Beat the Heat
In this monthâs group article, some of our writers share tips and tricks to stay cool in April.
Sam Vansomphone, 137 TESS
Before coming to Thailand, my friends and family constantly told me about how hot the weather would be. It was the number one thing that everyone in my life was worried about, except for me. Mistakenly, I thought I was prepared to deal with the weather. Iâm from the desert; I grew up spending hours outside in 100-something-degree heat. How much hotter could it be in Thailand? My misconceptions only grew as I spent time traveling around Southeast Asia. I thought I was getting accustomed to the humid air. Sure it was hot, but nothing I couldnât handle. And so I sat patiently waiting for April to come around, believing that it would be easy to deal with.
I was wrong⊠I was so wrong. With all my time spent in the heat, there was one thing I took for granted: air conditioning. Whether it be a sunny summer day back home or a hot afternoon out exploring Thailand, I was always able to retreat to the comfort of AC when I needed to. Having lost that means of escape, I needed to find another way to cool down.
My favorite trick for handling the heat is to focus on my extremities. You can use an ice pack, a cold bottle of water, or even a handheld fan. You just need something that will keep your hands and feet cool. If you are curious about the science behind this tip, itâs actually pretty simple. Weâalongside many other animalsâhave specialized blood vessels that help dissipate heat across a few areas of our body, including our palms and the soles of our feet. By cooling these areas, you can lower the âthermal sensationâ your body experiences. And for any readers not in Thailand, the opposite is also true. If youâre feeling really cold, warming up your palms and soles will help your body feel warmer.
This is not a fix-all solution, this doesnât actually help bring down your core temperature, and you still need to keep well-hydrated. However, this is a fantastic trick to make you feel a lot more comfortable and it has become my go-to method for surviving the hot weather these last few weeks.
Gretchen Evans, 136 YinD
During my first three months at site, I biked around my community⊠a lot. I was out in the sun during peak UV Index hours, getting stared at with looks of disbelief. Why was the farang not concerned about a suntan?
Well, I shouldâve been more concerned about this little thing called a heat rash.
My first few months in rural Thailand consisted of numerous encounters with wildlife, bugs, and a lifestyle my suburban upbringing had not prepared me for; because of this, Peace Corps Medical Office (PCMO) and I were best friends. Peculiar bug bite? àžàčàžàžàčàžȘàž”àžą (tong sia) four days in a row? Swimmerâs ear from Songkran? Dr. Wei was on speed dial.
I was biking one hot afternoon and felt a sudden burning and itching sensation on my arms. Was it hives? Allergies? I took my photographic evidence and emailed PCMO.
Turns out it was heat rash. Iâve never experienced this ailment before! While most unfortunate, I was more relieved that I wasnât allergic to my new home (555). Since biking was my new method of escape and community exploration, I had to figure out a rash-ional solution to my irritated skin.
Enter, Snake Brand Prickly Heat Cooling Powder (NOT an ad, I promise). Almost every 7/11 and convenience store has this in stock. It is my ultimate, Thai summer skincare godsend. Not only do I enjoy the cooling sensation, but this stuff works. My rash went away and I discovered a powder perfect for everyday use. Whether you use it yourself or see it caked on the faces of your community members, this little metal tin is here to help beat the heat.
Madi Keto, 137 YinD
April Fatigue
Do not respond to it in the ways it might tempt you to.
Saturdays are for doing laundryâ a routine given to me by my host mom. There is a rhythm to it: the hanging and reaching for plastic pastel clothespins, the clamping of their jaws over pants under the heavy heat. In this way, my weekend starts slow, my mind wistfully at ease in the calm, repetitive movement. By the time I free the basket from my last damp T-shirt, the first one Iâve hung on the line is already dry, and the shirt Iâm wearingâ damp, sweat-ridden, and ready to be washed.
The heat really is that unforgiving, but the way the weather threatens to shape my pace and habits has been the real battle.
There is a rich novelty in all the empty downtime we have before school begins. No real responsibilities demand our attention, only the calm of lying face down on a mattress, one foot dangling just above a cool tile floor, and a fan oscillating about in its nook. April has brought me into sweet midday sleep as the heat presses down.
The temptation for rest, thick like the humidity, is something Iâve been willingly giving in to each afternoon. Heat has a way of bringing about a fever dreamâfloods of nostalgia and fragments of memory, all hazy and shimmering under its weight. The all-consuming nature of our experiences as volunteers makes these quiet imaginings that much more surreal.
Sleep and alone time are neededâeven cravedâby PCVs with more demanding social communities than my own, but even still, the April fatigue has a strong grip on me and depletes my spiritâif I let it.
On my bike ride home last week, I told myself: âDo not respond to the heat in the ways it might tempt you to.â Knowing that, all too soon, I could park my bike, trudge up the stairs, and silently disappear into my dream state if I left myself unguarded to the will of Thailand's April sun.
While âdeskwarmingâ at the Tessaban in the oh-so-crisp air conditioning, I crafted my battle plan. I convinced myself that maybe a free sauna is just what I needâat least during the hours that it is most bearableâand came up with this:
5 a.m. morning runs, late-night stretching or yoga, and evening walks.
In the evenings, I know that there is just enough wind outside to pull me past my host familyâwho can always be found burrowed deep within the brown cloth couch, under the trance of iPads, iPhones, and YouTube edits running on the TV.
The heat brings about this retreat and in its forced exhaustion, snuffs out motivation, movement, intention, and adventure. Everything halts in my community for the weather, and it is that kind of hibernation I desperately want to fight against.
I must BEAT THIS HEAT.
Getting a bit of movement now in the mornings keeps me cool and feeling connected. Itâs tough being dropped into a new environment all wobbly and unclear, lacking a defined purposeâand all that in the scorching heat! Itâs the April blues of being constantly exhausted, of everyone wanting to stay inside, that this new routine has saved me from.
I now set my alarm each night for 4:45 a.m., excited in knowing that outdoor movement and the quiet of dawn will soon be mine to experience before the Sun can have its way with me.
I recently read a post on Substack that said, âNew environments give you new defaults, new pace, new habits, new personality, new valuesâall absorbed through proximity instead of effort.â
Each place I have lived has carried its own personality, its own routine, scenery, and shape. The places and all the memories they hold, whisper reminders, asking me to use them as reference points to size up my current experience. At night, when the thought of eventually rooting myself somewhere starts to creep in, I flip through the different versions of myself in each place, and wonder what to choose for myself next. I have no plan for where I might end up, but it's true that your environment has a significant influence on your perspective and way of being.
Still, even if Thailand sits closer to the equator, bringing all this painful weather, I will always be convinced that there are ways to create and define your way of being, no matter where you are.
With a bit of effort (or a lot), this girl will be carrying on with her 5 a.m. mornings. It just took me a bit of time to find my reprieveâa routine that excited me enough to stay awake in this heat.
Reprieves you can buy while youâre finding your own:
In an attempt to be quirky, here are my catchy 3 rep-Ps (reprieves if you will, but all starting with a P)
Prickly Heat
Essentially baby powder BUT donât knock it. I wouldnât have bought this, or even noticed it on the shelves of 7/11 on my own, but it was gifted to me by my Ajaan during Pre Service Training (PST and has since become a ritual I look forward to every night. The powder is cooling on the skin, similar to Vicks, and packed with eucalyptus essential oils. I lethargically plop down cross-legged on my yoga mat and dust it along my arms before stretching and then crawling into bed. Itâs honestly such an easy way to care for yourself, and I swear I sleep better and sweat less at night.
pHPlus x Pomegranate C-Vitt
A very random concoction I cooked up when I felt severely dehydratedâand honestly, it just kinda goes. It could also be placebo, wishful thinking, or what have you, but I think all the vitamins packed into this thing help improve my mood and my skin in this heat.
Plangos (ideally frozen!!)
Seasonal fruit is something I really, really want to experience firsthand during my service. I want to know how and when the mangoes change, what month each fruit is grown, and when theyâre ripe. I want to know about every single phonlamai (fruit) and especially learn how to grow and care for plangos (mayongchit)!
Theyâre an insanely addictive cross between a plum and a mangoâaka a Plango (haha ya feel ya feel). I could seriously eat these all day, and with syrup poured over and frozen in the tu yen (fridge/freezer?), these things are the only pick-me-up youâll ever need.
Thatâs my group article wrap,
Madi
Tal Carmel, 136 YinD
Oh, April.
Around the world, you are considered an optimally temperate month â in Thailand you are anything but.
The seasons here range from hot, to hotter, to hottestâApril being the âgold standardâ for the latter. Everyday temps are in the triple digits, bringing my electricity bill up with them. So, what does one do when stepping outside equates to empathising with a cooked lobster?
As a lucky volunteer with an AC unit in her bedroom, the temptation to stay exactly there is great. However, my desire to not completely waste away as a human is slightly greater, leaving me with only 1-2 other options, neither perfect, and both requiring me to exert energyâ a hot commodity in this heat.
In other words: bike somewhere.
Not my most favorite thing to doânot with a backpack and UV alerts telling me to stay indoorsâ but hey, it is what it is. So, I muster up every ounce of determination I have, I lather on the SPF (a necessity), take a suffocating-in-this-heat deep breath, and push off.
But, where do I go?
Great question.
There are exactly two cafes in my community with AC and within a reasonable (4km each way) distance. I go to one of them. I bike as early as possible to beat the heat, then I stay put till closing. Call it survival or call it integration, but when the temps are this high and my budgeting and cabin fever wonât let me stay in my bedroom running the AC two days in a row, a galâs gotta do what a galâs gotta do.
In Thailand, the only things April âshowersâ bring are heightened electric bills and a desire to bed rot. No thank you; Iâd rather have my iced Americano and social interaction.
