Is Bangkok Really as hot as they say?

[finy]

Apparently it's supposed to be the hottest city in the world and the temperature is unbearable. The sheer heat and humidity will almost kill you.

 

From what I can remember, I've worked out in Lumpini Park in the afternoon. I've sat in the shade on the chairs on my laptop playing around for hours without too much hassle, but no idea what month.

 

is it really too hot to sit around in shade or work out during the day?

 

or is it just travelers from cold countries moaning because they've not acclimatized to the heat?

 

cheers

[gdgbb]

It depends on whether you consider the current temperature of around 32' to be too hot but Bangkok is not the hottest, most unbearable city in the world.

 

It is going to get hotter over the next couple of months, though.  If you check the weather reports you can actually find out the accurate temperature each day without having to resort to listening to rumours.

[sirmud63]

6 minutes ago, gdgbb said:

It depends on whether you consider the current temperature of around 32' to be too hot but Bangkok is not the hottest, most unbearable city in the world.

 

It is going to get hotter over the next couple of months, though.  If you check the weather reports you can actually find out the accurate temperature each day without having to resort to listening to rumours.

little boys that tell lies, grow up to be weather forcasters.   and, its not the heat ,its the humidity that will get you .

[finy]

I can't remember Bangkok being especially humid and I've been over 20 times.

 

everyone else says it is though.

[buick]

i've been in bkk for almost 10 years and would say outdoor workouts btwn noon and 3pm are very tough.  sitting in the shade is not too bad during those hours.  but you do need water to drink.  dec/jan are okay.

 

i think bangkok is known as having one of the warmest average temps.  does not get cold, ever.  unlike other cities that get much more hot (above 40C), but the cool season in those cities brings the average down below bkk.  

 

i agree with humidity comment.  nothing compared to phuket, pattaya, or hong kong.

Edited February 8, 2017 by buick

[finy]

Do you mean BKK humidity is better or worse?

[gdgbb]

57 minutes ago, sirmud63 said:

   and, its not the heat ,its the humidity that will get you .

The OP wasn't asking about humidity (it's only around 40% now, anyway, and that's hardly going to "get you"), he was asking about temperatures.

[finy]

Was just general comfortablness of weather.

[smokie36]

The condo pool is chilly right now in the morning.

 

By March only mad dogs and Englishmen would use it after 9am.

[buick]

i was saying bangkok is not humid and 'dry' compared to phuket, pattaya and HK.  i remember a trip i made to miami, wow, that was some real humidity. 

 

 

[KhonKaenKowboy]

Phoenix, AZ is much hotter....with longer days in the hot season....sometimes it doesn't go below 100F for days at a time.  That being stated, April is tough here, and you need to plan for it....but it sure wasn't the heat that ended the all night partying, outdoors, on Sukhumvit.  I live in CM, and my winter coat is a vest...actually came back for it last night...yes bars close at 12, but some great restaurants serve until 3+.  I think air quality would be the big reason to avoid afternoon jogs, etc..

[KhonKaenKowboy]

4 minutes ago, buick said:

i was saying bangkok is not humid and 'dry' compared to phuket, pattaya and HK.  i remember a trip i made to miami, wow, that was some real humidity. 

 

 

My birthplace....mom and dad say that the weather I describe in BKK sounds a lot like Miami.  Just when you can't take the heat any longer; you get a nice afternoon thunderstorm.  They never had central heat, either, but occasional would fire up a Kerosene heater in the Winter.

[finy]

27 minutes ago, buick said:

i was saying bangkok is not humid and 'dry' compared to phuket, pattaya and HK.  i remember a trip i made to miami, wow, that was some real humidity. 

 

 

So sorry, I can't understand.

 

are you saying it's more on the dry side than the humid side?

 

heat I can deal with if no water attached.

 

KL is extremely humid to the point of ending up soaking like you've jumped in swimming pool. Won't even start with India.

 

bankok isn't that?

[KhonKaenKowboy]

BKK is oftern described as "steamy."  But, KL or Sing certainly isn't an escape.  KInd of like the bad air refugees in CNX going to Hanoi for April...AQI can be double CNX.

[samsensam]

used to spend a lot if time in singapore and found the hot season climate there more oppressive than bkk.

[oval]

It's pretty frikken hot. Mid afternoon outside and you're going to be sweating. 

[buick]

to further clarify, i don't consider bangkok as a city known for its humidity.  some people say it is but i've been in the city for many years and when i travel to phuket, pattaya, hong kong, or miami it is more humid in those cities than bangkok.  bangkok is more humid than phoenix, which is a city noted in this thread.  hope that helps the OP.

 

 

[ChidlomDweller]

On 2/9/2017 at 9:52 AM, samsensam said:

used to spend a lot if time in singapore and found the hot season climate there more oppressive than bkk.

I lived 10 years in Singapore, and there is no hot season to speak of there, just a rainy season (which is quite unreliable).  Pretty much tops out at 32-33 every day of the year.  There's also much more shade available, which makes a huge difference -- huge.  You can navigate not all but most of the city walking in the shade.   That said, the air in Singapore feels more humid.  Overall though (3+ years in Bangkok now), I suffer a lot more from the heat here than in Singapore.  At least 9 months a year the weather is unpleasantly hot for me.

 

If the OP has been coming here for the past 20 years and doesn't think the city is hot, that makes me wonder: is he coming here only in the relatively cooler months (November-February)?  That corresponds with the European winter, and then indeed it's not so bad.  

 

Two years ago, however, pretty much from March till September it went up to 38 almost every day (some respite in July and August, but the respite supposed to start in May never came).  If that's not unpleasantly hot, I don't know.  

 

Then there's also subjective experience.  It's one thing to walk around in shorts, tank top and flip flops to have fun, and another to go to the office every morning and arrive with a clammy shirt and underwear, starting your day like that every day.  

Edited February 14, 2017 by ChidlomDweller

[fruitman]

On 8-2-2017 at 6:54 PM, finy said:

I can't remember Bangkok being especially humid and I've been over 20 times.

 

everyone else says it is though.

It also depends where you stay...between concrete and aircons/carengines or between ricefields and tree's. It's all BKK.

 

Now the humidity is low which is great. When it's 70-90% and temp around 32-36 it's really hot.

[wow64]

It gets cooler over the next few monthe my condo is close to Lumpini get no hotter then 22-23 office around the corner is the same. 

 

Electricity bill just goes up.

[ThaiWai]

Wait till April. I never took a hot shower in Bangkok.

[F4UCorsair]

Google 'Bangkok Climatology' and you will find max and min temperatures, and humidity, month by month.

 

I find anything over about 70% humidity at temperatures 28+ too hot and humid for me.

 

Humidity alone is not an issue, e.g., 98% at 20 degrees is fine, just as 30 at10% is OK.

 

We're all different. 8 degrees in Melbourne this morning, no wind, and I was shirtless, gf was freezing.

[01322521959]

Its the humidity that I don't like
The body generally is unhappy with anything over 60%. The heat doesn't bother me so much. Condo is28'c and 53% humidity. Very comfortable and no need for air con.

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[JG27]

It was 48c at my sons house in Penrith, Sydney last Saturday if that's any help. Don't know the humid %.

(Old school thermometer in the shade).

I understand they spent a fair amount of time in the pool...

Edited February 15, 2017 by JG27

[TonyClifton]

Who are you?  Surely none of you posting could be in Bangkok.  Since the rainy season ended, I have used my Aircon almost not at all.  The temp at night is getting down to 24,25 and during the day it is 30 or 31.  

 

Almost no humidity.  

 

So who are you?

 

 

[DSJPC]

Of course not!..."They" are lying...

[little mary sunshine]

 Came in from Singapore yesterday, BKK was pleasant!

Edited February 15, 2017 by little mary sunshine

[zorro1]

It was 45 degrees C in some town in oz last week lol.

After 12 years I don't notice BKK heat much but using air con 18 hours a day sure helps haha

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[gdgbb]

4 hours ago, wow64 said:

It gets cooler over the next few monthe my condo is close to Lumpini get no hotter then 22-23 office around the corner is the same. 

 

No it doesn't!  It won't get cooler over the next few months, it will be getting hotter!  Around Songkran in April is usually the hottest time of year, that's why, to some, Songkran is a relief.

[honu]

A graph showing the actual weather averages is attached.  Daytime high temperatures range from 30 to 35 C (85 to 95F), with relative humidity between 74% and 85%.  

 

For most people that's both hot and humid.  If you are from somewhere even hotter it's not so bad.  The daytime lows range around 24-25 most months, not bad, but by late morning temperatures are closer to the highs.