Things you can do in Thailand during the rainy season
What to expect during the Rainy Season in Thailand?
The rainy season in Thailand can be a bit daunting, it usually runs from May till October and that is why, if you will be visiting Thailand during rainy season, following these tips will make it easier for you to survive -and yes, have fun – during what will be some of the hardest rain you have ever seen.
How Much Rain is There and How Long Does it Last?
In Thailand on most days during the rainy season, the heavens will open and torrentially rain, but only anywhere from 15 minutes to a few hours.
Roads will flood, small streets will become impassable and, if you are caught outside in it, prepare to be
drenched.
But….a few minutes later, or sometimes a few hours, the rain will stop, the sun comes out and the rain dries up. In many areas of Thailand, but particularly in Bangkok, what only an hour ago was a one-foot flood will magically disappear to a few damp spots on the sidewalk. It’s amazing how fast it happens.
Now on how to survive Thailand’s rainy season:
Carry Flip Flops
If you watch Thais during the rainy season, few will ever walk outside when it’s pouring rain wearing nice shoes. Instead, most Thais will always have a pair of cheap rubber flip-flops with them, or a pair tucked in their desk drawer at work.
You can walk on wet and dirty streets in rubber flip flops, and just wash your feet when you get home. Plus, you are not staggering around in heels on slippery wet streets (for women), risking breaking your ankle by falling down holes and that is because Thailand’s streets are not paved well.
Carry an Umbrella
Obvious but, for many westerners, not so much. When a Thai says, “carry an umbrella”, they mean carry an umbrella every time you leave your house for every minute of the rainy season.
Don’t Take Taxis in Bangkok
If you are in Bangkok and it rains, the natural reaction if you are a foreigner is to take a taxi. Don’t. Not unless you want to spend (and I am not exaggerating) an hour in a taxi to move two blocks.
Bangkok’s horrendous traffic jams are legendary. During the rainy season, when it is raining, they are at a complete standstill. Don’t waste money sitting in a taxi, going nowhere. Take the sky train, underground, or sit in a shopping mall enjoying a cup of coffee until the downpour is over.
Need to Get Somewhere Fast? Motorbike Taxis
If you get caught somewhere during the rainy season and are not close to a sky train station or underground, the only way to get somewhere fast when it is raining is by motorcycle taxis.
Yes, you will get wet (but carry a lightweight plastic raincoat and it’s not too bad) but motorcycle taxis will go anywhere in any weather and, weaving their way through traffic jams at a standstill, they will get you where you need to go.
Discover Thailand’s shopping malls
One of the godsends of the rainy season in Thailand is shopping malls. All over the country, even in small towns, shopping malls make the rainy season more bearable.
In Bangkok of course, where there are more than 150 shopping malls with more opening every year, you are never far away from one. So, when it rains, run into the nearest mall, along with most of the rest of Bangkok, and enjoy an hour of window shopping, taking photos, eating lunch, having a cup of coffee –
anything to keep you dry inside and out of the foot-deep flood right outside the front door.
Visit Indoor Tourist Attractions
Bangkok’s most famous tourist attraction is the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. Stunningly beautiful on a sunny day, it is miserable if you get caught in the rain in the rainy season, as everything is outside.
If you will be visiting Thailand during the rainy season, keep a close eye on the weather and, if rain looks likely, plan your day for indoor tourist attractions – in Bangkok, Jim Thompson House is beautiful,
Bangkok’s Art and Culture Center is a wonderful art museum and it is right next to the sky train with covered walkways to get to it, and Vimanmek Palace (the world’s largest teak building) is stunning.
Don’t Paddle in High Water
Every day in Bangkok when it rains, I see foreigners paddling around in foot-deep water as they are too impatient to stay inside until it stops raining. There’s a reason most Thais don’t paddle around in flooded streets
In Thailand, even in Bangkok, streets are not laid well and neither are sidewalks. What may have been a normal-looking flat sidewalk half an hour ago, under a foot of sudden flood water, can suddenly be a street of developing potholes. In high water, you can’t see holes until you’ve stepped in them. Stay indoors. It’s safer.
Don’t Drive in Flooded Side Streets
Again, like any place in the world, it can flood if it’s raining hard. If you’re driving and it’s pouring down, don’t pull down a beginning-to-flood side street to try to miss the traffic. A Western friend did that, and, within three minutes, the water rose rapidly up to the bottom of his car
door. His engine spluttered and stopped, and there he sat in two and a half feet of water, stranded in his car. Don’t let that be you.
The main order of the day in Thailand in the rainy season, and something Thais are superb at, is having PATIENCE. If it’s pouring with rain – wait a few minutes.
Although it looks like Noah’s Ark will be floating by soon, it won’t. Within half an hour, the rain will have stopped, the floods subsided and life in Thailand will go on as normal. Meanwhile, you have stayed inside, nice and dry, until it has stopped.
Know Your Emergency Telephone Numbers
It’s common to see accidents during the rainy season, and hospitals all over the country are busy with cuts, bruises, and breaks.
The rainy season is a particularly dangerous time for old people and children, and so it bodes well to know your emergency numbers in case a situation suddenly arises whereby you need to provide
assistance.
Here are some important numbers, which can be dialed straight from your phone:
Emergency call center (Police, Fire, Ambulance): 191
Police: 191
Fire Brigade: 199
Ambulance: 1554
Tourism Police (English, French, and German languages): 1155
Highway Police: 1193
All in all, the low season can be a lot of fun. Most of the time you won’t have anything more to endure
than a leaky roof. If you have respect for the elements and for nature, there is no reason you still cannot
enjoy yourself. Stay safe and healthy!
