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Photo by User: (WT-shared) Wipkinger at wts wikivoyage, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Best time to visit Ko Samui
Thailand · Southeast Asia
All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.
The year in Ko Samui
Tap a month for its page
- JanJKo Samui in January: ok, busy
- FebFKo Samui in February: good, busy
- MarMKo Samui in March: good, busy
- AprAKo Samui in April: good
- MayMKo Samui in May: ok
- JunJKo Samui in June: sweet spot
- JulJKo Samui in July: sweet spot
- AugAKo Samui in August: sweet spot
- SepSKo Samui in September: sweet spot
- OctOKo Samui in October: avoid
- NovNKo Samui in November: avoid
- DecDKo Samui in December: ok, busy
- Sweet spot
- Good
- OK
- Avoid
- Busy
Dry season: Jan–Apr, Jun–Aug, 6 or fewer rainy days a month.
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Where to stay
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Things to do
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Travel insurance
Check whether your bank card or home insurance already covers this trip.
If the trip needs a visa, the travel agent or visa centre usually sells the cover it asks for.
Mobile data (eSIM)
Your own plan's EU roaming may already cover this.
Renting a pocket Wi-Fi is the other common way to stay connected.
These are sites people in book with. Each opens in a new tab, on the site's own pages.
Month by month
No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.
| Month | Max °C | Rain days | Humidity | Sun h/day | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 28° | 4d | 79% | 10.2h | okbusy | busier than usual |
| Feb | 29° | 3d | 78% | 10.7h | goodbusy | busier than usual |
| Mar | 30° | 2d | 77% | 11.0h | goodbusy | busier than usual |
| Apr | 31° | 4d | 77% | 10.9h | good | 31C max, 4 rainy days |
| May | 31° | 8d | 79% | 10.4h | ok | 31C max, 8 rainy days |
| Jun | 31° | 5d | 76% | 10.0h | sweet spot | 31C max, 5 rainy days |
| Jul | 31° | 6d | 77% | 9.3h | sweet spot | 31C max, 6 rainy days |
| Aug | 31° | 6d | 76% | 9.6h | sweet spot | 31C max, 6 rainy days |
| Sep | 30° | 9d | 80% | 8.9h | sweet spot | 30C max, 9 rainy days |
| Oct | 29° | 15d | 85% | 8.9h | avoid | monsoon: 15 rainy days, 217mm |
| Nov | 28° | 16d | 84% | 8.5h | avoid | monsoon: 16 rainy days, 293mm |
| Dec | 28° | 8d | 81% | 9.6h | okbusy | busier than usual |
Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.
Weather read at Chaweng Beach: ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.
A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.
How busy it gets
Then and now
Ko Samui's July days now average 31.1°C, 1.8°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 12 of 12 months are clearly warmer.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981–90 | 27.2° | 28.0° | 29.0° | 29.6° | 29.6° | 29.7° | 29.3° | 29.4° | 28.7° | 28.0° | 27.5° | 27.0° |
| 2017–26 | 28.0° | 28.8° | 30.1° | 31.2° | 31.2° | 31.3° | 31.1° | 31.0° | 30.0° | 28.9° | 28.2° | 27.8° |
| Change | +0.8° | +0.7° | +1.0° | +1.6° | +1.5° | +1.6° | +1.8° | +1.6° | +1.3° | +0.8° | +0.7° | +0.8° |
The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.
Getting there
How far Ko Samui is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.
- from Bangkok
- from Kuala Lumpur
- from Ho Chi Minh City
- from Singapore
- from Jakarta
- from Kolkata
- from Hong Kong
- from Chennai
Open in Rome2rio for every way from to Ko Samui, flying or not.
Before you go
Type A and B and C and F plugs at 220 V. Drives on the left. The currency is the Baht. UK Foreign Office: avoid all but essential travel to parts. Global Affairs Canada: Exercise a high degree of caution (with regional advisories). US State Department: Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions. Everything for Thailand: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.
Being there
On arrival
- Paying — Cards work in malls, hotels and tourist restaurants; carry 20 and 100 baht notes for street food, markets and taxis. Many small sellers use PromptPay QR, which mostly needs a Thai bank app.
- UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
- Tipping — Not expected; Thais round taxi fares to an easy number and sometimes leave small change in restaurants. Do not tip on top of a service charge.
Getting around Ko Samui
- Apps — Rides: Bolt, Grab. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: LINE, WhatsApp.
As on many islands in Thailand, small motorbikes are available for rental. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Ko Samui, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Help
- Emergency — 191 (any emergency) · ambulance 1669 · fire 199 · tourist police 1155.
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.
Your embassy — : how to reach your embassy or consulate abroad. A guess from your city, : a city is not a passport.
Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 3 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.
Sources (14)
- gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand/getting-help
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Thailand
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Bangkok
- grab.com/th/en
- bolt.eu/en/cities/bangkok
- metro.bemplc.co.th/EMV-Contactless?lang=en
- nationthailand.com/news/policy/40063062
- huahin.localplus.city/2026/04/07/bts-skytrain-prepares-for-emv-contactless-ticketing-on-green-and-gold-lines
- phuketsmartbus.com/payment
- tagthai.com/explore/p/payment-for-foreign-tourist-in-thailand
- developers.google.com/maps/coverage
- apple.com/ios/feature-availability
- pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2286608
- nipl.com/uploads/NPCI_International_Press_Release_LIQUID_GROUP_TO_POWER_UPI_QR_ACCEPTANCE_IN_10_ASIAN_MARKETS_bcb05ffeee.pdf
Ko Samui in pictures
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Abrget47j, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Ruta Badina, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Abrget47j, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Renek78, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Renek78, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What Ko Samui is like
Ko Samui (เกาะสมุย), often called just Samui (สมุย) is an island of great natural beauty and variety in the Gulf of Thailand. The palm-fringed shoreline and coconut and fruit cultivation of the coastal lowlands rise to a central granite massif, the slopes of which are cloaked in virgin rainforest. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth seeing
- The major reason people come to Samui is, quite simply, to enjoy the beaches. Even though the two main beaches of Chaweng and Lamai have generally suffered due to mass development, they are still relatively impressive. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth doing
- The usual panoply of water sports are available. Snorkeling or diving directly off Ko Samui itself is generally mediocre, since the shallow bays and sandy beaches tend to lead to silt in the water and poor visibility. More on Wikivoyage
- Getting in
- Samui International Airport (USM IATA). The only airport on the island, this lovely private airport was built by Bangkok Airways, which is the sole domestic operator. More on Wikivoyage
- Staying safe
- Tap water is not potable. Liquids from sealed bottles nearly always are, and should be used wherever possible. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Ko Samui, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.
Around Ko Samui
Also in Thailand
Nearby
- Phnom Penh Cambodia · 578 km
- Angkor Wat Cambodia · 595 km
- Kuala Lumpur Malaysia · 731 km
- Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam · 736 km
Kind of place
Ko Samui is in Thailand, Southeast Asia. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.
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