Bangkok, Thailand – Weather

Bangkok, Thailand. The temperature in the city remains hot year round although there is certainly seasonal fluctuations in temperature. Most of the year sees high temperatures during the day usually in the low to mid 30 degree Celsius range (90’s Fahrenheit) – often accompanied by humidity.

Either humidity or heat by itself can be somewhat bearable but when you combine both together it becomes stifling, steamy and sweaty. It should be noted the following places in Bangkok are where you can escape this heat and humidity; inside most of the taxis, major shopping centers, the Skytrain, the ice arena in the Central World shopping center, the mini ski resort inside the Gateway Ekamai shopping center, inside some museums, restaurants (not all), hotels (sometimes not inside the cheaper ones) and inside the “godsend” that is available on almost every block called 7-Eleven (well not quite on every block – but almost every one!)

Sometimes you can find a breeze coming off of the Chao Phraya river, but usually it is not a cooling one.

The hottest month of the year in Bangkok is in April which incidentally corresponds with one of the countries’ funnest events – Thai New Year (around mid month). Also called the Songkran Festival – for several days the streets of the country become a water filled playground with people throwing water at each other. Especially a fun event in Bangkok for tourists to experience.

The coldest months of the year are December followed by November and January. April through October are the rainy months with May, September and October the rainiest months of the year.

Sometimes during December, January or February, you may catch a few weeks where the nights can actually cool down into the 60’s or even on occasion the mid to high 50’s Fahrenheit. This certainly doesn’t happen every year, but we have been in Bangkok during these times when its actually “downright pleasant” during the day and even a bit chilly at night.

During the year at times (especially the winter months), Bangkok can be stifled by a nasty haze an pollutants that choke the city remaining in the air for days or weeks at a time. This pollution is from both foreign pollution (IE neighboring countries burning fields as one example) and local created pollution. During these periods, residents and visitors are encouraged to wear face masks for protection and on the worst days, remain indoors as much as possible.

Air quality often starts getting better in March.

People in Bangkok used to be more conservative in their clothing – for example years ago most Thai men wore long pants. This used to be customary but can be quite warm and irritating for those not used to this hot weather. These days one doesn’t have to worry about wearing pants and shorts are perfectly acceptable wear in much of Bangkok – especially for tourists, although note that entry to the Grand Palace requires individuals to wear long pants and entry to some temples requires shorts at least be knee length. If you do choose to wear long pants; we recommend light weight synthetic material pants with several pockets including at least one pocket that can be closed by a zipper.