Help us time our trip to Asia?

July 4, 2011 11:06 PM

WeatherFilter: Help us time our trip! Online resources I've seen haven't been consistent about the weather in Beijing, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Phuket in late October/early November. Will we be OK?

My wife and I (we're in our mid-20s) are planning a trip to Beijing, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Phuket later this year. We're considering arriving in Bangkok on October 24th, being in Phuket from Oct 27th-30th, Hong Kong until November 2nd, and then Beijing until November 5th.

I've done all kinds of research, and some sites say that Phuket won't be good this time of year-- it'll be too rainy. They suggest going a few weeks later. Other sites say that it'll be fine. I'm also reading mixed signals about the other cities.

Does anybody have any advice? Does the timing of our trip look good? We'd also considered reversing it to start in Beijing and end in Phuket, but for various reasons it probably makes more sense for us to start in Thailand.

Thanks in advance!

posted by unionsquarepark to travel & transportation (5 answers total)

It will rain in Thailand, definitely. However, the storms that time of year are usually short and violent and you'll still have hours of good weather.

So I wouldn't worry about it.
posted by bardic at 12:17 AM on July 5, 2011

expect smog in HK and BJ. Mid-summer and mid-winter seem to be the clearest times of year, while spring and autumn are usually the nastiest. October *should* be fairly dry in HK. Temperatures are variable. Some Decembers, for instance, have been consistently near freezing while others have never dipped below 60 in the daytime in my five years out here.
posted by trinarian at 12:52 AM on July 5, 2011

That time of the year is pretty good, in that it's not too hot. Also, the HK Observatory is fairly accurate in predicting weather here.
posted by onegoodthing at 1:07 AM on July 5, 2011

Thanks for the feedback, everybody. It sounds like there are no big concerns from you all, then!
posted by unionsquarepark at 7:46 AM on July 6, 2011

Beijing becomes freaking cold starting mid-October. I can wear a t-shirt in the first week of October, and be wearing a down coat by the middle of November. It's also cold in buildings and taxis, so plan on that!
posted by xmts at 4:56 PM on July 6, 2011