I'm just wondering about the temperature in Thailand. We are planning to go mid-november and will visit Phuket and Chiang Mai. Some sites say it is "comfortably warm" and not too humid that time of year. 90 sounds hot to me, but I haven't seen many people complain about it on the forum. So, I'm looking for the honest truth! How hot and humid are we talking? Thanks for any replies!

Chiang Mai is in the hills, at about 1,000ft above sea level, so it's significantly cooler than Bangkok. Phuket is an island, so you get sea breeze.

You should find both places pretty comfortable in November. They are unlike Bangkok, which is a jungle (the concrete type).

As my father always said: its not the heat it?s the humidity. I assume you have looked at weatherbase.com or worldclimate.com and seen that temps in Phuket will average in the low 80s F and temps in Chiang Mai will average in the mid-70s F. What they don't say is that the relative humidity in both will be somewhere between 65 ? 75%; it will be more humid in Phuket because November is the last month of the rainy season and gets a good bit of rain. As temps are relatively low, the humidity may not affect you so much, and the cloud cover due to the rainy season will help too. Even with cooler temps in Chiang Mai, that high level of humidity will make you sweat while walking, etc on a sunny day. Drink plenty of water in both.

Yup.
It's that hot.
And the humidity is unbelievably oppressive.

It's hot and it's humid. Even up north in Chiang Mai and the Golden Triangle. The evenings and early mornings are cooler up north, but during the day it can still get in the 80s.

Bangkok is concrete and like most such cities the H&H just sits there, even our tour guide was dripping sweat as we were.

By the time we arrived in Phuket, in probably the last storm, the balance of time was sunny, but extremely hot & humid. We're both sun people and survive the "ugly" New York City summers of hazy, hot & humid (the 3-Hs), but we couldn't sit on the beach more than an hour; had to get to the pool area which had plenty of trees under which we were more comfortable.

Even our trip into Phuket Town was H&H, though the day we were out on Phang Nga Bay was delightful while on the boat, but at every/any land stop you could definitely feel the H&H.

The saving grace was that all our hotels were air conditioned, as our cars and we had plenty of water to drink and pour over ourselves at times.

Otherwise, most sites are not indoors and those at the Grand Palace, as example, are not a/c, but some buildings here do have fans. The Jim Thompson House, no a/c; the floating markets (outdoors); shopping malls and jewelry merchants have a/c.

Anywhere outdoors is Hot & Humid - so the comment of "comfortable warm" - NOT!

But dressing properly, having a hand-held fan, and even an umbrella (yes, to keep the sun from beating down on your head and back - good idea) make it more doable, and the sites, people, culture and food, make it a worthwhile adventure and place to visit.

You'll have time to recouperate once you return home. Don't let the weather be off-putting. Go!

It's hot and humid in BKK and Phuket. That's why they have so much tropical fruit. I've had very good luck using lightweight shirts from Ex Officio. They have long sleeves that button into short sleeves. You can be as cool as possible in the heat and not freeze when you go into air conditioned zones or are riding in a boat. You can get them at an REI store, other outdoor outfitter or online. They wash easily in hotel sinks and dry relatively quickly. I have 4 and rotate them over two weeks.

The temperature varies most of the year between 30 and 34, sorry, no idea what that is in the gauge mentioned, but that is hot, but it is relative and also depends where you are, Bangkok with crowded streets feels a lot hotter, but apart from the good tips about clothing I am convinced food also matters, don't start the day with helpings of hot or greay/oily food, stick to light food, cereals and fruit, also avoid Dairy products, all the 'fat' inside does not help. If you stick to light food, avaoid dairy, drink plenty of water ( note: water, not sodas and such ) you will notice the difference. If you have a hot shower when you get up have a cooler one before going out, and again at lunchtime if your schedule permits. Try an Iced tea or even hot tea as a drink as opposed to sodas. Avoid alcohol during the day. Make sure clothing is 'loose' as it gives the air a chance to circulate. Out of Bangkok once you hit cooling breezes it changes a great deal.

JamesA, to roughly convert centigrade to farenheit, double the temp and add 28. This works pretty well until you get down below 4 C. 30 is about 88 degrees.

Not to be pedantic, but my memory of the conversion equation is that you multiply the centigrade temperature by 9/5 and add 32. Admittedly, this memory is from a class taken 35 years ago, but it's my story and I'm sticking to it.

*9 / 5 +32 is the absolute correct formula. But doing the *9/5 part is hard (especially for those who go to public schools in the US). Therefore, Cicerone's formula will work "roughly", as he says in his post.

i have to add that it is simply one of the hottest places on earth all the time, day and nite....

the humitidty is unbelievable....you must take it slow and drink lots of water, not soda or beer, but water....have some of the other too but for heat its water...

loose fitting clothing and natural fibres are the norm for westerners....long pants and sleeves are not bad either to protect you from the sun...knowing this....last nivember i walked on the beach at hua hin for about 30 minutes and i was as red as a beet and sore and that's with lots of protection creams....

a short stop in a/c alleviates much of the temp problems when touring, i.e. a taxi ride or a/c store or restaurant...

you can't understand it fully until you have experienced it....it is ALL WORTH THE HEAT HOWEVER....

I did go to public school in the U.S. Many moons ago.

bangkok is the second hottest capital city in the world..

I did clearly say it was a rough calculation! I hate fractions (and basically all math) so this method works best for me.

Why does everyone assume I am a man? Is there something inherently masculine in my posts???

In fact, I always assumed you were female. I can't remember whether this was an inference drawn from one of your posts or merely a guess.

Cicerone - Sorry about that... so can I assume you're a "she" now?

And I double the temp (C) and add 32 - so I get 92-degrees. As far as I my body can tell, there's not much difference between 88- and 92-degrees, when you consider the sun beating down on you and the humidity about as high as the temp.

So whichever way one calculates - Hot is Hot and Thailand is Hot. But not to be missed.