When flying from Bangkok to Southern Thailand you notice some changes immediately after leaving the airplane. The Thai capital is not exactly known for cool temperatures, but soon you learn the difference between hot and tropical hot. It is not the temperature itself though but the high humidity that makes the largest difference. Some of our electrical equipment actually could not cope with these conditions and I got some droplets of water in the back camera of my iPhone. Not because I went swimming with the device but solely coming from the extreme humidity.
Also there are tropical rain showers awaiting you, these are definitely different than rain in Europe. Of course it depends on the season; there are two basically, the raining season and the dry season. Although coming into the dry season it can occasionally rain as well. Mostly it happens in the evening when the high humidity rises up and discharges in the atmosphere, thus creating heavy (but fairly quick) rain showers and thunderstorms. Under these conditions the nature is very different then in tempered climate zones, but more diverse then you would think. Of course there is the jungle and exotic animals (picture 6), but also beautiful lagoons and even pine trees. Of course the endless blue sea dominates everything in Southern Thailand and the coast is fascinating itself with rough rock formations and bizarre little islands (pictures 1, 2, 5, 7). Also the tide is surprisingly strong, at some places uncovering the sea floor for many hours during the day (picture 3) and showingcasing a rich biotope of many different kinds of crabs and crustacean.
Michael Hoffman Photography 