ANALYSIS CLIMATE ACTION
WHAT THE WORLD CAN LEARN FROM
HEAT STRESS IN THAILAND
A new ADB report tracks the effects of extreme heat in Thailand and Southeast Asia, with global implications By Nicholas K. Smith, OPEC Fund
I t seems every summer sets a new “hottest ever” record. We have just been through one, and there is more to come: By 2028, annual global temperatures are predicted to climb to 1.9°C above pre-industrial levels. If that comes to pass, more than a quarter of the world’s population will be at risk of heat stress, a condition when your body absorbs more heat than it can release (see box). Beyond heat stress-related illnesses, higher-than-normal temperatures disrupt food systems, increase economic losses, strain water supplies and reduce labor productivity. A new report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), produced with support from the OPEC Fund and others, zooms in on one particularly susceptible country: Thailand. As detailed in the study Increasing Impacts of Heat in Thailand and Southeast Asia: Challenges and Emerging Solutions , Thailand is particularly vulnerable to heat stress. Marine heat waves, made worse by El Niño events, threaten two key sectors: agriculture and tourism.
In the capital city Bangkok, with a population of almost 17.5 million, a 1°C increase doubles the risk of death caused by heatstroke. The fact that the city is a global tourism hotspot with 30 million visitors in 2024 makes the concern even more pressing. Worse yet for the capital and other cities like Chiang Mai is the heat island effect, which raises temperatures by 2–4°C compared to the surrounding rural areas and retains that heat, preventing sufficient overnight cooling. Addressing heat stress comes with its own set of challenges. Unlike floods or storms, there is usually very little infrastructure damage or reconstruction involved, which creates an insidious problem. As extreme high temperatures are a relatively new phenomenon, there has been little in the way of public awareness or effective outreach to at-risk groups. Then there are the rising financial gaps; Thailand needs US$22-28 billion annually to meet its climate targets, but actual financial flows are only about half that. So what is the country, and the wider Southeast Asia region, doing to fight heat stress?
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