The unusually long cold period in the North, North and Central Plains has killed 63 people in the past three months. With 15,6 degrees, Wednesday night in Bangkok was the coldest in 30 years.
The lowest temperature was measured yesterday on the mountain peak in Phue Ruea National Park (Loei). The mercury did not rise above -4 degrees and the ground was covered with frost for the seventh time this winter. Ground frost also occurred in the Na Haeo district, also in Loei, for the first time in thirty years. The ground frost was spread over a distance of 3 kilometers.
Other places in the North also experienced ground frost, including the top of Doi Inthanon in Chiang Mai (-4 degrees). According to Smith Dharmasaroja, former director general of the Meteorological Department, it would have almost snowed in mountainous areas.
Most of the fatalities were men; 59 were Thai and three further died from Cambodia, Laos and England. The nationality of one is unknown. Most casualties were in Chiang Rai (6), followed by Sa Keao and Nakhon Ratchasima in the Northeast with five each. 45 counties with more than 25 million residents have been declared cold spell disaster zone: 17 in the North, 20 in the Northeast, 7 in the Central Plains, and 1 in the East.
Extra setback for rice farmers
The cold also affects the rice harvest. The new rice crop is of poor quality because the rice has blossomed too quickly, said Vichai Sripaset, honorary president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association. "When the temperature is low, fertilization is poor and you get a lot of empty rice husks."
That is an extra setback for the farmers, who are already having such a hard time because many still have not had money for their surrendered rice. More than two hundred farmers blocked the Asian Highway in Kamphaeng Phet yesterday with tractors and motorcycles.
Surachet Siniang, president of the provincial rice farmer's club, says 40.000 farmers are still waiting for their money. It is a total of 10 billion baht. They have not yet had a clear answer from the government when they will be paid.
Other blockages:
- Ratchaburi: 500 farmers are blocking the Want Manao crossing today.
- Sing Buri: blockade of the Asian Highway by 300 farmers from Sing Buri, Lop Buri, Suphan Buri and Ang Thong.
- Phitsanulok: 500 farmers block the Indo-China crossing. They demand 6 billion baht, to be paid before January 31, otherwise the protests will be increased. The farmers are considering joining the protest in Bangkok.
According to Prapat Panyachartraksa, chairman of the National Farmers Council, the farmers will receive their money within three weeks. He received this assurance by telephone from Minister Niwatthamrong Bunsongpaisan (Trade).
Meanwhile, the National Anti-Corruption Commission is looking into Prime Minister Yingluck's role as chairman of the National Rice Policy Committee. The result of the investigation is not expected before February 2, the date of the elections. The NACC is investigating allegations of corruption in the rice mortgage system. She has already decided to prosecute 15 people.
For background information about the payment problems, see: Government desperate for money for angry farmers.
(Source: bangkok mail, January 24, 2014)
According to Prapat Panyachartraksa, chairman of the National Farmers Council, the farmers will receive their money within three weeks. He received this assurance by telephone from Minister Niwatthamrong Bunsongpaisan (Trade).
This is real election fraud.
If you dear rice farmers vote for us, you will really get paid.
TIT
It's cold here too, it's been for months. Temperatures from 5 to 9 degrees, sometimes slightly above. Fortunately, we have an inverter, an electric heater is no longer sufficient.
When I tell Dutch friends that, the answer is almost always, Well, that's not too bad. I don't think they take into account that they have central heating there.
It's only nice around 12 o'clock. Around 10 o'clock I'm already outside in the sun, warming up a bit.
It's good for love. with the cold you lie nice and close together. Just like the dogs will say.
Hi John Dekker,
I've been trying to get in touch with you through various ways, but it hasn't worked yet.
I would like to ask you something about Child Benefit / Residence Principle, which you posted about earlier.
Can you contact me at [email protected] or possibly pass on your mailers?
thank you in advance
Henk
Yes, I have never experienced that we have such low temperatures and such a long period of time here. Normally that is only a week or 2 and then still around 17 degrees minimum at night. For Korat it was barely 12 degrees last night and the mercury doesn't climb higher than 25 degrees in our living room, where it should normally be more than 30 during the day this time of year. Good thing we brought winter blankets and clothes when we came to live in Thailand. Never thought we'd ever really be able to use it here. We brought a small fan with a heater in from Belgium and we can now use it here in the bedroom. We used to have them to keep the frost out of the garage. People who are here on leave from our home country find it comfortable temperatures. I'm getting one cold after another with the weather we're having right now.
In Udonthani it is 17 degrees at night and the Dutch people who complain that it is cold here are a joke. Our house is built with a double cavity wall, it keeps the cold out and when it gets warmer it will keep the sun and heat out. For the real cold Tomorrow we will have a small keg with a gas burner at the bottom and a pipe leading outside through the window. There is a solution for everything, but complaining about only 17 degrees at night is really Dutch, right?
And you really don't get a cold from temperatures that are too low, otherwise the Eskimos would all be dead by now, right. My doctor always said that you get colds and flu through a bacterium that travels through the air and you get it from people around you who have already received it from others, has nothing to do with temperature or cold environment.
Everyone in my neighborhood (Chiangmai) looked very pitying 5 years ago when I had a fireplace installed in my house. Now those pitying looks have turned into slightly jealous looks. It can be! And an old Dutch saying says "better along than shy". And that is true this year/season like a bus. And the required wood is therefore no problem here.
My fireplace has been burning almost daily since mid-December.
The lowest temperatures here in Khon Kaen (town) was around 9C at the end of December.
We currently have nighttime temperatures of around 11C – 15C.
Never experienced this before here in Khon Kaen where I have been living for about 17 years now.