Meteo Krabi (Ao Nang) in maggio

Phuket-forum threads on May weather place it right at the start of the green season - hot and humid between showers, with posters generally expecting around an hour of rain most days rather than a full washout, and conditions described as noticeably less wet than the August-through-October stretch later in the year. Experiences vary trip to trip: some visitors report a stretch of very hot, mostly clear days, others get the more typical reliable afternoon downpour. The clearest upside is value - hotel prices drop meaningfully and the island runs far less crowded than the December-to-March high season. The one caution: posters flag rougher seas can make swimming unsafe on certain beaches, worth checking flag warnings. The record: 33.2C days feeling like a punishing 39C, 26.1C nights, a notably high 280mm across 25.4 days, 81 percent humidity, a 31.2C sea and 9.2 hours of sun.

Regulars are direct no one can reliably predict this month's pattern, a typical description being cloudy or sunny mornings with heavy afternoon rain, though some visitors get lucky with only a quick shower before the sun returns. Our row backs that hot, genuinely wet read, 32C reading as a scorching 39C, over 24.3C nights feeling 30C, with a substantial 247.9mm of rain across 22.8 days and humidity at 87 percent. Regulars are consistent monsoon currents can make nearby west-facing beaches genuinely dangerous this time of year, red-flag closures and cancelled boat tours a real possibility worth checking before planning a beach or island day. Most rain that does fall still tends to clear within a couple of hours rather than lasting all day. The sea sits at a bath-warm 30.5C. The record: 9 hours of sun, a 13.3 kph wind and AQI 35.

Regulars call this the peak of hot season, hot in a way that has to be actively managed rather than just endured - the standard advice is to plan the day around a pool or the ocean rather than sightseeing through the worst of the midday heat. Our row backs the intensity, 34.5C reading as a real 42C, over 24.3C nights, with 182.5mm of rain across 22 days - the pre-monsoon pattern regulars describe as a hot, sunny day interrupted by a quick, sometimes heavy evening thunderstorm rather than sustained rain. Mid-month brings Songkran, Thai New Year, when the water-fight tradition spills into the streets and towns get noticeably busier and louder than the rest of the month. The sea offers real relief at 31.2C, warm enough that it cools rather than merely wets. The record: humidity 82 percent, 10.3 hours of sun and AQI 54.

December opens the high season rather than sitting in the middle of it, and regulars describe a month that improves as it runs. Early on there are showers, sometimes rain most afternoons and heavy with it, though the mornings are usually fine; by late December and into January there is very little rain if any. They also make the case that a short downpour here is welcome because it takes the heat out of the day. Our row is the average of those two halves: 140mm across 14.9 days under 31.5C that reads as 36C at 85 percent humidity. Crowds run the other way - this is peak season and it is busy. The record: 23.4C nights, 9 hours of sun, a 29.2C sea and AQI 38.

March and April are the hottest months of the Thai year and our Krabi row is the most extreme felt figure in this whole collection: 35.2C reading as 40C, over nights of 23.2C that feel like 28C. Regulars describe it as hot and humid but manageable, with the caveat that between about ten in the morning and two in the afternoon it can be close to unbearable - which is the schedule, not the packing list. The other date to know is that the comfortable high season runs mid-November to mid-March, so this month straddles the end of it; late March turns transitional, with rain arriving most late afternoons for a couple of hours. January and February are the low-humidity months. The sea is 29.7C and cools nothing. The record: 64.5mm across 11 days, 10.7 hours of sun and AQI 51.