We quite fancy pushing the boat out this year for our summer holidays. Phuket seems to be at the top of our list but I’m worried that august might not be the best time to visit.

Has anyone been in the rainy season? Apparently although showers are heavy they are also brief.

Any help would be appreciated

cheers

john

You can time the rain.

Normally around 4pm everyday

It all depends if you can be arsed with Phuket itself. Not my first choice of destination in Thailand, but I’m a snob and hate any expat hangouts/tourist hangouts so don;t listen to me.

Im open to suggestions Quirrel.

There are plenty of nicer places in Thailand than Phuket. Try Koh Lanta, Krabi (you could use this as a base and visit multiple islands) or even Koh Phi Phi.

Koh Tao is also amazing apparently, though I have never visited. Koh Pha-ngan is OK, but avoid Koh Samui – it’s like the aya napa of Thailand.

Thanks Wallop I’ll have a look. I do fancy Koh Phi Phi but was worried about the extra traveling.

we’ve been to phuket in all the seasons now, christmas, easter (their new year), and august too. we took a chance in august because as you say, its their rainy season, but it fell perfect for us. it chucked it down in the weeks before, stayed sunny for the 3 weeks we were there, then chucked it down for weeks afterwards, so we count ourselves lucky. the holiday would definately have been spoilt a bit if the weather hadnt been kind to us but we were tied to ours and kids hols too, but it couldnt have fell better for us.
im assuming that the rest of thailand would be the same too during august, so its really a case of ‘do you feel lucky?’ 🙂

i know the island quite well by now, so if you got any specific questions about it, fire away. email address in profile.

EDIT: yes, theres some touristy, ex-pat areas (mainly south), but theres also a fair few quieter beaches up nearer the airport on the west coast.

cheers