BANGKOK: In Bangkok’s central Siam Square, Suriyan Wongwan sweats while he waits to collect the food that he will deliver by motorbike as Thailand bakes through a heatwave.
“I’m afraid of getting heatstroke,” the 51-year-old told AFP as the mercury hit 37 degrees Celsius, with humidity pushing the “real feel” to a sticky 43 degrees Celsius.
Large swathes of Southeast Asia are struggling through a heatwave that has broken temperature records and forced millions of children to stay home as schools close across the region.
Experts say climate change makes heatwaves more frequent, longer and more intense, while the El Nino phenomenon is also driving this year’s exceptionally warm weather.
Among those hit hardest are workers whose jobs require them to be outdoors all day, such as the motorbike drivers who deliver food and offer taxi rides through Bangkok’s traffic-choked streets.
“My self-protection is to drink more water, so I can carry myself and not pass out,” Suriyan said.
“In hot weather like this, I drink whenever I park my bike.”
The air-conditioned malls from where he collects his deliveries offer some respite, but he also worries the rapid change in temperature risks making him sick.
