Andaman Sea vs. Gulf of Thailand
 

Help! I am hearing conflicting info regarding which coast has the safest weather in late October/early November. Is it the Andaman Sea (Phi Phi, Phuket, Krabi) or the Gulf of Thailand (Ko Samui area). Heck, should I just head over to Ko Chang instead? Thanks for your input. -Michele-

Here's the best source for weather info: www.weatherbase.com

james will have the definitive answer...it is the middle of the nite for him now so wait about 12 hours...

i think andaman is better then however...

I am the onll 'employee' who I can trust to sit up at night watching data transfers!, hence even at almots 1 a.m I am not partying but sitting with the servers and other equipment looking at me!

Ok, end October beginning of November is when seasons change. It is the end of summer in the Far East/North asia region and sunshine turns to the cold and snow 0 up in China, Japan etc. At the same time the Monsoons are dying away from South Asia.
The rains ease off the Andaman Sea area and the end of the season brings rains to the south of the China Sea and onto landfall such as Koh Samui and the East coast of southern Thailand.

This althogether means that from mid October throu mid November it varies a great great deal.

This is what the rainfall statistcis show:



These are for the months of Oct/Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb

Bangkok: 9.1 / 2.3 / 0.4 / 0.4 / 1.1

Hua Hin: 7.9 / 8.0 / 0.3 / 0.2 / 0.6

Koh Chang:9.9 / 2.8 / 0.5 / 0.8 /1.4

Samui: 10.2/ 11.9 / 3.9 / 1,5 / 0.3
Phuket:12.0 / 8.2 / 2.0 / 1.4 / 1.2

So you can see October not much difference, but November Phuket is drier than Samui but no different from say Hua Hin, December most rain has gone away but Phuket better than Samui, Jan Samui and Phuket the same and from Feb Samui drops down.

So it's not just opinion but the statistics also show it is very 50/50 at that time.

Koh Chang weather is roughly ( based on nearby town )

So I would suggest basing decision of what you want to see and do during that time and more on the type of beach/island, Samui and Phuket are far busier than Koh Chang, very different places, Bob has been to all 3 also, they are very different in their styles and things to see and do.
Also Phuket is totaly different from Krabi.

James are you suggesting that the weather in Samui
will not be that much different than Phuket in Mid-late November?