Which parts of Thailand are driest in November?

Chiang Mai, Pai, Bangkok, Pattaya and Isaan (Northeast) are inside the dry window in November, while Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Hua Hin are in the wet one.

Month 11 of 12

November

The interior comes good, the air is still clean, and the southern Gulf is the one place to stay away from.

In November, train in Chiang Mai, Pai, Isaan (Northeast) and Bangkok. Think twice about Koh Samui and Koh Phangan.

November opens the dry window inland and on the central plains, and it opens it months before the burning season reappears. Chiang Mai, Pai and Isaan in November are in the best condition they reach all year: dry, cool by Thai standards at night, and with clear air that will not survive February.

The southern Gulf is the exception and it is a sharp one. Samui and Phangan are inside their wet stretch while the rest of the country is drying out, which catches people who booked a November beach trip by reading a Phuket forecast.

5 regions

Inside the dry window

The months the region prints as its own driest stretch. Comfortable rather than guaranteed, and in the busiest regions it is also the most expensive and the hardest to book.

Chiang Maiเชียงใหม่

Calendar

Inland north and northeast

Camps

Paiปาย

Calendar

Inland north and northeast

Camps

Bangkokกรุงเทพฯ

Calendar

Central and eastern

Camps

Pattayaพัทยา

Calendar

Central and eastern

Camps

Isaan (Northeast)อีสาน

Calendar

Inland north and northeast

Camps

3 regions

Inside the wet window

The months the region prints as its own wettest. Almost every camp trains under a roof, so this reads as heat, humidity and a quiet gym rather than as a cancelled session.

Koh Samuiเกาะสมุย

Calendar

Southern Gulf

Camps

Koh Phanganเกาะพะงัน

Calendar

Southern Gulf

Camps

Hua Hinหัวหิน

Calendar

Upper Gulf

Camps

2 regions

Between the two

Named in neither stretch. The shoulder weeks, which is where the better trades usually are: the weather of the good months without the prices or the crowds of them.

Phuketภูเก็ต

Calendar

Andaman coast

Camps

Krabiกระบี่

Calendar

Andaman coast

Camps

The month either side

Dates that can move

Most trips can move by a fortnight and a fortnight is the difference between two of these pages. Both neighbours are worth reading before the dates are booked rather than after.

All twelve months

The month before
October
The crossover month, and the worst month of the year to arrive without having picked a coast.
The month after
December
The clearest split of the year. Eight regions dry at once and the two Gulf islands in the heaviest of their rain.