Can anyone help with itineraries and ideas for Thailand in august?

[sleepwouldbenice]

Hello all!

deliberating the above, 4 adults ( uni age kids no real choice on time of year). Idea of rainy season doesn’t sound good but understand some areas are better than others.
struggling to know where to start to plan to see say 3 or 4 key areas over say 17 days? Ideally a little time in cities but with focus on culture, scenery, some beach. Done lots of Europe, Australia, us etc in the past so looking for something different

if it really doesn’t fit as an idea then won’t force it

thanks in advance!

Bump….

I’ve found this site pretty good for researching weather etc
https://www.selectiveasia.com/thailand-holidays/weather/august

Thanks will take a good look

Hey - I live in Thailand (Ko Samui) … islands in the Gulf tend to get rainy season a little later in the year than the rest of Thailand. So for your beach part it might be an idea to stay Gulf side rather than Andaman… saying that I’m not sure 17 days on an island in the Gulf
of Thailand would meet your requirements. This August we did a road trip around Thailand - drove from Samui up to Bangkok, stayed for 3 nights (plenty of time to do the key sites), then 1.5 hours drive to Ayutthaya (old capital of Thailand) stayed 2 nights (it was enough to see the relevant cultural sites). From there we drove up to Sukhothai (original capital and where Thai script was fist created) - stayed there for 2 nights also. The countryside was so lush and beautiful and the temples were amazing. After that we drove to Chiang Mai and did 3 nights there. All in we saw a little bit of rain in each place for maybe an hour or so at a time - bring a light rain jacket or poncho and you’ll be fine. We drove from Chiang Mai back down to Koh Samui but you could use an international car hire service like Hertz or Avis that would let you pick up the car in Bangkok and drop off in Chiang Mai and then fly to Ko Samui where you could stay or get a ferry to Ko Phangan or Ko Tao… Driving in Thailand mainland is relatively straightforward although Samui can get a bit hectic. Anyway - food for thought. We had an amazing trip and the little bit of rain didn’t bother us at all (appreciate that living in Thailand we’re grateful for the drop of rain and cooler temps and this might not be the case if you lived in a colder/wetter climate!).

Bangkok obviously. Louds to do there, don’t miss the floating markets
Try Staying in the Tree houses in the rainforest in Khao Sok ( for example) and take some boats out.

We’ve been in May. Gets very busy tourist wise in July / August

Agree with pp re driving. We hired a car and toured. Some terrain is rough if you go off the main routes so suggest 4x4.

Suggest you get the Blue guide to plan your trip

We were there in mid-July and rain was already picking up.

If you are set on Southeast Asia - and spending 17 days there - how about looking at other countries - say Vietnam - Central part should be relatively dry. Or Malaysia? Or combining Vietnam and Chaing Mai / Gulf Islands in Thailand - Koh Samui?
I must say we did not enjoy Koh Samui in July - it was raining on and off and water almost too warm.

Stubborn Mule has a good Thailand in summer itinerary on their website. Or ask ChatGPT for a suggested itinerary (although it always packs too much in).

Malaysia (east coast for beach) is a better bet in summer I reckon. Wouldn’t go to Vietnam then personally- the best bits are N and S and those are rainy.

Thank you all!

Another recommendation for stubborn mule. We have had some excellent holidays with them and the website has loads of suggested itineraries.

We're going to Thailand & Malaysia in November. We've been watching lots of YouTube to pick up ideas of where to stay and what to do.