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What to expect in SEPTEMBER 2004

Statistics

	Average temperature 26.5 C Average rainfall 236.6 mm Cloud cover 7.7/10 Humidity 81 % Rainy days 17.3 Sunshine 175 hrs.

We’re now in the last month of the monsoon, on average September offering a few millimetres less precipitation than we get in August, the month of heaviest rainfall. Normally, we can expect the rains to tail off rapidly as from the end of the month, so that in mid-October the seasons suddenly switch round, one day the winds coming out of China rather than the southern oceans, the blissful cool season beginning. Apart from the odd and potentially violent storm as the autumn typhoons come in across the Northeast from Vietnam and the China Sea, that should be the end of the rains till round about March next year. Tough on the plants of the region, but good for the tourists - and for all those in tourism- related businesses.

Still, there’s this month to be got through, and we can expect heavy falls of rain, sometimes stretching over a couple of days, and lots of cloud cover even when it’s comparatively dry. There will also be sunny, hot and humid spells, but it’s as well to keep your folding umbrella handy if you’re in town, and some sort of waterproof clothing - ponchos etc - when you’re out in the sticks or up in the mountains.

It’s also the month and the weather for bugs of all sorts and sizes, so keep your insect repellent ready for use. We often get rather severe outbreaks of dengue/haemorrhagic fever affecting the whole country, with a number of fatalities. The papers have offered lots of figures for the rest of Thailand, but although it’s here for sure, usually stay mum about Chiang Mai. You have to wonder why. There’s also been typhus in the city recently. Watch what you eat and drink carefully. When in doubt, don’t! Out in the boonies it’s as well to carry iron rations for the times reliable food is not available. Malaria - the potentially fatal falsiparum variety - is easily picked up in the hills and forests around the North, but can be treated effectively if caught early. You’re highly unlikely to catch it in town. Anyway, keep covered up against daytime mosquitoes carrying dengue, and avoid the dawn, dusk, overnight mozzies transmitting malaria by using repellent and sleeping screened or netted.

The other hazard to guard against comes from travel itself. On surfaced roads there are lots of serious holes and ruts, but down on the plain it’s mainly your fellow road-users you have to watch out for. Up in the hills, out in the country, on the other hand, unsurfaced tracks that provide great trail bike and off-road vehicle routes become very difficult indeed during this and early next month. If you’re doing anything without hired vehicles and guides, get good advice first about viability.