The city of Chanthaburi where I live is about a 30-minute drive away from the Gulf of Thailand. It is a very tropical environment. The temperature is very consistent throughout the year ranging between 75 and 90 degrees every day. Chanthaburi is very hot! If the temperature drops or rises by a few degrees, people notice it quickly. Personally, I don’t really notice it. I just think it's always hot outside!
In Chanthaburi and most of Thailand, they don’t have four seasons like we do back in the U.S. Instead, they have three: cool and dry season (December–Feburary), hot season (March–May) and rainy/monsoon season (June–November). Right now, we are at the end of the rainy season. Everything is very lush and green from the rain. It is very beautiful!
The sun sets around 6 pm here. I recently noticed a culture shock for me and my body is the relationship between temperature and sunset time. Growing up in Minnesota, if the temperature was ever as hot as it is here, that means it's summertime and the sun sets closer to 8:30 or 9 pm. I’m used to equating warm temperatures to long sunny days. So, every time I see the sunset at 6 pm here, I’m still surprised it's not later.
