A bit of history…

For a long time, people used to call Phuket Island the “Pearl of the Andaman Sea”. It really is a jewel of an island, surrounded by more than thirty other smaller beautiful islands. Unknown to most visitors, Phuket Island has actually been a wealthy province since well before tourism was a thing. This was due to its thriving tin mining industry during the 17th, 18th and 19th century..
“Phuket” is actually the modern name for the island. In ancient times the island was instead known as “Jung Ceylon” and subsequently as “Thalang”. The word Phuket owes its origins to the Malay word “Bukit” which means “hill”. The good reason for this is that the island is characterised by its beautiful, lush tropical hills.

Phuket Island Weather & Climate

While Phuket Island generally presents hot and humid weather throughout the year, we can loosely separate it into three seasons: “Hot”, “Hotter” and “Oh My”! Jokes apart, while the temperature around here remains roughly unchanged across the year, we can differentiate the periods as follows:

November-February: “Cool Season”

Locals consider November to February the “cool” season. While still pretty hot, the weather tends to be more tolerable in terms of temperature and humidity. It’s comparable to Florida’s summer weather with 25-33°C temperature, with occasional short and heavy thundershowers in the afternoons and evenings. The sea is generally calm as the monsoon wind blows gently from east, leaving Phuket Island in a sheltered position.

March-May: “Dry Season”

The hot & dry season is normally considered between early March and early May. During this time Phuket Island sees little to no precipitations and temperatures that often exceed 35 °C (95 °F). This is the favourite time of the year by most Phuket visitors as the weather tends to be quite stable with the sun shining as well as calm & clear sea pretty much every day. While this is certainly a good recipe for a dream Phuket holiday, the heat can be quite intense.

May-October: “Green Season”

Between May and October, during the summer season, the southwestern monsoon wind consistently affects Phuket Island. This brings more frequent precipitations, stronger westerly wind, and – consequently – choppier sea on average. This isn’t necessarily a negative thing though, as the green season still sees plenty of sunny days with calm seas. At the same time, the island is not as packed as during the touristy high season. The rainiest month is usually September.