Extreme heat in Bangkok
A tropical megacity where heat costs lives, livelihoods and a share of the city’s economy.
Heat type. Mostly humid heat.
Heat action plan Heat plan in force
For the 2026 hot season Bangkok opened 304 cooling centres in schools, health centres and district offices, under a heat management plan developed with the World Bank.
Vicious cycles the evidence ties to Bangkok
| Cycle | Why here | One action that breaks it |
|---|---|---|
| The poverty–heat trap | Nearly 80% of informal workers surveyed cut their hours in the heat; 75% of home-based workers lost a day’s work a month to heat illness. | Heat-safe work |
| The reactive-spending loop | Heat deaths, about 593 a year, cost up to 0.7% of the city’s economy: more than its 2020 public health budget. | Dedicated heat budgets |
| The sleepless-nights loop | One of the tropical cities whose nights stay hot. | Cool nights and support |
| The green-displacement loop | Fieldwork is tracing how green urban renewal affects the city’s lower-income residents. | Green without pushing people out |
Who heat hits hardest here
- Workers in heat-exposed jobs
- People in informal settlements
Already at work here
- HomeNet Thailand
- Bank of Thailand
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
- Asian Development Bank
Listing does not imply partnership, affiliation or endorsement.
Four questions for Bangkok’s heat plan
- Is it funded, with a named owner?
- Does it assess who is most vulnerable, and where they live?
- Does it have legal backing, so departments are required to act?
- Does it count indoor and night-time heat, not only daytime highs?
Official warnings: Thai Meteorological Department · Today’s heat and the week ahead: beattheheat.asia/#city-bangkok
Sources
- Government of Thailand, 2026. thailand.go.th/issue-focus-detail/bangkok-launches-304-cooling-centers-to-combat-extreme-heat
- World Bank, Shaping a Cooler Bangkok, 2025. worldbank.org/en/country/thailand/publication/shaping-a-cooler-bangkok-tackling-urban-heat-for-a-more-livable-city
- World Bank, 2025. worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2025/09/16/bangladesh-faces-health-and-economic-risks-from-rising-temperature-world-bank
- Global Commission on Adaptation, 2019. openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/7713887e-5c0c-5fce-9dd0-c18a8875736c
- Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), 2025. ceew.in/sites/default/files/ceew-how-extreme-heat-is-impacting-india-final-web-file.pdf
- Anguelovski et al., Nature Communications, 2022. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31572-1
- Centre for Policy Research, 2023. cprindia.org/briefsreports/how-is-india-adapting-to-heatwaves-an-assessment-of-heat-action-plans-with-insights-for-transformative-climate-action