Thailand heat stroke deaths at 30

Only 37 people died of heat stroke in Thailand in 2023

Thai authorities warned people about the scorching hot weather on Thursday as the government said heat stroke has already killed at least 30 people this year.

Temperature forecast for Bangkok on Thursday was 40.1 degrees Celsius with the heat index expected to rise to above 52 degrees Celsius.

The heat index — a measure of what the temperature feels like taking into account humidity, wind speed and other factors — was at an “extremely dangerous” level in Bangkok, the city’s environment department warned.

The kingdom has sweltered through a heatwave this week, with a temperature of 44.2 C recorded in the northern province of Lampang on Monday — just shy of the all-time national record of 44.6 C hit last year.

Across the border in Myanmar, the temperature reached a blazing 45.9 C on Wednesday, with more of the same expected Thursday.

The health ministry said late Wednesday that 30 people had died from heatstroke between 1 January and 17 April, compared with 37 in the whole of 2023.

Direk Khampaen, deputy director-general of Thailand’s Department of Disease Control, told Agence France-Presse that officials were urging elderly people and those with underlying medical conditions including obesity to stay indoors and drink water regularly.