HOTTEST DAY FOR 47 YEARS

Tak province in northern Thailand yesterday recorded a temperature of 44 degrees Celsius - the hottest day in Thailand since 1960, according to The Nation.
Tak Weather Bureau chief Somsong Duanmai said the mercury had regularly gone past 40C in the northern province since the start of this month. He said people now tried to avoid going outdoors, except when they cooled down in rivers.
I genuinely thought Bangkok was in for a hurricane last night, although I've never really experienced one myself. The sky was clear when I walked from my office to the subway station, yet in 25 minutes the sky became as black as I have ever seen it, and the wind started blowing ferociously. From the relative safety of the taxi I could see big branches falling off trees and hawkers trying desperately to hold on to their canopy's.
Tanya told me this morning that her neighbours had lost part of their roof. It had blown right across Tanya's property and was presumed to have landed somewhere in the vacant land on the other side. The search was continuing when she left this morning.