The best time to travel to Thailand

Probably the most common question any foreigner living in Thailand will hear from people planning to visit the Kingdom is “When is the best time to come to Thailand?“…is not an easy question to answer without knowing “why” a person wants to come to Thailand.

Basically, there are three seasons in Thailand (although lately the cold season seems to have disappeared), the seasons are, The Hot, The Wet and The Cold. However, cold is quite a subjective description, emergency blanket shots being spread out in the northern provinces when it drops to a cold 10 degrees… that’s 10 degrees Celsius. So what does each season offer?

the hot

March to June: The hottest month is April, when even the geckos stay inside and most expats look outside at lunchtime and decide not to eat rather than melt on their way to a food stall. The hot season is the beach season, if that’s your thing then this is the time to come to Thailand, sun sun sun guaranteed all day, day after day. For Trekkers this might be a bit hot for hill climbing unless you are riding an elephant, heat stroke and dehydration are high on the list of things to consider. Bangkok becomes a vat of molten pollution when the winds die down and the smog hangs around, choking on oxygen. Hotels are more expensive during the hot season and weekends will see many of the mid-range ones full.

the wet

July to November – The turnaround from hot to humid is the worst time to be in Thailand, whatever you like. It’s hot, it’s wet, and the humidity is merciless. You’ll be desperate to take at least three showers a day… living in a shower for a month might not be a bad plan. If you can imagine living in a sauna for a month, you’ll get the right picture of Thailand at the start of the rainy season…unless you’re in Bangkok, then go into a sauna and plug your car’s exhaust into the sauna to getting the idea right… hmmm delicious. Then, thankfully, the skies really open up, the wind blows, and things cool down. Rain is practically a guaranteed feature every day and usually starts in the afternoon, sometimes lasting all night. Flooding is common along with power outages. So why come to Thailand now? The cost… Hotels are empty, tourists are out, it’s a good time to see Thailand with fewer tourists than usual and get the best prices as even Thais stay home on weekends. .

Cold

December to February: Thailand freezes over, snow falls from the sky and ice skating is the most popular sport in the country… well if you watched TV or Thais were running around dressed in winter jackets, boots, gloves and scarves, you might start to think it’s true… in Bangkok it can go down to 15 degrees Celsius at night, and in the north it’s sometimes down to 2 degrees, the south is much lighter and you can get away with a body warmer and a hat with pompoms. Thailand is once again packed with tourists who have come to take advantage of the cool weather to see Thailand without getting burned. This is the best time of the year to really “see” Thailand, you will enjoy seeing the sights and touring the cities and the hiking will be at its best. Once again, prices will go up and hotels will be quite full.

So, in a nutshell, the best time to come to Thailand is the time that suits what you want to do, hikers and tanners will have different needs, bargain seekers will have different needs. Just add that there are occasional downpours even in the hottest parts of the year and even the rainy season can be dry for a week or more…but leave your skis at home…no snow… …guaranteed .