Chapter 3 Bangkok liquid perception: waterscape urbanism in the Chao Phraya river delta and implications to climate change adaptation

Along the 14th parallel, day and night oscillate exactly between predictable twelve hour divisions and months pass with little change in temperature barely affected by the earth's axial tilt. However between May and October, a shift in atmospheric currents brings monsoon rains from the Indonesian archipelago north to the mountain ranges ringing northern Thailand whose runoff feeds the Mae Nam Chao Phraya River Basin and Bangkok sprawling across its flat, silted tidal delta. Seasonal cycles of precipitation rather than temperature extremes of winter and summer bring rhythm to life just above the equator, putting into motion human cycles of planting, harvest and migration, as well as shaping Thai beliefs and rituals (Fig. 1).