I am looking for ANY advice on planning a two week trip for the first time.

Weather wise it will have to be Nov - Dec. How ever, hotel and such will be demanding premium prices since it is their high season.

Dear Hanuman,<BR>Thank you for responding - you sound like you know Asia well. Would September be during the rainy season? We were looking at Bangkok, Singapore, Bali and Hong kong.

The rainy season in Asia varies by location. Indonesia (Bali) is in the southern hemisphere, rainy season is opposite of Thailand northern hemisphere. Rainy season roughly follows the sun. When the sun is north, rainy season is north. When sun is south, rainy south. September, rainy seson is over in most of Thailand, just starting in Indonesia.

September in Thailand is at the end of the rainy season. Last year it did not rain much but who knows how the weather will behave this year. I've heard that El Nino is coming back so best keep your finger's crossed. <BR><BR>Singapore and Bali have pretty much the same temperature ranges as Bangkok. The chances of rain is probably the same too.<BR><BR>Hong Kong you should be fine. Only need to worry about Typhoon. Even with a Typhoon warning airlines like Cathay Pacific will still fly in and out of Hong Kong. Most of their pilots are ex British fighter jocks!<BR><BR>For the best chance of avoiding rain you should come in March / April period but it's extremely hot! As I've said the best time is Nov / Dec period where there is minimum rainfall and the temperature will be more pleasant.

You cannot generalise on the weather. In Thailand for example You can have 15 inches of rain in the south but only 3 inches around Bangkok. There can be about 4 inches a month in Samui during August but 11 inches in Phuket, it varies a great deal especially in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.<BR>Remember Indonesia in the north-west is almost opposite Phuket but stretches as far south-east to be close to Northern Australia.<BR>In the same way is it can be hot and dry in Florida and snowing in New York, just a few hours by air between the 2.<BR>Considor the distrance between northern Thailand and the southern most point of Thailand ( what would be well over 3 hours flying time ).<BR>Try www.worldclimate.com<BR>

I was just giving a general description of the weather in September not a lesson in weather prediction. I think its obvious that the weather can be different in any part of any country. As Morgan has said it could be raining in London and sunny in Liverpool . <BR><BR>The month of September is not generally known as a stormy or rainy month in this part of the world. So if you want to visit SE Asia then you would still run a risk of being rain on! At the same time you could have good weather for the whole of your trip. Hope for the best I say!