Page 60 - Ancient Kingdoms: Thailand, Laos, Cambodia & Vietnam

CLIMATE

Thailand: Thailand’s climate is tropical, high both in temperature and humidity, and
dominated by monsoons. April and May are the hottest months of the year, when even the
locals are moved to complain about the heat. June sees the beginning of the South West
Monsoon, and brings with it the rainy season, which continues intermittently until the end of
October. During this season, the air is warm and humid and the sky is typically overcast. From
November to April, the air is much drier, with only a few days of rainfall per month. During
_SP ]LTYd ^PL^ZY LYO [L]_TN`WL]Wd Q]ZX 5`YP _Z >P[_PXMP] ^`Y^STYP T^ WTXT_PO _Z LMZ`_ ʭaP Z]
six hours per day.

The north and northeast are generally cooler than Bangkok in winter, and hotter in summer. It
will be warm during most of the trip. It gets hot in the sun at midday; in the north, it will cool
down in the evening. Most of the country has abundant rainfall from May to October.

Laos: Laos has a typical tropical monsoon climate, but with some cool temperatures in winter.
During the rainy season (May to October), the winds of the southwest monsoon deposit an
average rainfall of between 50 and 90 inches. The dry season (November to April) is dominated
by the northeast monsoon. December through February can be quite cool at night—lows can
be in the 50s, even though daytime highs will be warm. Daytime highs increase to more than
90° F in March and stay that way through September. In October and November, the average
temperature is in the 80s.

Cambodia: Cambodia’s climate can generally be described as tropical with seasonal monsoons.
There are two distinct seasons, the rainy and dry. Temperatures during the rainy season,
between June and October, average 80-95°F. The dry season is characterized by cool months,
November to February, with temperatures averaging 80-95°F and hot months, from March till
May, which sees temperature range between 84-100°F.

Vietnam: Vietnam lies entirely within the tropics. It has wet and dry seasons, which vary from
north to south and with elevation changes. In the south, temperatures are fairly constant
throughout the year, ranging between 75º and 85º F. The dry season runs from November to
April and the wet season from May to October. The hottest period is during April to August,
before the rains have broken. In the north, there’s also a short “winter” season, which runs
from December to February. At this time, temperatures can drop to the 50s, with some drizzle.
Typhoons are quite common in coastal areas between September and January.

Burma: Burma has a largely tropical climate with three seasons: the monsoon or rainy season,
from May to October; the cool season, from late November to February; and the hot season,
generally in March and April. Rainfall during the monsoon season totals more than 200 inches
in upper Burma and over 100 inches in lower Burma and Rangoon. Central Burma, called the
dry zone, and Mandalay, the chief city in the area, each receive about 30 inches. Mandalay is
usually warm to hot, with average daily temperatures ranging from 56-82°F in January (cool
season) to 77-100°F in April (hot season).

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