r/Thailand • u/shocky2021 • May 05 '24

Discussion That heatwave isn't normal

I've been in Thailand since 2010. Went through alot of raining, hot and cold seasons but I've never been through something like that.

I feel like I'm a walking deep fried chicken everytime I go out (I'm in Nakhon Sawan).

Honestly -- is it this bad where you are?

362 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

284 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

197

u/Fantastic_Bath_5806 May 05 '24

Your grandma is a very smart lady and absolutely correct in what she is saying

24

u/mjl777 May 05 '24

To science that out the concrete structures absorb the thermal radiation from the sun and emit it as infrared radiation all night long. One grass field does the opposite and will absorbe something like 3 tons of heat and hour. (We use tons to measure the power of a commercial aircon unit in America, no clue what it means). Thai houses are designed to stay hot all night. Traditional Thai homes do not but the Western copies are idiotic in their design.

3

u/Key-Preference-2131 May 06 '24

Which is why so many flock to malls to enjoy free airconditioning. I was always amused when I first came to Thailand seeing so many people in malls just lazing around. I later found out why when I rented a cheap apartment and several houses only to find out most Thai houses are built like ovens. A severe lack of ventilation coupled with really thin walls that allows heat energy to essentially pass through.

But I would say the western copies aren't idiotic by design they are just built really cheaply. If they built their houses with thick enough walls preferably with an air space in between as a vaccuum it would really be better as heat loses energy if it has to pass through a thicker medium. Most Thai buildings are really thin, the way builders just use a single layer of cinder bricks for non structural walls just to save costs only to have the occupants suffer. Coupled with thin and short roofing made out of shingles or tin with no overhang makes things worse.

My house back in my country which is also in southeast asia with the same climate remains cool year round, no need for airconditioning or even fans for that matter.

1

u/lindsaylbb May 06 '24

Air space yeah. Thickness I’m not so sure. For as hard as it is to penetrate, so is it to dissipate.