Weather and Climate, Bangkok

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Favorite thing: Because we only had 18 hours, and from that subtract check in / out and sleeping, that did not leave us with much time for any activites outside the hotel, which turned out not to be so bad, we did find enough things to do inside the hotel area to pass the time of day.
The weather conditions did allow us to enjoy a very nice view from the 31st floor, and afterwards a visit to the pool on the 4th floor.

Favorite thing: Bangkok has a tropical monsoon climate under the Köppen climate classification system.
Bangkok is said to have the highest average temperature of any city in the world.
Average temperatures in the city are about 2°C higher than the ones shown for the Don Muang Airport at 1960-1990 period. Absolute maxima is 40.8°C and absolute minima is 9.9°C. The coldest temperatures were recorded in January 1924, January 1955, January 1974 and December 1999. The coldest daytime maximun temperature was 22.3C, recorded in December 1999. Hailstorms are virtually unheard of in the city, with only one having been recorded in the past fifty years.

Favorite thing: Bangkok can be hot and humid throughout the year, with temperatures often reaching 35°C (95°F). The best time to visit is between November and February as April is generally the hottest month and October the wettest.

The Thais often say: We have only two seasons, hot and hotter. This is true as far as it's never cold in Thailand. Officially however there are three seasons:
Cool (from November to February) with temperatures in the mid twenties to thirties (Celsius).
Hot (from March to May) with temperatures always above 30 and often around 40.
Rainy (from June to October) with temperatures in the mid twenties and regular tropical rain and thunder showers.
In Bangkok and the South of Thailand it is never cold but in the North temperatures can come close to 0 during the night in the cool season.

Favorite thing: I visited Bangkok in September 2007. My guidebook suggested that my visit would coincide with one of the wettest months of the year. The highest peak on my guidebook's rainfall chart was in September and below the chart was a warning that parts of the city can be flooded after torrential rain in September and October.

The online weather forecasts painted a similarly wet picture. For a few weeks prior to my departure I checked the 10 day forecasts on a number of weather websites. Without exception, they contained little cloud and lightning icons and predicted "scattered thunderstorms". Every day, every week.

So, it's fair to say that I expected to get a bit wet during my week long stay in Bangkok, and I even wondered if I should pack a light coat.

The reality however was very different. During my week in the city, I saw it rain for a grand total of 10 minutes! My first 5 days were a mixture of bright sunshine, light cloud cover and, at times, dark overcast skies. But no rain. Then, on Friday night, I felt a raindrop, then another and a few more. It rained lightly for 10 minutes or so and then stopped.

On a few occasions, I awoke in the night and thought I could see flashes of lightning outside. But each morning the roads were dry and there was no sign of any overnight rainfall.

So, when visiting Bangkok in the rainy season....don't assume that rain is guaranteed (even if all the weather forecasts tell you that it is!)

Favorite thing: In my humble opinion the best time to visit Bangkok is January - February. In these two months the temperature is around 24C (75F) and mostly dry.

April - May are the hottest months where temperature gets to be 38C (100F).

September-November you get a lot of rain; which in itself is not a problem but the road gets flooded and it compounds to the horrendous traffic jams that is an inseparable part of Bangkok.

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Favorite thing: One afternoon we looked at the horizon from our hotel window and it was just black and gradually the city started to disappear and we had a massive storm which last for a couple of hours, it was very scary, afterwards we were supposed to go out for dinner but the streets were flooded so we ate in the hotel.

Favorite thing: The good time to visit Bangkok or Thailand is during November-April because its a dry season. But then again there are people visiting Thailand all year round. Even though its not an ideal period to come here during the rainy season, I personally think it is still all right. You should consider May and October since the former month is just the beginning of the rainy season and the latter is the ending month of it. Plus, the hotels are not yet double priced.

Anyway, for the dry season, specially April, its the HOTTEST month and Im telling you its burning! Probably, a very ideal time to come visit Bangkok is from November till February. December and January are supposed to be the coolest months here. I mean the coolest for Thailand, which can be considered ' warm' for Europeans.

For the rainy season, when it rains, it RAINS. However, it usually lasts for an hour or two. And there is always a sunshine after that. Never takes a whole day.

Favorite thing: Be sure to drink a lot. Bangkok is one of the hottest city in the world. Day and night temperature are comparable. While on foot, I used to pop in to hotels' lobbys or stores as they have air-conditionning.