Bad Weather

A few nights back we bumped into an English couple during happy hour at the Robin Hood (think Salmon Leap where a pint of Tiger sells for just over a pound between 4 and 7). They had been following Sky News and regaled us with the appalling weather conditions “back home”. Now, at this point, we would have sorrowfully shook our heads in mock sympathy and turned the conversation to how wonderfully warm Bangkok is this time of year in the gloating tones that ex-pats always adopt in such circumstances. Except that the weather is pretty weird over here, too. For the previous few days the atmosphere has been so thick that your t-shirt clings like a soggy second skin within minutes of leaving the sanctuary of the air conditioning. This culminated in the night before last in an outstanding thunderstorm leaving the roads surrounding the apartment block knee deep in water and brought the Bangkok traffic to a standstill (not that the Bangkok traffic needs that sort of excuse during rush hour). Wading through it to get to the bar is an unpleasant affair as the water is not entirely liquid, if you get my drift. The locals say that this particular storm beats any of the rain they usually get in the summer months. So, having declared “Sod the Planet!” in the earlier post I now have to reconsider my personal responsibility for my gratuitous carbon footprint. Sorry Thailand. Sorry England. Sorry Canada. Mea Culpa. Mea Culpa. Mea Maxima Culpa.