrong with Thai tropical climat ?

Post by Kim OHara »

dharmacorps wrote: Wed Feb 14, 2018 6:46 pm Some examples based on what I have heard:

Heat, humidity, mosquitos that carry malaria, water bourne illnesses/diarrhea, food bourne illnesses, different foods than one is used to, remoteness of modern medical care, lack of modern toilets, wild animals (insects like ants and millipedes that bite), wild dogs, tigers, elephants, every kind of snake imaginable. Living conditions are shacks or huts.

Add to that the poverty of the people in these regions. Largely they don't speak any English. Not an easy situation for any westerner used to different conditions, even with the Thai people being incredibly caring and supportive, its sounds very challenging.
:rofl:

Let's not be too silly, folks. Millions of people - billions, in fact - live happy, healthy lives in tropical climates. I'm one of them. :smile:
I live in a first-world country so yes, conditions are different here. But the climate isn't the difference - the wealth is, and the culture is. Poor communities everywhere struggle with clean water supplies, medical services, adequate housing, sanitation, etc. I'm sure you can find examples within a hundred miles of where you live, wherever you live. Most Thai people seem to have a standard of living which is roughly comparable to Westerners of a hundred years ago.
Wildlife? Rarely a problem. You might as well worry about visiting the US because of lyme disease and the bears in the woods.
Different foods? I would far rather eat Thai food than Macca's or KFC (actually, I would rather go hungry for a week than eat western fast food, but you get the idea).
The bottom line: different does not equal worse. If you think it does, you need to get out more.

:namaste:
Kim
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DooDoot
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Re: What is wrong with Thai tropical climat ?

Post by DooDoot »

dharmacorps wrote: Wed Feb 14, 2018 6:46 pm Some examples based on what I have heard:

Heat, humidity, mosquitos that carry malaria, water bourne illnesses/diarrhea, food bourne illnesses, different foods than one is used to, remoteness of modern medical care, lack of modern toilets, wild animals (insects like ants and millipedes that bite), wild dogs, tigers, elephants, every kind of snake imaginable. Living conditions are shacks or huts.

Add to that the poverty of the people in these regions. Largely they don't speak any English. Not an easy situation for any westerner used to different conditions, even with the Thai people being incredibly caring and supportive, its sounds very challenging.
Most of the above sounds the opposite of Thailand. Have you ever visited Thailand? At least in Southern Thailand, with two rainy seasons, the climate is wonderful, which is why many Westerners live there in Koh Samui, Krabi & Phukhet. No malaria (except near national borders); very clean food & water, including tank water; very modern medical care; healthy squat toilets; more modern toilets have hygienic high pressure water hoses instead of toilet paper; lack of poverty (except in the Lao North East) & natural abundance; easy communication. But, yes, snakes, such as Malaysian Pit Viper, Cobra & Banded Crate. When I visited hospital, including in Bangkok, I was not charged any money:
Thailand has had "a long and successful history of health development," according to the World Health Organization. Life expectancy is averaged at seventy years and a system providing universal health care for Thai nationals has been established since 2002. Health and medical care is overseen by the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), along with several other non-ministerial government agencies, with total national expenditures on health amounting to 4.3 percent of GDP in 2009.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_in_Thailand
Last edited by DooDoot on Thu Feb 15, 2018 1:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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No_Mind
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Re: What is wrong with Thai tropical climat ?

Post by No_Mind »

Among those opining to have visited Thailand and felt the climate was like Switzerland (this thread and another one) .. did they do so at 35 C/ 95 F and 90% Humidity .. it is beyond 130 F "realfeel" ..

Just asking .. because I honestly doubt some in this thread are telling the truth.

Image

Tomorrow in mid Feb Bangkok weather is predicted as "realfeel" 40 C/104 F .. think of mid April to Oct

https://www.accuweather.com/en/th/bangk ... ast/318849

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Re: What is wrong with Thai tropical climat ?

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No_Mind wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 1:02 am Among those opining to have visited Thailand and felt the climate was like Switzerland ..
I can't actually see anyone on this thread saying that. Is my eyesight faultier than I thought?
... did they do so at 35 C/ 95 F and 90% Humidity .. it is beyond 130 F "realfeel" ..

Just asking .. because I honestly doubt some in this thread are telling the truth.

Image

Tomorrow in mid Feb Bangkok weather is predicted as "realfeel" 40 C/104 F .. think of mid April to Oct

https://www.accuweather.com/en/th/bangk ... ast/318849

:namaste:
Thanks for chart. Yes, it's the combination of heat and humidity that gets uncomfortable. Then again, most of us wouldn't like to be outdoors in Canadian winter weather, either.

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No_Mind
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Re: What is wrong with Thai tropical climat ?

Post by No_Mind »

Kim OHara wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 1:38 am
No_Mind wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 1:02 am Among those opining to have visited Thailand and felt the climate was like Switzerland ..
I can't actually see anyone on this thread saying that. Is my eyesight faultier than I thought?
It was a mix of this and another thread. Both were discussing almost same thing and I got mixed up at first.

After discussion of Thai weather there .. this one popped up. That is why I put in a disclaimer in parenthesis later on.

Since I made that error (mix up of threads) might as well post from the original thread here.
DooDoot wrote: Wed Feb 14, 2018 6:12 am
No_Mind wrote: Wed Feb 14, 2018 5:54 amHow hard is the change from USA/Europe/Australia to Thailand .. the shock of a new culture, new food, extreme hot and humid temperature?
When I lived in Thailand, I would walk down long village roads in the middle of the day & the villagers thought I was crazy but the heat in Thailand is not as bad as in Australia. In Australia the heat burns & the humidity is worse. As I type in Australia, it is 4pm, 32 degrees Celsius and 63% humidity. In Bangkok, it is 1pm, 32 degrees and 40% humidity. :roll:

Canberra 29 degrees. Sydney Airport 39.7 degrees. Brisbane 31 degrees. Cairns 32 degrees.

and
No_Mind wrote: Wed Feb 14, 2018 6:32 am
DooDoot wrote: Wed Feb 14, 2018 6:12 am
No_Mind wrote: Wed Feb 14, 2018 5:54 amHow hard is the change from USA/Europe/Australia to Thailand .. the shock of a new culture, new food, extreme hot and humid temperature?
When I lived in Thailand, I would walk down long village roads in the middle of the day & the villagers thought I was crazy but the heat in Thailand is not as bad as in Australia. In Australia the heat burns & the humidity is worse. As I type in Australia, it is 4pm, 32 degrees Celsius and 63% humidity. In Bangkok, it is 1pm, 32 degrees and 40% humidity. :roll:
Yeah and just wait till April-end to October .. and compare notes then .. from here (Calcutta) to Singapore we clock 90% humidity and upper 30s low 40s

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Last edited by No_Mind on Thu Feb 15, 2018 1:57 am, edited 4 times in total.
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Re: What is wrong with Thai tropical climat ?

Post by No_Mind »

Kim OHara wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 1:38 am
Thanks for chart. Yes, it's the combination of heat and humidity that gets uncomfortable. Then again, most of us wouldn't like to be outdoors in Canadian winter weather, either.

:namaste:
Kim
One correction (I know you are from Australia and suffer hot weather too so it might be preaching to the choir)

Unlike cold, heat and humidity follows one indoors. One just needs a few lumps of coal or few pieces of wood to change -13°C to 15 but it takes an airconditioner (quite recent and expensive invention) to change hot and humid weather back to bearable 22°C

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Re: What is wrong with Thai tropical climat ?

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No_Mind wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 1:47 am it takes an airconditioner (quite recent and expensive invention) to change hot and humid weather back to bearable 22°C...
We are tree huggers & don't use airconditioners because we are interested in Dhamma rather than Western materialism.

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Re: What is wrong with Thai tropical climat ?

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If you see a snake in the wild, consider yourself lucky - and don't even dream of seeing elephants and tigers. The worst thing in the jungle are leeches which are harmless but are just yucky and gives you an itchy bite.
Millipedes don't bite, but centipedes and scorpions do. But only if you mess around with rotting logs, leaves and tree bark on the jungle floor
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Re: What is wrong with Thai tropical climat ?

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Nwad wrote: Wed Feb 14, 2018 5:52 pm Hello dear friends,

Many people say that Thai climat is to hard to western monks, but what is so difficult in it actualy? What make is to hard to live in ? :thinking:
(i have never been in any tropical climat country)

:anjali:
Let me describe .. temperature in region between Calcutta and Singapore (you could in fact walk from the former to the latter if you follow the shore of Bay of Bengal)

At night temp is 26 C/79 F and in daytime between 37 C/99 F and 40 C/104 F .. that does not sound really bad .. until you factor in humidity.

At night (or early morning) humidity is 90% and reaches 95% after rainfall and during midday dips to 76%

Use the chart .. 79 F and 90% humidity is 86 F realfeel and 99 F and 76% humidity is 134 F + realfeel .. mostly the red area because human body cannot stand it .. so 85 F - 135 F temp range for 7 months of the year Apr - Oct

Net effect .. when you wake up in morning the whole bed is wet because you have sweated through the night .. if you are outside after 8 AM .. your shirt and trousers are wet with sweat.

You use up to 5 handkerchiefs a day.

I take 4 - 5 cooling baths daily.

Which is why most peasants in this region wear this [a bare bodied Bangladeshi farmer wearing gamcha on top (handloom towel) to constantly wipe sweat and lungi below]


Image


:namaste:
Last edited by No_Mind on Thu Feb 15, 2018 5:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What is wrong with Thai tropical climat ?

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Meanwhile in western Queensland ...
South-east Queenslanders might be cranking up the air-conditioners for one of the hottest February weeks on record, but Mount Isa road worker Christopher Petersen reckons those people are a "pack of sooks".

Mr Petersen, a traffic controller in the state's north-west, said he felt pretty comfortable this week, despite the severe to extreme heatwave.

It hit 42 degrees Celsius in Mount Isa yesterday and is forecast to hit that mark again today.

"It's great here ... I'm not even sweating, I think you're a pack of sooks if you're whinging about 36," Mr Petersen said.

"When it gets hot it's about 48 ... yeah, that's hot. ...
[ 36C = 97 F, 48C = 118 F ]
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-15/t ... ld/9448154

:tongue:
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Last edited by Kim OHara on Thu Feb 15, 2018 5:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What is wrong with Thai tropical climat ?

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Kim OHara wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 5:34 am Meanwhile in western Queensland ...
South-east Queenslanders might be cranking up the air-conditioners for one of the hottest February weeks on record, but Mount Isa road worker Christopher Petersen reckons those people are a "pack of sooks".

Mr Petersen, a traffic controller in the state's north-west, said he felt pretty comfortable this week, despite the severe to extreme heatwave.

It hit 42 degrees Celsius in Mount Isa yesterday and is forecast to hit that mark again today.

"It's great here ... I'm not even sweating, I think you're a pack of sooks if you're whinging about 36," Mr Petersen said.

"When it gets hot it's about 48 ... yeah, that's hot. ...
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-15/t ... ld/9448154

:tongue:
Kim
If he is comfortable working outside at 42 C he clearly should audition for Stan Lee's Superhumans or wait maybe that is Doodoot .. Doodoot is that you in the picture?

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Re: What is wrong with Thai tropical climat ?

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No_Mind wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 5:35 am If he is comfortable working outside at 42 C he clearly should audition for Stan Lee's Superhumans or wait maybe that is Doodoot .. Doodoot is that you in the picture?

:namaste:
Mount Isa is dry country - very low humidity - which helps.
And country people have always stretched the truth a bit when it gave them a chance to talk down to city people. :tongue: (Not that the temperatures were exaggerated, but he might not have been quite as comfortable as he said he was.)
But yeah ...

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