Thursday, June 5, 2008
Phuket weather overview: seasons on Phuket

As residents of Phuket, Thailand, for over 10 years, we have a fair clue about the weather patterns here. It basically goes like this:

November - April:
Dry season, with NE monsoon winds. Can still get quite a bit of rain in November even though the Phuket hotels start charging already full rates. The hottest months on Phuket Island are March and April. This season can continue well after the Thai New Year (Songkran, in mid April) and into May.

May - October:
Wet season, with SW monsoon winds. Actually not too wet. The periods at the start and end of the season are wettest (mid-late May and September/early October).
The summer months June-August are actually quite nice, but you can't expect all good weather. Still, if you are budget-minded this might be the best time to visit Phuket, as many hotels have reduced rates or price specials on their room rates.

In the wet season the weather is highly variable. It can change every day, or every few days. The "monsoon" is a bit of a myth as we don not get continual rain like in South Asia (India/Bangaldesh etc.).
Most of the time, the low season is very nice and a good time to visit Phuket; this is why it is called the 'Green Season' here and even better Phuket hotel specials can be had.

Links of Interest:

• Phuket weather guide
  

Labels: weather