Rainy season in Thailand can be a tough time when you’re not prepared for it. It’s the low tourist season for a reason, in that travelers may not want to deal with getting wet, altering plans, or getting held up in a restaurant for an extra hour due to downpours. And of course all that is understandable from a traveller’s perspective.
But expats in Thailand tend to feel quite differently about the rainy season. They realize that the inconvenience of frequent rain showers is worth the reward. This season strips humidity from the air after the rainfall making the air more fresh and the heat more bearable. Rainy season also makes the beaches less crowded, hotels less expensive and more last minute transportation tickets available.
Rainy season can actually be quite nice, given that you are in fact comfortably prepared for it. Here’s how to do so:
1. Invest in a good umbrella
It’s really easy to find things for cheap in Thailand, but an umbrella during rainy season is not one thing you should skimp on. The last thing you want is your third 300 baht umbrella to break again, right in the middle of a downpour on your way to work. Spend more to get more uses and less accidents and it’ll pay for itself. We recommend something small that’s easy to carry around on a daily basis, as you really never know when the skies will suddenly open up. Getting caught in the rain without an umbrella on the way from work to your Bangkok condo is certainly not a pleasant way to start the evening. Especially if it starts pouring down while you are stuck in traffic on a motorcycle taxi.
2. Wear the right shoes
Since your feet are the first parts of your body to get wet during rainy season, it’s important to invest in the right shoes. Of course you’ll want something waterproof, but there’s more to it than that. You need your shoes to be:
a) Buoyant.
One of these rainy days you may step in a puddle that will take your shoe clean off your foot. You don’t want to search through the muddy waters to find it, so get shoes that float.
b) Strapped on.
Flip flops are absolutely the worst shoes you can wear during rainy season. They can easily slip off your feet and have no traction, so they can make you slip and fall. These are the shoes that you’re most likely to lose while walking through a puddle, so get shoes that can be strapped on or secured somehow to avoid losing them.
c) Open or easily drained.
Shoes that catch water, like boots, boat shoes or slippers will make you feel like you’re still standing in a puddle even though the rain ended an hour ago. If you must wear shoes like this, bring an extra pair of socks around with you, as nothing is worse than spending a day with wet feet. Yuck!
3. Avoid certain fabrics
Leather is the worst thing you can possibly wear during rainy season, so avoid this at all costs. Not only will it shrink on you while you’re wearing it, but it’ll make you hot, sticky, immobile and will lose its shape. Similarly, suede will stain easily in the rain so is best to be avoided as well. Any white fabrics may give you trouble, especially cotton.
4. Test your fabrics
Certain fabrics are highly absorbent, stick to the skin when wet, and dry slowly or just stays wet. If you’re living somewhere coastal, this may not be a problem for you as chances are that you will continue to be outside once the sun comes up. But in a place like Bangkok where tall buildings create shadows, you won’t be happy if you’re caught in a rainstorm with the wrong clothes on.
With so many fabric blends available these days, it’s not always easy to know what clothes will be best for the weather. But one way to test it is to wash your clothes and let them air dry outside. Check back on them in a half hour and see what’s damp and what’s almost dry.
5. Keep it cropped
Your pants or skirt, that is. Uneven surfaces can create deep and unavoidable puddles, so you may have no choice but to walk through one. In this case, it’s best to wear shorts or skirts that are knee-length or higher to avoid it soaking up the puddle.
6. Hats or sunglasses
Hats that have a wide enough brim to prevent water from streaming into your eyes are incredibly helpful to wear, whether you have an umbrella or not. Just get something that you like, because the humidity will inevitably give you hat hair and you’ll end up wearing it all day. If you do have an umbrella and don’t want hat hair, sunglasses with light lenses can help keep the water out of your eyes and will still allow you to see on a darker day.
7. Waterproof accessories
Contrary to popular belief, rainy season does not mean that it will rain for two or three months straight. It just means you’ll have showers in the mornings or evenings, or sometimes both. But when it does rain, it pours and you don’t want your electronics to be victim of that. If you can’t find a waterproof cell phone case or a small ocean-bag to keep it in, make sure you always carry a fresh plastic bag in case of sudden downpours.