In his trailer for “In Asia,” German director Vincent Urban highlights memorable experiences in his trip to Southeast Asia. Over two months, Urban traveled to Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Laos. We are transported to Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, a city with night skies full of fireworks and streets teeming with music. Urban next introduces us to the Southeast Asian landscapes he encounters. He highlights the tropical climates of Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Laos with footage of waterfalls, aquamarine waters, beaches and coral reefs. Urban also highlights Buddhist culture by featuring images of the Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia, the largest temple complex in the world. The individual episodes of “In Asia” provide greater context for the footage within this trailer and are certainly worth viewing if you would like to learn more about Thai, Cambodian, Malaysian and Laotian cultures.
Typhoon Hagupit’s eye. Sjrankin. CC BY-NC 2.0
East Asia Braces Itself as the 2020 Typhoon Season Begins
Southeast Asia is known for its tropical climate and distinct rainy, or monsoon, season. This sort of climate brings about an annual typhoon season. Typhoons are mature, tropical cyclones that mostly occur in the Pacific Ocean. They carry with them heavy winds, rain and tornadoes that rip through villages and beaches. These storms have the potential to be devastating, a fact confirmed by history several times over.
Thailand
While Thailand is not hit with as much force as its southern neighbors, the typhoon season is still clear. From September through November, the country is prone to typhoons with the potential to change the country’s landscape and infrastructure.
In 2006, Typhoon Xangsane made landfall in the Philippines and devastated its way across Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. It wiped out 810 square miles of farmland across Thailand and caused 47 deaths. The storm brought with it strong winds, landslides and torrential rain that wiped out villages and caused hundreds of families to become homeless.
Fortunately for Thailand, most storms are not nearly as devastating as Xangsane. Monsoons can be counted on, though, to bring about tropical storms each year.
Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia
These three Southeast Asian countries feel the brunt of two different sets of cyclones. Typhoons move in from the northern Pacific, while tropical cyclones make landfall from the south. While safety measures are in place, such as shelters, help lines and emergency services, ultimately their geographic location leaves them vulnerable to Mother Nature’s worst.
In 2017, Vietnam experienced its deadliest typhoon since 2001. Dubbed Typhoon Damrey, the storm originated in the Philippines’ Visayan archipelago toward the end of the rainy season and killed at least 123 people and over 600 injured. The severe flooding and winds swept away anything that was not secured to the ground and left an estimated $1 billion in damages across Vietnam. Since then, the country has taken measures to ensure that it has a better communication system for its citizens to learn about the threat of storms as they arise.
Korea
Farther north, the Korean Peninsula sits in a spot not nearly as impacted by typhoon season as countries in Southeast Asia. While the peninsula experiences jangma, or the rainy season, its normal extent is heavy rains that inconvenience residents. This shows just how quickly tropical storms lose power as they move inland; they dissipate soon after doing so.
A recent exception was Typhoon Hagupit, which made landfall in August. The Category 1 typhoon traveled north from the Philippines to China before impacting Korea as a subtropical storm. South Korea reported 15 deaths along with considerable property damage from the storm.
The western Pacific typically sees more tropical storms than anywhere else in the world. About one-third of the world’s natural disasters occur in the region, and the numbers only seem to increase each year. These storms have caused countries to increase safety measures, focus on disaster communication, develop evacuation measures and create safe spots in public areas. The countries are well-known among visitors, but during the rainy season, the more experienced traveler might count these locations out.
Elizabeth Misnick
Elizabeth is a Professional Writing and Rhetoric major at Baylor University. She grew up in a military family and lived in Europe for almost half her life, traveling and living in different countries. She hopes to continue writing professionally throughout her career and publish her writing in the future.