Seasons
Christmas and New Year in Thailand, and where the weather holds
Thailand at Christmas means sunshine for most of the country, but not all of it. The Andaman coast is in its dry season while the Gulf islands are still finishing their rains, and the difference decides where to spend the holiday.
By Walter Pellow2 November 20263 min read
For a British traveller, the appeal of Christmas in Thailand is easy to understand: a long flight, and then warm sea, white sand and a cold drink under a palm tree while everyone at home scrapes the windscreen. Thailand is a Buddhist country, but it has taken to Christmas and New Year with enthusiasm. Shopping centres in Bangkok put up enormous decorations, hotels lay on Christmas dinners, and New Year's Eve is celebrated with fireworks and parties, as the year's end in a country that also keeps two other new years of its own.
But Thailand is a long country, with two coasts facing different seas and different monsoons, and in December they are in quite different moods. Choosing the right one is most of the planning.
Two coasts, two monsoons
Thailand's peninsula runs south between two seas. On its west side is the Andaman Sea, with Phuket, Krabi, Phang Nga Bay, Koh Lanta and the islands off Trang. On its east side is the Gulf of Thailand, with Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao.
The two coasts get their rain at different times. The Andaman coast is wet during the south-west monsoon, roughly from May to October, and by December it has dried out: this is the start of its best season, with calm seas, blue skies and long sunny days that last until about April.
The Gulf islands are sheltered from that monsoon but exposed to the north-east one, which brings their wettest weather from about October to December, at its heaviest in November. By December the rain is usually easing, but Koh Samui can still have wet spells and rougher seas, with more rainy days than Phuket. The Gulf islands come into their best weather from about January.
So, broadly: for a beach at Christmas, the Andaman coast is the safer bet. For New Year and beyond, both coasts are in good shape. Bangkok and the north are dry and at their most comfortable in December, with the north's nights distinctly cool.
In December the two coasts are in quite different moods.
The Andaman coast at Christmas
The Andaman coast is limestone country. Great towers of rock rise out of the sea and the jungle, beaches lie between headlands, and the islands range from busy resorts to quiet places with a few bungalows and a fishing village. Koh Lanta is long and relaxed; Koh Muk and Koh Hai, off the coast of Trang, are smaller and quieter still; Koh Yao Noi, in Phang Nga Bay, is a rural island of rubber plantations and rice fields facing a horizon of limestone stacks.
Christmas is high season, and the most popular places get busy and expensive over the holiday. Book early, and consider the smaller islands if you want peace.
Trips in December
Explore's thirteen-night Thai Island Hopping is built around the Andaman coast, and it departs in November, December, January and February. From Bangkok it travels to Trang and island-hops by way of Koh Hai, Koh Muk, Koh Lanta and Koh Yao Noi, with Ao Thalane and Krabi at the end.
Explore's eleven-night Discover Thailand combines the two halves of the country. From Bangkok it goes to Kanchanaburi, Namtok and the Hellfire Pass memorial on the Death Railway, then south by way of Phetchaburi, the Bueng Bua Boardwalk and Pranburi to Surat Thani, Khao Sok National Park, Koh Lanta and Krabi. It runs in December, January and February among other months.
G Adventures' seven-night Southern Thailand Sojourn: Nightlife & National Parks departs in November and December, and goes from Bangkok to Khao Sok National Park and then to the Gulf islands of Koh Tao and Koh Phangan. Given the season on the Gulf side, a December departure is worth thinking about carefully, and a later one is likely to bring better weather on the islands.
Spending the holiday
On the day itself, Christmas in Thailand is what you make of it. It is not a public holiday, so ordinary life goes on around you, but resort hotels and restaurants in the tourist areas generally mark it with a special dinner. New Year's Eve is bigger: there are fireworks over Bangkok's river and on the beaches, and the islands throw their own parties.
Wherever you go, expect the best places to be booked well ahead for the two weeks around Christmas and New Year. And pack sun cream, a hat and a light jumper for the air conditioning. It is a strange thing to need a jumper on Christmas Day in Thailand, but you will.
By Walter Pellow, the name Atlas & Passage’s editorial team writes under. Prices and dates in the trips below come from the operators and can change.
