The wintry weather that has gripped the country over the past few days has chilled Bangkok residents with the coldest air in a decade, said a top official at the Meteorological Department.

The department's Weather Forecast Bureau director Somchai Baimoung told Daily Xpress yesterday that the 15.1 degrees Celsius in Bangkok's Don Muang district on Monday was the lowest the mercury had fallen since 1999.

Mercury still dropping

The department also issued a warning of a further drop of one to three degrees by tomorrow along with windy conditions and waves of two to four metres in the Gulf of Thailand. Small boats were advised not to sail and other ships to proceed with caution.

"After tomorrow, temperatures should rise two to four degrees," said Somchai, before advising us to wrap up warm again next week. "Next Tuesday, we expect a drop of between one and three degrees."

Blankets of frost

Thousands of tourists have flocked to Khao Yai National Park to camp amid the blankets of frost that have covered its hills since temperatures plummeted by 10 degrees. Else-where, strategies to beat the chill include an aerobics session before school for students in Prachin Buri.

We should all be free of shivers by mid February, when spring will bring warmer temperatures.

So, what chance do we have of seeing snow for the first time in Thailand? Not much, according to Somchai, who says that none of the cold fronts that can cause snow have shown up on satellite images so far, and it would need other factors such as high humidity and zero-degree temperatures.

However, he said that the department could forecast any flurries seven days in advance.

He might have to do just that if what Assoc Professor Thanawat Jarupongsakul says is true.

The prof from Chulalongkorn University predicts that Thais will see snow within 50 years as a result of extreme weather conditions caused by global warming.