On April 15, the northern province of Tak reported the highest temperature ever recorded in Thailand since records began, with daytime temperatures peaking at 45.4C. While almost a month has passed since and Thailand is entering the wet season, the extreme heat shows no signs of abating.
In fact, after the brief respite offered by summer storms which doused the kingdom a few days after this year's Songkran festival, average temperatures across many regions remain at an all-time high -- putting pressure not just on the country's power grid, but also its citizens, many of whom have never seen the mercury rise above 45C in their lifetime.
Prior to this year, Mae Hong Son in the upper North held the record for the hottest day ever seen in Thailand, when the mercury peaked at 44.6C back in 2016.
Thailand isn't the only nation struggling to cope under what experts have called a "monster heatwave", due to the wide area affected by the heat.
All across the Asia-Pacific region last month -- from Pakistan in the west to the Pacific Island of New Caledonia, east of Australia -- heat records were being smashed on a weekly basis. A study has even suggested that one in three people on earth are being adversely affected by the abnormal heat, which experts have said would linger for a couple more weeks.
India, for instance, was forced to ramp up electricity production at several plants which had been running at a reduced capacity due to weak demand, as millions of households across the country turned to their air conditioning units and refrigerators for relief. In India's southwestern state of Karnataka, the three main power plants are still in overdrive, as the extreme heat lingers across the state.
A little further north in China's Yunnan province, the temperature peaked at 42.9C -- but over 100 weather monitoring stations across the country reported record high temperatures. In Japan, while temperatures hovered at a relatively more comfortable range of 30–35C, the average temperature for the month of April has increased so much that Tokyo reported the earliest cherry blossoms in 1,200 years. Closer to home, many major cities also languished under the record heat, with Luang Prabang registering a peak of 42.7C while Sainyabouli sweltered under 42.9C heat.
Last week, schools were shuttered in Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines as temperatures remained above their April average, and teachers and parents expressed concern over the students' wellbeing. And just two weeks ago, the heat index in Bangkok reached 54C, prompting the government to advise everyone to remain indoors during the hottest part of the day.
Some would argue that El Nino is to blame for the extreme surge in temperatures across the region. However, one should remember that El Nino events are well documented, and never in the past have temperatures spiked to this extent before.
This goes to show that while El Nino is indeed partly to blame for the "monster heatwave", there are factors which are causing temperature variations during the period to be more pronounced than ever before. Chief among them is unchecked deforestation in the name of development.
Tackling climate change isn't easy because the of transboundary nature of the problem, so unless there is a commitment from all stakeholders to work together to solve the issue, the only thing an individual government can do is to treat the "symptoms".
But how long can the government force the closure of schools, issue a work-from-home order, or restrict outdoor activities? Unfortunately, as campaigning for the election enters the home stretch, no candidate has made inter-governmental cooperation to tackle the causes of global warming at its roots a priority.
Instead of vowing to tackle pollution at its source, most candidates, including those who proclaim themselves to be among the more progressive ones, are choosing to tout illogical pledges to put the economy into overdrive, with little regard to the cost of unchecked development on the economy.
This attitude needs to change, as the costs incurred due to heatwaves across the globe since 1990 have reached US$16 trillion (513 trillion baht) -- roughly the same as the economic damage brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.
This searing heat should have been a wake-up call for our politicians, but instead of acknowledging the problem, they stopped at offering temporary discounts on power bills, a sure fire way to secure voters' support that contributes nothing to Thailand's overall emissions level.
With those in power oblivious to the immediate problem, it is now time for Thais to realise the cost of climate inaction and voice their concerns to their local politicians, for the sake of our future generations.
