2 days before the end of the year, cool season in Thailand. Cool Season. Cool as in 91 degrees today. The heat in Bangkok is stunning and to be respected. It commands respect from the moment you first encounter it each day. Some days it becomes a joke, it is so stifling in terms of the intensity of the sun, the ability of the humidity to surround and swallow you and the speed with which it engulfs you.

You feel it as you walk through an air-conditioned lobby toward large glass windows or doors- it grows as you approach, 3-4 degrees with each step.

Cool season means lack of humidity, some wind and the sun isn’t as intense. It does not mean that farangs will not sweat. It means we sweat significantly less than during hot season. But, don’t be fooled by the cool weather, the heat is coming, today is a little reminder and taste of future days.

My favorite part of cool season is seeing Thai people- who are immune to the heat and many of which live without air conditioning- wear coats, scarves and even the occasional sweater. Most Thais have never felt a non-air conditioned temperature under 70 degrees.

Me? I lived in San Francisco for 15 years, I rarely felt a temperature over 70 degrees. The heat and I will have a unique, uncomfortable relationship.