Climate
Thailand's climate is tropical, high both in temperature and humidity,
and dominated by monsoons. April and May are the hottest months of the year,
when even the locals are moved to complain about the heat. June sees the
beginning of the South West Monsoon, and brings with it the rainy season,
which continues intermittently until the end of October.
From November to the end of February the climate is much less trying with
a cooling North East breeze and a reduction in the humidity level. This is
also the main tourist season, and the best time to visit Thailand.
The area of Thailand north of Bangkok has a climate determined by three
seasons whilst the southern peninsular region of Thailand has only two.
In northern Thailand the seasons are clearly defined. Between November
and May the weather is mostly dry, however this is broken up into the
periods November to February and March to May. The later of these two
periods has the higher relative temperatures as although the northeast
monsoon does not directly effect the northern area of Thailand, it does
cause cooling breezes from November to February.
The other northern season is from May to November and is dominated by the
southwest monsoon, during which time rainfall in the north is at its
heaviest.
The southern region of Thailand really has only two seasons -- the wet
and the dry. These seasons do not run at the same time on both the east and
west side of the peninsular. On the west coast (Phuket) the southwest monsoon brings
rain and often heavy storms from April through to
October, whilst on the
east coast (Koh Samui) the most rain falls between September and December.
Overall the southern parts of Thailand get by far the most rain with
around 2,400 millimetres every year, compared with the central and northern
regions of Thailand, both of which get around 1,400 millimetres. |
