What's on in Ayutthaya, Thailand through the year

Busy — Cool, dry season, school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Central plains burning haze

  20 Jan – 15 Apr · usuallySmoke season

  Cane and stubble fires around the central provinces put a flat grey ceiling over the island for weeks. It is not the northern kind of haze, but the horizon goes and so does the sunrise. Source ↗

Still on: Cool, dry season (15 Nov – 20 Feb (usually))

Busy — Cool, dry season, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Central plains burning haze (20 Jan – 15 Apr (usually)), Cool, dry season (15 Nov – 20 Feb (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Central plains burning haze (20 Jan – 15 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Songkran, Long summer break in Thailand

• Festival

  Songkran

  13–15 AprWater-festival New YearCrowdedClosures

  Three days of water in the streets, and the Ayutthaya version puts elephants in the middle of it. Temples stay open; getting anywhere by road does not stay easy. Source ↗

Still on: Central plains burning haze (20 Jan – 15 Apr (usually))

Busy — Long summer break in Thailand, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in May.

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in June.

Shoulder season — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in July.

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in August.

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Hazard

  Flood season on the rivers

  1 Sep – 15 Nov · usuallyClosures

  Discharge from the Chao Phraya dam upstream backs into the low districts around the island most years, closing riverside roads and some outlying temples for days at a time. Source ↗

Busy — October semester break in Thailand, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Flood season on the rivers (1 Sep – 15 Nov (usually))

Peak crowds — Loi Krathong, Cool, dry season

• Festival

  Loi Krathong

  5–30 Nov · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  Floats go onto the old canals and the river around the island on the full moon of the twelfth lunar month, which is the one night the ruins are busy after dark. Source ↗

• Season

  Cool, dry season

  15 Nov – 20 Feb · usuallyCrowded

  The months the ruins are worth a full day: firm ground on the island, cycling between the wats before the heat, and light that arrives low over the brick.

Still on: Flood season on the rivers (1 Sep – 15 Nov (usually))

Peak crowds — travelers describe it as peak season, Cool, dry season

• Festival

  Ayutthaya World Heritage Fair

  10–23 Dec · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  Ten evenings of light-and-sound staged in the historical park to mark the UNESCO listing, with the ruins lit and a night market through the middle of town. Source ↗

Still on: Cool, dry season (15 Nov – 20 Feb (usually))