Weekly note

Bangkok or Jakarta?

2,297 km apart, in Thailand and Indonesia. Each is scored month by month on the same ten years of climate readings, the public holidays that crowd it, and what the flight costs. This is where they part, and when.

Bangkok is the better pick in November to March; Jakarta in July to October; either in June. April to May are best avoided at both.

Month by month

Month JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Bangkok 32° 2d 32° 5d 33° 8d 34° 11d 33° 18d 32° 20d 32° 24d 31° 24d 31° 25d 31° 21d 31° 9d 31° 2d
Jakarta 29° 26d 29° 25d 30° 26d 31° 25d 31° 21d 31° 18d 31° 11d 32° 9d 32° 12d 32° 18d 31° 22d 30° 24d
Bangkok, fare from Bengaluru —₹29,552——————₹33,524₹29,603₹29,546₹29,880
Pick BangkokBangkokBangkokneitherneithereitherJakartaJakartaJakartaJakartaBangkokBangkok

Each cell is that destination's own verdict for the month — sweet spot, ok or avoid — with its typical daily high and its rainy days ("11d"). The pick goes to the better verdict; with the same verdict, to the higher score, unless the two are within a whisker of each other, when it is either. A month both would avoid is neither. A dot marks a busy month. Fares are the typical return from Bengaluru, in INR.

Before you go

Facts from Wikidata (CC0), the UK Foreign Office (Open Government Licence) and the World Bank. The advisory is written for British travellers; entry rules depend on your passport.

Between them

2,297 km as the crow flies, about 3h 43m in the air.Nonstop, about 7 a day · 5 airlines.

The flight time is estimated from the distance. A road, train or bus is named only where it was measured — flights from AeroDataBox, roads from OpenRouteService, timetables via Transitous — and none of it is a fare; the searches on each destination's page are where prices live.

Also compared

Every verdict here is the destination's own: ten years of climate readings, the public holidays that crowd it, and what the flight costs. The comparison is the difference between two pages, not a third opinion.