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What to expect in JUNE 2004

Statistics

	Average temperature 27.3 C Average rainfall 131.6 mm Cloud cover 8.1/10 Humidity 78 % Rainy days 16.9 Sunshine 180.7 hrs.

Well, as long as we keep the local spirits happy, there’s nothing much to worry about - isn’t that right?

Sufficient rainfall, moderate temperatures (for the tropics), the occasional bit of stormy weather…all these taken care of by ceremonies staged around this time: the Bu Se Ya Se buffalo sacrifice up at Mae Hia, the Intakhin Festival at Wat Chedi Luang, and the City Rebirth Ceremony (piti tamboon sueb chada muang) at the significant municipal sites - not to mention the odd bit of spirit dancing in honour of Suwanna Khamdaeng on the road out to Doi Chiang Dao.

Mind you, once in a while things get out of hand where the spirits are concerned. Your weatherman remembers the row that occurred over what some people felt was an excess of condo-building some ten years back. The conservationists staged protest marches and organised a traditional cursing ceremony against the speculators and building constructors, all hell breaking loose immediately afterwards. Fires struck throughout the city, storms did a lot of damage to property, and Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep was damaged by an earth-tremor. Then, having blamed the conservationists for upsetting the spirits, the condo-builders themselves got into hot water, the very senior monk they’d asked to provide spiritual protection dying unexpectedly - the other side saying of course he’d been thrown into an occult conflict way above his level and paid the price with his life. All of which goes to show that unless you have civic harmony, you’re not going to get the weather you’re looking for - as above, so below, and vice versa. Things are quieter now, at any rate, so we ought to be getting more rain and lower temperatures than in the months just passed, the cloud cover building up as the heart of the monsoon season - July/August/September - approaches.

Though of course, whether the local spirits cope with world-wide weather changes remains to be seen. There’s been a significant drop in rainfall in Chiang Mai over the fifty years statistics have been kept here, quite possibly due to the loss of forest cover in SE Asia. Also, some people feel that storms have been becoming more violent in terms of sudden falls of rain and wind speeds, and altogether less predictable. Last year, furthermore, there was unseasonable and record-breaking rain at the end of the year, and the 2003-4 dry season has also been the driest on record. So if you can, join whichever of the ceremonies mentioned above are still current in June. Every little helps in these things. Oh, and don’t forget to take waterproofs and a change of clothes if you’re walking in the hills, and a folding umbrella wherever you are.