As temperatures in Thailand top 50 degrees Celsius, power costs slashed to beat the heat

Humidity, wind and other factors recently pushed the heat index to a record of over 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in Thailand

Electricity demand in the country hit the highest level ever last week, regulators said, as households and businesses fired up their air conditioners

2-MIN READ2-MIN

A woman using an umbrella to shade herself from the sun walks past a street vendor selling cold drinks in Bangkok on Tuesday. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 3:03pm, 26 Apr 2023Updated: 3:09pm, 26 Apr 2023

Thailand’s government will cut power rates ahead of next month’s general election, in an effort to ease the plight of consumers and businesses grappling with sweltering temperatures.

April is traditionally hot in the Southeast Asian country, but it has been stifling for weeks this year, with temperatures earlier this month touching 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).

The combination of humidity, wind and other factors recently pushed the heat index to a record of over 50 degrees in parts of the country, including the tourist island of Phuket – an extra blow to a national economy already dented by suffocating haze keeping visitors away and making hundreds of thousands ill.

Air quality in the much-visited northern city of Chiang Mai, for instance, is still poor, with dangerous particles nearly 10 times above the World Health Organization’s guideline limit. In early April, with forest fires and burning crop stubble, it ranked as the world’s most polluted city.

An Air Asia plane descends towards an airport in Chiang Mai earlier this month, when it ranked as the world’s most polluted city. Photo: AFP

Record heat is also causing power bills to balloon, squeezing household incomes and pushing energy prices to the top of the electoral agenda. Electricity demand hit the highest level ever on Friday as households and businesses fired up air conditioners, the country’s energy regulator said on Monday.

“We are in the peak of summer season when power demand is normally at its high,” said Deputy Governor Prasertsak Cherngchawano of the state-owned power utility. “We expect demand to remain high this month through May.”