What's on in Bangkok (Krung Thep), Thailand through the year

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it

• Rule

  Dry days on Buddhist holy days

  1 Jan – 31 DecClosures

  Shops, convenience stores and ordinary restaurants stop selling alcohol on the five Buddhist holy days and on election days. Since 2025 licensed hotels, international airport terminals and venues in designated tourist zones are exempt. The dates move with the lunar calendar. Source ↗

• Rule

  Grand Palace dress code and closures

  1 Jan – 31 DecClosures

  Shoulders and knees covered, no exceptions at the gate, and the complex shuts at short notice for royal ceremonies several times a year. Sarongs are lent out, but the queue for them is its own hour. Source ↗

• Holiday

  Chinese New Year in Yaowarat

  17 FebLunar New YearCrowded

  Chinatown closes Yaowarat Road for two nights of lion dances, shrine queues and food stalls, and half the city's Thai-Chinese families are in it. Many Chinatown shops shut for the days either side. Source ↗

• Hazard

  Upcountry burning haze

  25 Jan – 15 Apr · usuallySmoke season

  Agricultural fires north and west of the city put a lid of smoke over Bangkok through the late dry season. It is nothing like as bad as Chiang Mai, but March is the month the schools start sending children home with masks. Source ↗

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Chinese New Year in Yaowarat

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Dry days on Buddhist holy days (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Grand Palace dress code and closures (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Chinese New Year in Yaowarat (17 Feb), Upcountry burning haze (25 Jan – 15 Apr (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Dry days on Buddhist holy days (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Grand Palace dress code and closures (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Upcountry burning haze (25 Jan – 15 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Songkran

• Festival

  Songkran

  13–15 AprWater-festival New YearCrowdedClosures

  Three days of a city-wide water fight, with Silom and Khao San closed to traffic. Much of Bangkok travels home to the provinces, so shops and offices shut and the roads out are jammed for a week. Source ↗

Still on: Dry days on Buddhist holy days (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Grand Palace dress code and closures (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Upcountry burning haze (25 Jan – 15 Apr (usually))

Busy — between the peaks, Bangkok Pride

• Season

  Southwest monsoon

  15 May – 15 Oct · usually

  Rain in heavy late-afternoon bursts that clear as fast as they arrive, rather than all-day weather — except in September, when it does settle in and the low-lying streets stand in water. Low season, and priced like it.

• Festival

  Bangkok Pride

  28 May – 10 Jun · usuallyCrowded

  Since equal marriage passed, the parade down Rama I has become one of the largest in Asia and the hotels round Siam fill for the weekend it lands on. Source ↗

Still on: Dry days on Buddhist holy days (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Grand Palace dress code and closures (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, Bangkok Pride

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Dry days on Buddhist holy days (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Grand Palace dress code and closures (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Southwest monsoon (15 May – 15 Oct (usually)), Bangkok Pride (28 May – 10 Jun (usually))

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Asalha Bucha and Khao Phansa

  29–30 JulMajor festivalClosures

  Two consecutive public holidays that open the Buddhist rains retreat, with candlelit processions round the temples in the evening. Alcohol sales stop for both days, bars included. Source ↗

Still on: Dry days on Buddhist holy days (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Grand Palace dress code and closures (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Southwest monsoon (15 May – 15 Oct (usually))

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Dry days on Buddhist holy days (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Grand Palace dress code and closures (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Southwest monsoon (15 May – 15 Oct (usually)), Asalha Bucha and Khao Phansa (29–30 Jul)

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Chao Phraya flood season

  15 Sep – 15 Nov · usually

  The upstream runoff peaks after the monsoon has moved on, and a high tide on top of it puts the riverside walkways and the low sois behind them under water for a few days at a time. Source ↗

• Festival

  Vegetarian Festival

  10–18 OctMajor festival

  Nine days when Yaowarat turns yellow with flags and every other stall sells jay food — no meat, no dairy, no garlic or onion. The best eating week of the year in Chinatown, and cheap. Source ↗

Still on: Dry days on Buddhist holy days (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Grand Palace dress code and closures (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Southwest monsoon (15 May – 15 Oct (usually))

Busy — between the peaks, October semester break in Thailand

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Dry days on Buddhist holy days (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Grand Palace dress code and closures (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Southwest monsoon (15 May – 15 Oct (usually)), Chao Phraya flood season (15 Sep – 15 Nov (usually)), Vegetarian Festival (10–18 Oct)

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Loy Krathong

• Festival

  Loy Krathong

  24 NovMajor festivalCrowded

  Candles and banana-leaf floats go onto every canal and onto the Chao Phraya on the November full moon. The riverside restaurants and the bridges are the crowded places; a neighbourhood khlong is the better one. Source ↗

Still on: Dry days on Buddhist holy days (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Grand Palace dress code and closures (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Chao Phraya flood season (15 Sep – 15 Nov (usually))

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Dry days on Buddhist holy days (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Grand Palace dress code and closures (1 Jan – 31 Dec)