The Rains

At last we are getting some fairly regular rain.  It blocks the sun and cools the air a bit, although the steamy damp is always with us.  Our high temperatures look to be in the mid-90s rather than 100*F (for now), and the lows in the lower-80s.  I’ve had to change my night sleep-time routines, by covering my bare legs with a blanket – although leaving my feet exposed lest that be too hot. 

We always have fans blowing on us at night, all year, mostly to keep mosquitoes from preying upon us.  Even in the hottest times of year, I cover my neck and throat because Tuk often turns on a powerful fan unexpectedly during the night.  I often wear a very light-weight wicking turtleneck and shorts at these times.  Tonight, I will break out my long pajama pants once again instead of the blanket.  I haven’t worn socks in years.  I have started turning off our (weak) a/c after midnight. 

Mosquitoes in this Rainy season pose the most danger of Dengue Fever, which regularly kills more Thais every year than has the Covid-19 virus so far.  The mosquitoes carrying this disease prey upon you mostly at twilight, throughout the night, at dawn and early morning, but even throughout the daytime.  We burn mosquito coils at doorways most nights of the year. 

(Hint:  the best way to burn mosquito coils is in steel bowls that have lids; this safely contains the burning coils, and you can put the lid on to extinguish the coil and save it for another time; get a lidded steel bowl about six or seven inches in diameter.) 

Malaria is no longer a problem in most of Thailand, only up in Kanchanaburi province on the Burmese border near Three Pagoda Pass where the WW2 Death Railway was – the Bridge over the River Kwai.  But Dengue is the malady to watch out for elsewhere here.  

-Zenwind. 

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