Well, April is nearly gone, so we have to expect some changes in the weather sometime soon. There's not been much rain in April save for a few heavy, brief thunderstorms. We took a walk at the Bang Wad reservoir a few days ago, the water level was much lower than a month before. It's been a very dry year so far, and over the last few days there has been no sign of any early start to the "low season" weather. The low season weather patterns are dominated by the "South West Monsoon" winds, bringing moisture across the Indian Ocean, with a lot more rain than high season, often some strong winds and big waves too. Now, much of the time the weather can be just as good as high season, but you get periods when it's pretty wet for days at a time also. I have written some summaries about weather patterns here:

• Phuket Weather - Overview of Seasons and Climate
• Low Season Weather in Phuket

Over the last week, we've had some evening rain a few times, but the rain can be very localised. Just yesterday, it was a largely sunny afternoon at Karon Beach, some clouds around, but no rain. A guy came by our office to drop off maps of Phuket - he'd just come through Patong and said it was tipping down and there were minor floods (there always are in Patong.. drains can't keep up).

I was amused to see Breaking News: Thunderstorm Expected in Thailand as a headline in the Bangkok Post on the 24th. What, just 1 thunderstorm for the whole country? At this time of year you expect some thunder since the days are very hot. Here in Phuket at least we get some breezes here and there. In Central and Northern Thailand, expect temperatures up to and above 40°C.

I'm heading away from Phuket for about 10 days starting tomorrow. We'll be going to Khao Sok National Park, then to Chumphon and Prachuap Khiri Khan. All the latest up to the minute weather in Phuket can always be found here on this blog by using the links on the left side of the page for webcams, weather radar, satellite images and various forecast websites.

This is now becoming a very dry April. After those few days of heavy evening rain at the end of March, I thought we might have a bit of rain in April. On average, April is wetter than March, and you can expect evening or afternoon thunder which is Mother Nature's way of dealing with the heat - it's a hot month, and the heat can produce sudden heavy downpours that normally only last an hour or less. But so far this month, I don't recall seeing ANY rain at all.

I know there has been some... Malcolm, owner of the Seaside Cottages at Mai Khao Beach sent me a message.... they had some rain on Friday night "we had some rain last night for about 1 hour at 8pm ish. Just happened to be on the same day that we decided to replace the roof on our house. Only a day's work but the builders took 3 hours for lunch and left before there was no sign of rain with roof only half complete. I should know better than to expect only 1 day from previous experience with builders here. So an hour's downpour left us with a flooded cottage" - I am sure it's all dried out now. On Friday we could see flashes of lightning to the north of our house, but we got no rain - it's about 30km from our house to Mai Khao Beach.

Yesterday, very hot again. I had to take a trip to Phuket Town to get new lenses for my glasses, having managed to drop them during the Songkran festivities. The optician needed about 90 minutes, so I took a walk around town. A 30 minute walk was plenty in that heat.. but it was still quite early and some small cafes in town don't open until at least 10am.. so I found myself having an airconditioned McD breakfast set with a burger, hash browns and coffee, only 85 Baht.

Later in the day, with all my family back from visiting the inlaws in Chumphon, we headed to one of our favourite places, The Beach Bar at Cape Panwa. It'll be closed after the end of April for low season, so we might not be back for 6 months! It's very peaceful, food is tasty, beers are cold, kids love to run around and play on the beach. And the sunset is OK, too...





There will be some changes in the weather in the next few weeks, but for now it's hot and there's hardly anyone here to enjoy it! Gone very quiet, maybe due to Bangkok troubles, or that volcano that's grounding European flights - or as usual because people seem to believe that April is the start of low season. No! It's still high season, very hot and sunny.

A quick Phuket weather blog update before heading out into the streets for a bit of Songkran fun. We'll be having a little Songkran party outside a friend's business located on the main street between Phuket Town and Patong. A BBQ, beers on ice and lots of water to throw violently at speeding motorbikes pour gently on people with a smile and a "Sawasdee Pee Mai", while trying not to get totally pissed.

Weather is HOT. We are back where we were in March - no rain for the last week, hot, hazy days, light winds. It's 10am on Songkran day as I write this, looks like it's going to be a roasting day today. Songkran should be a hot day, which is perfect for getting wet. Over the years we've tried to do various things on Songkran depending on our mood. Last year we drove around Patong in our pick up truck, joining many other families doing the same...



• Songkran 2009 - Patong Beach

In 2008, we drove around in Phuket Town before heading home and letting the kids throw as much water as they liked...



• Songkran 2008

In 2007, we first went to Mai Khao Beach for a local turtle release ceremony, then drove around the beaches - windows rolled up, we didn't have a pick up truck then :)





• Songkran 2007

This year I think I'll leave the camera at home. Just have fun and not worry about blogging for a day :)

So, as I said... a HOT week, so what did I do on Friday? Decided to go cycling at Koh Yao Noi island. Been years since I did any kind of bike ride. It was hot, there were lots of drink stops and I cycled 30km, a great day out.



Hard work at times, but very enjoyable - here's a picture of me on an offroad section through the rubber plantations:




Happy New Year - Sawasdee Pee Mai from Phuket.

Yes, April is here. The "high" season is winding down - many large overseas tour operators don't run charters to Thailand after the end of March, and as can be seen from last week, we start to get some rain and cloudy skies, although most days are still sunny, and it is very hot. This is the Thai "summer", hottest time of year, when schools are on holiday (apart from International Schools who have holidays same time as "back home"). On average, April is the 5th driest month of the year, but seems wet, since December to March is the dry season. We had those thunderstorms and brief but heavy downpours last week, but the last few days have been dry again.

Friday last week was the last wet evening. On Saturday, clouds threatened in the afternoon, looked like a big one was coming, nothing much happened, but it put me off going to watch the local football match, Phuket v Ranong - Phuket won 5 - 0, maybe should have gone along, as the rain did not come.

Sunday to Tuesday - hot and sunny, no rain, very blue skies. The 2 photos below were taken yesterday afternoon outside our dive shop in Karon Beach.





The nights have been very warm, hardly any wind - about what you'd expect at this time of year. I want aircon in our living room, but.. same every year.. soon enough the west winds will blow, and they blow right into the windows of our living room, so it's suddenly far more comfortable.

Coming up in Phuket - oh, just noticed it already started yesterday, 6 - 8 April, Phuket International Tattoo Convention. And then... Phuket Bike Week 2010 - from 9 - 13 April. I took some photos last year and will try to take some more this year (see Phuket Bike Week Photos 2009).

And then - Songkran.. the Thai New Year, 13th April. Last year we drove around Patong Beach in our pick up, throwing water and getting very wet (see Songkran 2009 Photos).

April in Phuket - lots of things happening, hot weather, oh and it's great diving at the moment too! Happy New Year :)