Stay Chilled
They can barely tolerate the heat as much as a Westerner which is why you will see them glued to locations with air conditioning.
Before the spread of coolers it was common to see Television shop displays crowd the front window with a heavy crowd of working class people watching the TV, but really just passing the time of day in a cool air conditioned environment.
Bangkok can get particularly hot because of its dense urban environment. Many parts of Bangkok are wall to wall concrete jungles, mazes and warrens that soak up the punishing heat during the day and radiate that heat out at night long into the early hours.
Every other living environment is using air conditioning so any heat inside the buildings is expelled outside heating up the city even more.
Some people are sensitive to the heat and the following are a few tips to bear in mind.
Have You Tried Prickly Heat?
Talcum powder is locally formulated in Thailand to combat the heat. If in doubt just go for the “Prickly Heat” brand but there are many variants.
Try to get into the habit of showering twice a day to get the full benefits of Prickly Heat Talcum powder as it acts as a coolant in the morning when heading out to work and then at night it cools the body down just before heading to bed which actually acts as a sleeping aid, particularly if there’s no air conditioning and a fan is used instead.
Use Fans Not Air Conditioning
This takes a little effort because the temptation after a hot journey is to turn on the air con as quickly as possible, but actually getting used to normal fans is a much healthier way to keep cool.
Using fans conditions the body to constantly be either in the direction of the fan or not. This is a less steep temperature difference than stepping out of the air conditioning into the blasting heat.
The human body isn’t designed for these massive temperature changes and so they facilitate colds and illnesses. You may notice your Thai friends and colleagues are constantly battling a range of flues, colds and fevers.
Learning to sleep with just a fan is possibly the healthiest lifestyle decision a person can make when moving to Bangkok, though you can always turn on the air con for 15 minutes to chill a room down while you fall asleep.
Wear a Vest
This sounds like the kind of advice that Grandpa would recommend but it really does help to wear a vest, particularly if you perspire more than most, or are exposed to the outside heat for your daily commute or living.
The vest will soak up your hot perspiration and leave your outer garments looking dry.
We’ve seen the most stylish men and women burst into a flood of sweat in the heat and look like a damp squid all day for not wearing a vest.