Plan Your Visit
Three seasons. Twelve months. One that is perfectly yours.
Thailand does not have summer, autumn, winter, and spring. It has three seasons, each with its own character, its own rewards, and its own particular light. The cool season — November through February — is what most people imagine when they think of Thailand: dry air, luminous skies, the sea at its calmest. The hot season — March through May — is vivid and festive, best spent on the coast or beginning before dawn. The green season — June through October — is when the country turns an extraordinary shade of emerald and the travellers who know it best arrive to find everything they want without the crowds. Every season has its own case. We know how to make each one extraordinary.
Month by Month
Cool & Dry
22°C – 31°C
The finest month to visit almost anywhere in Thailand. Cool mornings, cloudless skies, and seas calm enough to see the reef below. Northern Thailand is at its most breathable.
Best for: All regions — Northern Thailand, Bangkok, Islands
Chinese New Year (late Jan / early Feb — Chiang Mai & Bangkok)
Cool & Dry
23°C – 32°C
Temperatures begin a gentle climb. The north still rewards the early riser with mist-wrapped peaks at dawn. Flowers bloom on Doi Inthanon. A month of quiet perfection.
Best for: Northern Thailand, Bangkok, Gulf Islands
Chinese New Year (late Jan / early Feb — varies annually)
Warming
26°C – 35°C
The last reliably cool weeks in the north before heat settles in. The Andaman beaches remain pristine. Those who arrive now beat the summer crowds on the islands with the cool season prices already behind them.
Best for: Northern Thailand, Andaman Coast
Hot
28°C – 38°C
Thailand's hottest month, and its most exuberant. Songkran — the traditional Thai New Year — transforms every street into a joyful water festival. Escape Bangkok's heat for the Andaman's breezy coast.
Best for: Andaman Coast, Krabi, Islands — avoid Bangkok streets unless joining Songkran
Songkran (April 13–15)
Hot, First Rains
27°C – 36°C
The low season begins and the crowds thin noticeably. Early rains bring dramatic afternoon skies. The islands remain beautiful; the Andaman's legendary clarity holds before the southwest monsoon fully arrives.
Best for: Gulf Islands (Samui, Koh Tao), Bangkok for culture
Green Season
26°C – 34°C
The southwest monsoon settles over the Andaman, but the Gulf coast enters its finest season. Lush vegetation, lower prices, fewer fellow travellers. SALA's bespoke journeys shine in this quiet season.
Best for: Gulf Islands, Bangkok, Northern Thailand highlands
Queen's Birthday (June 3)
Green Season
25°C – 33°C
Northern Thailand is at its most vividly green, the rice paddies a luminous emerald. Intermittent afternoon showers keep the air clean and the hillside temples quiet. A curated journey here feels like a private discovery.
Best for: Northern Thailand, Chiang Mai, Pai valley
King's Birthday (July 28)
Green Season
25°C – 33°C
The north sees regular rain with clear breaks between showers. The landscape is extraordinary — waterfalls in full voice, forests thick with life. For those who prize solitude over sunshine, this is a hidden season.
Best for: Northern Thailand, Doi Inthanon, hill-tribe regions
Wettest
25°C – 32°C
The wettest month across most of Thailand. Rates reach their annual low. For the discerning traveller this is not a deterrent but an advantage — fewer visitors, private access, and a Thailand uncrowded and unhurried.
Best for: Bangkok (culture, galleries, temples — shelter from brief rain), Chiang Mai
Rains Taper
25°C – 32°C
October is a hidden gem. Rains ease dramatically in the final weeks. The sky clears and the air carries a quality that the high-season months cannot match. Those who discover October rarely return in December.
Best for: Northern Thailand, Bangkok transition season, Gulf Islands from mid-month
Cool & Clear
23°C – 31°C
One of Thailand's finest months. The north becomes magical — cool evenings, clear skies, golden light. The Loy Krathong festival fills waterways with candlelit floats; Yi Peng in Chiang Mai sends thousands of sky lanterns into the darkness.
Best for: Northern Thailand (especially Chiang Mai), Bangkok, Islands
Loy Krathong & Yi Peng (November full moon — Chiang Mai)
Peak Cool Season
20°C – 30°C
Peak season across all regions. The most temperate, most luminous weeks of the year. Christmas and New Year bring dense bookings — SALA guests who plan six months ahead secure the finest villas and most exclusive experiences.
Best for: All regions — book early for Christmas & New Year
Christmas & New Year (reserve 6 months in advance)
The Three Seasons
Cool Season
November – February
The season that defined Thailand's global reputation. Cool, dry air flows south from China, transforming the north into a landscape of luminous clarity. The mountains around Chiang Mai shed their haze; mornings carry a chill that justifies a light jacket. In the south, the seas settle to a mirror-flat calm. This is peak season for good reason: the conditions are close to perfect. SALA's guests in these months experience temples without the weight of heat, long private beach days, and the kind of evenings — candlelit dinners on terraces cooled by a breeze — that define luxury travel at its finest.
Hot Season
March – May
Heat is not the enemy of a well-planned journey — it is merely a variable to work with. SALA's curators route hot-season itineraries toward the coast, where the Andaman Sea breezes temper the air and the clarity of the water reaches its annual peak. April's Songkran festival turns the heat into a feature: the water battles that close Bangkok's streets are joyous, communal, and entirely unrepeatable. For those who prefer stillness, early morning departures and late afternoon returns structure the day around the coolest hours. The temples at dawn in March, absent of crowds, reward those willing to meet them early.
Green Season
June – October
The monsoon does not close Thailand. It transforms it. The north becomes an extraordinary emerald landscape; rice paddies at every altitude reflect the sky. Waterfalls run at full voice. Hill-tribe communities welcome visitors with more time and less performance. Prices drop significantly, the finest hotels become accessible at rates that rarely appear in December. SALA's green-season itineraries are designed around the rain's rhythms — mornings of cultural immersion, afternoons at properties where a downpour on a private terrace feels like a gift rather than an inconvenience. Those who come in this season often say they experienced the most authentic Thailand they've known.
Begin Your Journey
Tell us when you are thinking of travelling — or ask us to suggest the moment that would suit you best. A conversation is where every SALA journey begins.
Plan your visit