When is the perfect time of year to play?
I often get asked about the best time of year to play golf in Thailand so I thought to share my experience on this topic. Without doubt, the best time of year for golf is from November through January. This is the cool and dry season, with average temperatures only around 20 degrees centigrade. On the other hand, this is also the peak season for visiting tourists. As such, one should be prepared for busy golf courses and it is a must to plan your holiday well in advance as the most popular resorts will be full..
What about the rest of the year?
You can sill easily play golf throughout the year in Thailand. The shoulder periods from September to October and February to March are my personal favorite times of the year as the hot weather has yet to come in full force and many of the tourists have either returned home or not yet arrived. This makes the perfect combination for golf, less crowds, and reasonable prices at the resorts. The remainder of the year the weather is a mixture of very hot days to very wet days. The heat is sometimes hard to bear, but with drink huts every 2 or 3 holes and good natured caddies to help with your bag you can still have a very enjoyable round of golf thought Thailand. Additionally, this so-called low season allows you to take advantage of some great deals on hotel prices and the courses are much quieter to play.
The rainy season usually lasts from June to August is not quite as hot, although you tend to get daily downpours. Again, do not let this put you off since the rains tend to be massive down pours that are normally short lived (1 hour at most) , and the courses dry out very quickly. To my knowledge there have never been a full day course closing due to inclement weather and for the 15 years that I have been playing golf in Thailand, I have experienced only one weather related cancellation. One good tip is to schedule your tee times for the morning hours as most of the rain storms build up in the later part of the day, similar to other hot and humid places like Southern Florida or of Southern Texas in the USA.
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2 Responses
I would like to get some information about humidity in Thailand in January and Febrary. Can you give me some statements?
Best regards
Johann Haas
John,
Thanks for the comment. The humidity in January and February is usually quite low, say around 40%, especially compared to other times of the year. January is especially good as it is also nice and cool. It can start to get hot towards the end of February.
Mark