Best time to visit
Thailand in December
Bangkok's driest month of the year at 11mm, the Andaman back under control at 103mm, and only the Gulf still finishing its season. The second half of the month is the most expensive fortnight of the Thai year.
Measured, not repeated
Where it rains in December, and how much
Driest first. Bangkok takes 11mm this month and Koh Samui takes 163mm, which is 15 times as much. The strip on the right is that place's whole year, with December outlined, so you can see whether this is a good month for it or merely a bad one everywhere.
- Bangkok 11mm 2 rain days its driest month
- Chiang Mai 12mm 2 rain days
- Thailand's islands 101mm 13 rain days
- Phuket 103mm 14 rain days
- Krabi 136mm 15 rain days
- Koh Samui 163mm 15 rain days
ERA5 reanalysis, 1995 to 2024, averaged per calendar month at each place's own coordinates. A rain day is a day with a millimetre or more.
Bangkok records 11mm and two rain days, its annual minimum, and Chiang Mai 12mm. The cool season in the north is at its best and the haze has not started. The Andaman has dropped from 231mm in November to 103, which puts Phuket back inside its dry threshold.
Koh Samui at 163mm is the one place still wet, coming down from its November peak. The Gulf's own dry season starts in January, one month behind everyone else's.
From about the 20th, prices on both coasts go to their annual maximum and stay there into the first week of January. The first two weeks of December are the same weather at a fraction of the cost, which makes them one of the best-value fortnights in the calendar.
Where to go in December
The three driest places on this site this month, in order.
What is on in December
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King Bhumibol's birthday and Father's Day
5 December
A public holiday.
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Constitution Day
10 December
A public holiday.
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New Year's Eve
31 December
The peak of the peak. Book everything early.