Bangkok Post : General news
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/12Apr2008_news22.php

... According to the Meteorological Department, Thailand's annual mean maximum temperature has increased from 32.3C (90.14F) in the 1950s to 32.9C (91.22F) last year.

The department has forecast that during the Songkran week, between April 9-15, the highest recorded temperature will be 39C (102.2F).

The figure is considered moderate for many of us as we have experienced the 40-plus (104-plus F) degree heat several times in the past.

According to the department's records, Thailand's hottest day in the past 55 years stood at 44.5C (112.1F), which was measured on April 27, 1960 in Uttaradit province.

In the old days, people would bathe in the rivers or just relax at tai toon baan, an open space under a Thai-style house. But the most popular way for people to shield themselves from the heat these days is to go to shopping malls or simply turn on the air-conditioners at home.

Various other means also are being used to fight the heat.

If you walk along the banks of the Chao Phraya river or some of the cleaner klongs, you will find that children are still jumping into the waterways to escape from the scorching sun.

Many people may find the hot season an undesirable period, but instead of just complaining about the heat, we should use this torrid moment to think about our lifestyles — how we can adapt ourselves to the hotter weather in an environmentally-friendly manner like our ancestors have done and how we can help stop the world's temperatures from soaring.