Lest I be accused of "false advertising" in encouraging people to visit or even move to Chiang Mai, let me remind that
T. S. Eliot said:
April is the cruelest month . . .
No, Mr. Eliot was not alluding to IRS deadlines; he was referring to Thailand's high temperatures.
I enjoy walking through some of Chiang Mai's intriguing neighborhoods with their varieties of book stores, coffee shops, smoothie bars, wacky foreigners, etc. But that is not an option in April, the cruelest month.
The NOAA website reports historical weather information from all around the world, including weather reports from the Chiang Mai International Airport beginning in 1973. There have been only seven days in those 50+ years where the mercury here went above 107°F but two of those seven days happened this year, just now on April 22 and 24. The hottest year was 2016; it also had two days above 107°F -- both of those were in May, and we haven't even gotten to May 2024 yet! (2019 and 2023 were also unusually hot, but neither ever got above 107°F.)
Many of those who can leave the city for the seashore in April do so, but I'm lazy to travel so just brave it out here, spending about 23 hours per day in air conditioning. I suppose it's cooler here than my old home in rural central Thailand where it reached 108°F two days ago, and had 42 days above 106°F in 2016.
Once upon a time most Americans would find these numbers frightful. Not any more though, with Phoenix, Arizona having Fifty-seven days above 111°F in 2023!
March and April are also the height of smoke season here, but most days have been much less smoky than we had last year.
