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Weather Overview for Bangkok

Thailand as a whole is home to high temperatures and high humidity, and its capital Bangkok is no exception to this. The weather in Bangkok is undoubtedly tropical and its hot tropical conditions prevail throughout the entirety of the year.

Like most tropical climates, the year is divided into two seasons- wet and dry. In Bangkok the rainy season lasts from about May to September, but really picking up in June. While this is the ‘wet season’ you will, however, witness plenty of sunshine and the rain can sometimes come of somewhat of a relief from the temperatures which sit in the high 20’s. The rain generally falls in the afternoon but there are occasional days when the city will be a washed with rain for the entire day.

October through until February is probably the best time to visit Bangkok, and the temperatures are not as high as other times of the year and generally sit between 25 and 28 degrees Celsius. There is an occasional shower and light breezes which provide a break from the heat.

November to February is the driest time in the city and this is also the most popular time to visit. This is peak tourist season due to the fact that 1. it sees the least rainfall and 2. it falls just prior to the hottest time of the year. In March, April and May the weather will exhibit temperature extremes and often sits in the mid 30’s for days on end. This combined with high humidity means that it can be somewhat uncomfortable at times. If visiting during this period be sure to pack a lot of light, cotton clothing to deal with the hot and sticky conditions.

See here for annual conditions for Bangkok, temperature ad rainfall.

While the year is split up into a wet and dry season and the weather does exhibit distinct patterns, the temperature doesn’t actually vary greatly from month to month which is fairly typical of a tropical climate.

One of the problems which faces Bangkok is that the city itself only lies 6ft above sea level, so when there are prolonged periods of rain this can lead to severe and problematic flooding when the rivers and canals overflow.

Bangkok has been called the ‘Venice of the east’ because like Venice and Amsterdam it is made up of a system of canals, upon the 372km long Chao Phray River. Essentially Bangkok lies entirely over a swamp, with the canals weave through and across the city. The problem at hand is that it is thought that Bangkok is sinking up to 2 inches per year and this combined with rising sea levels means that it is thought that Bangkok could be in 50 to 100cm of water by 2025!