Bangkok, May 10 (EFE).- At least 61 people have died so far this year from conditions linked to heat stroke in Thailand, almost double that of all of 2023, the health ministry said Friday, as the country has recorded record temperatures in April and early May.

A Chinese tourist dressed in Thai traditional rented costume drinks water during hot weather at the Temple of Dawn or Wat Arun in Bangkok, Thailand, 06 May 2024. EFE-EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT/FILE

Authorities said the risk of heat stroke continues despite the rain and the drop in temperatures in recent days, adding this year’s death toll contrasts with the 37 deaths recorded countrywide in 2023.

A Chinese tourist uses a handheld electric fan to cool from the heat amid hot weather at the Temple of Dawn, or Wat Arun, in Bangkok, Thailand, 06 May 2024. EFE-EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT/FILE

The ministry, which recorded 200 accumulated deaths between 2018 and this May, does not, however, break down the number of deaths this year by month, so it is unknown how many people died during the latest heat wave.

For much of April and early this month, Thailand has seen high temperatures, reaching 44.2C in the central province of Lampang – close to the 44.6C recorded as the all-time high. In Bangkok, temperatures approached 40C for days.

By region, the ministry said 33 of the deaths occurred in the rural northeastern region, 13 in the central region and 10 in the north.

Most of the victims were middle-aged or elderly men, many of them agricultural workers or workers in the construction sector, the source said.

Heat stroke occurs when body temperature rises rapidly and struggles to cool down. This can be life-threatening by causing damage to the brain and other vital organs.

The unusually strong heat wave also hit other countries in South and Southeast Asia between April and May, such as Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

The United Nations and the Red Cross said in a joint October report that heat waves would be more frequent, intense and deadly in the future due to the climate crisis, and could even “exceed human, psychological and social limits” in regions such as the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and South Asia. EFE

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