Thailand in May
 

We are thinking about visiting Thailand in May of next year, Bangkok for a few days, then one of the beaches for a week.

1. How bad is the rainy season in May? We can be flexible on exact dates.

2. What's the best beach to visit? We would like some peaceful and quiet veg out on the beach time, with calm water for swimming and snorkeling, nice dinners by the beach, etc. We are not looking for parties or clubs.

If you can help with answers/recommendations, it would be very much appreciated.
Many thanks in advance!

i have been many times in may and love it... rains often come in late afternoon and would not spoil your trip..

we love jw marriott and le meridien at khao lak---fly to phuket and 1.25 hr drive north. many cheaper places too... good restaurants in town..

we also love hua hin a couple of hours drive S of BKK... the hyatt is especially nice..

Khao lak sounds like a great suggestion as well as JW Marriott and le Meridien.

I've checked some websites and there seems to be a little less rain in June. We can go in the first week of June instead. Do you think that this would help with the rain a bit? Also, I read that the ocean may get choppy in the rainy season and therefore not good for visiting islands or snorkeling. Is that the case with May and June or just later in the season?

Thanks!

IMO May is the start of the monsoon season and normally have less rainfall than June. It can be totally dry of with sporadic rainfall but June will have more rain on average. The sea will be OK around that time of year but it does get rough from June or July onward until the end of the Monsoon season. Between May and June I would pick May, hot and humid with less chance of rain. The perfect month will be December to January but it will also be the most crowded and expensive.

Thanks so much - so helpful!!

You're welcome.

When I mentioned about the rough sea I am referring to the sea conditions around South West Thailand, Phuket etc, only.

Yes, that's how I understood it. So, we'll aim for early May.
Thanks again!