Koh Samet and Sunburn

by Jemmer Pablo
(San Jose, CA, USA)

In the summer of 2003, I was on vacation in Koh Samet, Thailand where the beaches are truly amazing.

The weather was truly so good as this place is in tropical zone.

The sun is also so powerful in that at 9 in the morning, you can already feel the heat traversing the inside of your skin.

Although I know that there were UV protection lotions and I had seen them around in the stores, I did not buy it as I never planned to lie under the sun.

The beach had chairs and umbrellas for rent and I didn’t need to see the point of applying UV protection.

Of course I just did that, lie on the chairs under the big umbrellas but the air seems to be so hot and at times, I went for a dip.

Later in the afternoon after watching the beautiful sunset over the horizon, I noticed that my skin was all red and I was beginning to itch and feel some burning sensation on my whole body.

When I went home and went to the shower, I saw my back on the mirror and I knew I had a sunburn.

Funny but I miscalculated the difference in weather from the beaches of Monterey, California and a tropical air from a wonderful beach in Phuket, Thailand.

In the end, I went home with blisters all over my body, specially the back of my shoulders.

Sun Allergy

Human Skin

UV Index

UV Rays