Dry spell about to end

PHUKET: The dry sunny days of the past couple of weeks are about to come to a soggy end, Phuket’s weathermen have warned. Amorn Chantanavivate, director of the Southwestern Regional Meteorological Center, told the Gazette today that a southwest monsoon is forecast to hit the Andaman Sea and the entire southwest coast of Thailand tomorrow, lasting about five days. He warned that the monsoon weather would bring winds that will make boating and swimming more dangerous. “The waves are now 1-2 meters high, but when monsoons hit the area they may grow to 3-4 meters, so fishermen, boaters and especially tourists should be very careful,” K. Amorn said. The wet weather will also mean that people hoping to catch a glimpse of the lunar eclipse on July 16 are likely to be disappointed. Because of monsoon clouds, “lunatics” will have only a 20% chance of seeing (or shooting at:-) the lunar eclipse.