Warm destinations in Thailand

Where to go

Bangkok hits first and hits hard: the Grand Palace and Wat Pho, street food worth the hype, and a Skytrain gliding over the gridlock below. Pair it with the north, where Chiang Mai sits inside a moat ringed by 300 temples, with cooking schools, night bazaars, and ethical elephant sanctuaries in the hills above. An hour and a half upriver, Ayutthaya is the brick skeleton of the old Siamese capital, its best-known Buddha head held in the roots of a fig tree at Wat Mahathat.

The beaches divide by coast. On the Andaman side, Phuket is the big all-rounder, with beaches, nightlife you can take or leave, and Phi Phi day-trips that deliver; Krabi swaps the scale for limestone cliffs and the rock-climbing at Railay; and Koh Lanta keeps things slow and family-minded. Over on the Gulf, Koh Samui brings the airport and the resorts, while Koh Phangan next door runs from the full-moon parties at Haad Rin to quiet yoga bays up north. With more time on the map: Ko Tao for cheap diving certifications, Sukhothai for older and emptier ruins than Ayutthaya, and Pai for the hill country beyond Chiang Mai.

When to go

November to February is when most of the country is at its most comfortable: dry, cooler, and the only spell you can walk Bangkok and the temples for hours without wilting. March to May is the hot season, when inland temperatures clear 40°C and the Songkran water fights take over in mid-April. June to October is the green season, with warm afternoon downpours on the mainland rather than all-day rain.

The coasts run on offset calendars, which works in your favour. The Andaman side (Phuket, Krabi, Lanta) is driest from November to April and choppiest from May to October. The Gulf islands (Samui, Phangan) keep their own schedule, wettest in October and November, so they hold up when the Andaman is washing out. With fixed dates, choose the coast to fit them rather than forcing it.

Getting around

Domestic flights are cheap and quick: Bangkok to Chiang Mai or Phuket runs about an hour and often under £40 booked ahead on AirAsia or Nok Air. The slower pleasure heading north is the overnight sleeper train to Chiang Mai, twelve hours in a fold-down berth for the price of a budget room. Ayutthaya is simpler again, a regional train from Bangkok in around ninety minutes for pocket change.

For the islands, fly to Phuket, Krabi, or Samui and finish by ferry. In the cities, Bangkok's BTS Skytrain and river boats beat the traffic, Chiang Mai gets around on red songthaew shared trucks, and the Grab app covers the rest almost everywhere. The baht stretches a long way here: a plate of pad thai from a street cart still costs not much more than a pound.