'Scorching Heatwave' in Southeast Asia... "Please Bring Rain" Even Rituals for Rain Appear

Severe Heat and Drought in the Philippines, Vietnam, etc.
Thailand's Tourism Industry Hit... "Tourists Reluctant to Engage in Activities"

As record-breaking heatwaves continue across Southeast Asia, there are increasing instances where people rely on rain-making rituals or prayers to cool down the scorching heat and resolve drought conditions.

On the 4th (local time), AFP reported that Catholic bishops in the Philippines issued a special prayer asking for the heatwave to subside and for rain to fall, urging the faithful to join in prayer.

Cooling down the heat by sprinkling water on the road in Bangkok, Thailand Photo by Yonhap News

The prayer humbly requests, “At this time, we ask to be saved from the extreme heat that torments your people, disrupts their activities, and threatens life and livelihood.”

In the Philippines, abnormal high temperatures have persisted due to the ‘El Ni?o phenomenon,’ causing tens of thousands of schools to suspend in-person classes last week. El Ni?o refers to the condition where sea surface temperatures in the equatorial eastern Pacific monitoring zone rise by more than 0.5 degrees Celsius for over five months.

In the capital Manila, temperatures soared to 38.8 degrees Celsius on the 27th of last month, leading to school closures. The Philippine Department of Education reported that “about 47,000 schools were closed for two days, and approximately 8,000 schools were unable to hold in-person classes the day before.”

At a reservoir in Vietnam, the water level dropped, causing hundreds of thousands of fish to die.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the Philippine Department of Agriculture, damage to crops such as rice and corn, as well as fisheries, caused by the heatwave and drought, has been estimated at 5.9 billion Philippine pesos (approximately 140 billion Korean won).

In Thailand, as the heatwave and drought worsened, around 200 villagers in a community in Nakhon Sawan province in central Thailand held a rain-making ritual at the end of last month. This village has held the ‘Hae Nang Maew’ rain-making ceremony, meaning ‘female cat street parade,’ for hundreds of years as the planting season approaches. During the event, water is sprinkled on cats, and if the cats scream, it is considered a sign that rain will come.

In the past, live cats were used, but due to recent animal cruelty concerns, cat dolls are now used instead. The American weekly magazine Time reported, “This year’s event even featured a Doraemon doll, a robot cat character from Japanese manga.”

Children are cooling off in a temporary swimming pool in Manila, Philippines.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Additionally, the local media Bangkok Post reported that tourism industry workers, a key sector, are suffering as tourists avoid outdoor activities during the daytime. In response, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) announced plans to promote activities suitable for early morning, evening, and nighttime, such as jogging, boating, and stargazing.

In Vietnam, last month’s average temperatures were 2 to 4 degrees Celsius higher than the previous year, continuing the abnormal heat. AFP reported, “At 102 meteorological stations nationwide, April’s highest temperature records for those areas were broken.”

According to the Vietnam National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF), temperatures in two regions soared to 44 degrees Celsius at the end of last month. This is close to the highest temperature ever recorded in Vietnam’s meteorological history, 44.2 degrees Celsius on May 7 last year. Due to this heatwave, water levels in a reservoir in southern Dong Nai province dropped, causing hundreds of thousands of fish to die and filling about 3 square kilometers of the reservoir’s surface.