As I walked home last night in a fon tok nak (big rain storm) last night, I pondered the rainy season, which is now upon us. Contrary to what we think in the West, “rainy season” does not mean in rains constantly. On the contrary, in only rains:

• When you have to go somewhere.
• When you are somewhere, and want to go home.
• When you are outside, and don’t have an umbrella.

Then once you reach your destination, the rain will stop.

So that means it rains in the morning and at night, maybe only for 30 minutes. But in that short amount of time you experience a rainstorm like you’ve never seen before. A massive deluge of water that instantly overloads the drainage system, and turns the streets into rivers. Even the sidewalks of major thoroughfares like Sukhumvit turn into raging whitewater rapids.

And to make matters worse, all of those empty taxis you always see driving around instantly become full the moment it starts raining.