[thegmanifesto]

Alright guys, so I am real close to pulling the trigger finally on Bangkok for April.

But VP told me it is the hottest month of the year and I shouldn't go then.

Anyone been there in April?

Is it unbearable?

(Side note: I don't really have interest in the New Year's water party gig, unless I really should go).

Would it be a complete airball to go then?

I may still rush it, but I would hate to have my first trip to BKK suck because of timing.

Break it down a little.

[Soma]

There's roughly three season: Cool from December to February, Hot from March to May and Wet from June to November. Despite the names, as you can see from the chart the temperature actually stays pretty constant throughout the year, though it cools off more at night during the Cool season and rains a lot more during the wet season. April is the hottest month by a slight margin but no matter what time of year you come, during the day it is going to be steamy - that's unavoidable. So, bottomline: April is not ideal (weather-wise) but still doable.

[RichieP]

Last time I was here in April it was disgusting for at least a few days - dripping with sweat as soon as you walk out the door, have to strategically walk by 7-11s for airconditioning pit-stops, etc.

Thing is, you dont need to be spending too much time outside. If you're there to party, daytime you will just be recovering/eating/ light shopping, cinema etc. All inside stuff, and you can get to and from places pretty much with constant aircon, either from the cheap taxis or skytrain.

April is fun for the Songkhran water festival which is like a week long water fight (timed with the heat to cool you off).

For daytime outside tourist stuff though - temples, markets - April is a bad month yeah. I dont really rate BKK much in that department though. The beauty is the food and partying and random weirdery.

Also fewer tourists in April. More thai girls to yourself.

I'm gonna be here in April still, but I wont be doing anything that involves walking outside much hehe.

[Tully Mars]

Never been in April, but I know it will be hot. If you do go in April you should time it were you catch a day or two of the Songkran festival (Thai New Year mid april). It's the biggest water fight you have ever seen and no one is free from getting drenched. I know lots of the old Bangkok Expats lock themselves up during the festival since it does get crazy slash borderline obnoxious. But I am sure it would still be a great experience. My advice "Just go" you will become addicted to the vibe of the city. Hopefully you will have at least a miniumum of 2 weeks to spend there. I will be back in Bangkok mid June, then off to Bogota...cant wait to compare those two crazy cities and their women. Keep us posted!!!

[Vicious]

I'm going in April, I survived Vegas in August last year so... I work part of the trip however and have had my share of sightseeing from earlier visits.

[WanderingSoul]

(03-06-2012 02:03 AM)Vicious Wrote:  

I'm going in April, I survived Vegas in August last year so... I work part of the trip however and have had my share of sightseeing from earlier visits.

I've never been to Vegas, but what makes BKK so bad is the fucking humidity! Dry heat, like I believe Vegas is, doesn't bother me. Humidity fucking kills me though. I got a heat rash on my face the second night I was in BKK after leaving Jiu Jitsu practice.

[AlphaTravel]

I'll be here in April but like has been mentioned I'll spend most of my days either indoors with aircon or by the pool as I usually do so it's only at night I'll be out. I tend not to venture out too much during the day when in BKK, it's too big, busy and hot all the time to want to walk around the streets when not completely neccessary.

[Vicious]

Can we agree that if you're not intent on doing a lot of sightseeing the temperature isn't really going to matter?

[AlphaTravel]

Agreed.

[WanderingSoul]

For sure. I didn't do SHIT in BKK during the day except for eat and recover from hangovers. Funny about BKK is it will be a million fuckin degrees outside, but better wear a long sleeve and jeans to the movie theater in MBK. They keep that bitch like an ice box. Could barely pay attention to the horrible moving I was watching because I was so cold.

[thegmanifesto]

Good Data so far guys. +1 to all! (Oh wait).

On a serious note, what are the chances you can roll Custom Suited in April?

At night?

[WanderingSoul]

(03-06-2012 11:23 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

Good Data so far guys. +1 to all! (Oh wait).

On a serious note, what are the chances you can roll Custom Suited in April?

At night?

Put a shit ton of baby powder on your balls lol. Honestly, I couldn't imagine doing it. I am sure some Thais can handle it, but the humidity is killer for me because I'm not use to it. Take your lightest suits and give it a try, but even jeans and a long sleeve shirt had me sweating super bad, and I generally don't sweat much.

[AlphaTravel]

Quote:

Funny about BKK is it will be a million fuckin degrees outside, but better wear a long sleeve and jeans to the movie theater in MBK. They keep that bitch like an ice box. Could barely pay attention to the horrible moving I was watching because I was so cold.

I've been to the cinema at MBK twice in the last few weeks, the temperature was OK in the screens. The Thai films I saw were terrible though. Like Thai music they all seem to be sad and romantic. Really cheap for a movie compared to what I'd pay back home.

[Vicious]

(03-06-2012 11:23 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

Good Data so far guys. +1 to all! (Oh wait).

On a serious note, what are the chances you can roll Custom Suited in April?

At night?

If you have a really light weight suit and in from venue to venue in a taxi it shouldn't be a problem.

Question is if you would really want to however? Dress in BKK is VERY casual so you'll easily stand out in a custom shirt and suit pants alone.

[mickey1981]

will be in bangkok end of march-beginning of april. cannot imagine it being much worse than miami in august-september

[el mechanico]

(03-07-2012 09:22 AM)mickey1981 Wrote:  

will be in bangkok end of march-beginning of april. cannot imagine it being much worse than miami in august-september

I'm curious about this as well. Is Thai hot the same as Florida in the summer hot?

[thegmanifesto]

(03-07-2012 02:59 AM)Vicious Wrote:  

(03-06-2012 11:23 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

Good Data so far guys. +1 to all! (Oh wait).

On a serious note, what are the chances you can roll Custom Suited in April?

At night?

If you have a really light weight suit and in from venue to venue in a taxi it shouldn't be a problem.

Question is if you would really want to however? Dress in BKK is VERY casual so you'll easily stand out in a custom shirt and suit pants alone.

I don't like to leave anything to chance.

Plus, I want to hit Thailand harder than it has ever been hit before.

I am talking about smacking Thailand thru the ropes and into the third row.

That is how I do it.

So anyone actually been during that month?

I think the Las Vegas in Summer comparison has to be off.

[Moma]

G- are you serious about the custom suit?? There is such a thing as overkill and rocking a custom suit in a humid joint is inane, fam.

I love to dress up myself but there are certain places if you pop a blazer on and the works, you are going to be known as the manifesto of sweat patches.

Drop it casual from what people are telling me, it doesn't take much swag to bang these little tarts. Rock a shirt, shorts and basic shoes and these thai tartlets will be sucking on your balls from dusk till dawn.
Sheet, the fact that you look like a foreigner and you have a little paper to your name roars in decibels to these lot.

[whosyourdaddy]

I'm in Bangkok right now and have been traveling around northern & NE Thailand the last few weeks. If you're not here to see sights all day and stuff, i don't think that Bangkok is all that bad-- it's a lot like Kuala Lumpur, my hotel is a 2-3 minute walk to the BTS station: you can spend most of the hottest part of the day in malls, in the air conditioned BTS (subway) system, there's even skywalks on Sukhumvit and lots of tall buildings with lots of shade. Much better than smaller cities with no air conditioning anywhere and you had to walk out in the hot sun all day.

Also i HIGHLY ADVISE you to wear some nice threads when you come here. You'll stick out in a good way. Thais in Bangkok are very stylish, and the guys in particular mostly seem to wear long pants and trendy clothing that would people in NYC would wear. Too many sunburnt tourists wearing flip-flops or shorts and t-shirts in a metropolitan city, where you'll see many in full business attire on Sukhumvit. You can wear linen based suits and still say cool-- i wear long sleeves and long pants (all linen) and stay as cool as in a tank top and shorts!!

[WanderingSoul]

(03-07-2012 11:01 AM)whosyourdaddy Wrote:  

I'm in Bangkok right now and have been traveling around northern & NE Thailand the last few weeks. If you're not here to see sights all day and stuff, i don't think that Bangkok is all that bad-- it's a lot like Kuala Lumpur, my hotel is a 2-3 minute walk to the BTS station: you can spend most of the hottest part of the day in malls, in the air conditioned BTS (subway) system, there's even skywalks on Sukhumvit and lots of tall buildings with lots of shade. Much better than smaller cities with no air conditioning anywhere and you had to walk out in the hot sun all day.

Also i HIGHLY ADVISE you to wear some nice threads when you come here. You'll stick out in a good way. Thais in Bangkok are very stylish, and the guys in particular mostly seem to wear long pants and trendy clothing that would people in NYC would wear. Too many sunburnt tourists wearing flip-flops or shorts and t-shirts in a metropolitan city, where you'll see many in full business attire on Sukhumvit. You can wear linen based suits and still say cool-- i wear long sleeves and long pants (all linen) and stay as cool as in a tank top and shorts!!

Good advice here. Not sure if Moma was being sarcastic, but the Thais dress very classy in non backpacker clubs. Nice jeans, shoes and a polo would make you the best dressed backpacker, but the Thais dress nice.

[Vicious]

(03-07-2012 10:53 AM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

I don't like to leave anything to chance.

Plus, I want to hit Thailand harder than it has ever been hit before.

I am talking about smacking Thailand thru the ropes and into the third row.

That is how I do it.

So anyone actually been during that month?

I think the Las Vegas in Summer comparison has to be off.

I've been in Thailand during this month though not Bangkok. As mentioned several times you are only restricted by how much time you are planning to spend outdoors. In that sense the comparison to Vegas is very real.

In all fairness I think that if your trip hinges on your ability to wear a suit or not then you shouldn't be going to bkk at all. I was there in Jan which is the cool part of the year and anything more than a long sleeve Zegna was unbearable outside.

[thegmanifesto]

(03-07-2012 11:01 AM)whosyourdaddy Wrote:  

Also i HIGHLY ADVISE you to wear some nice threads when you come here. You'll stick out in a good way. Thais in Bangkok are very stylish, and the guys in particular mostly seem to wear long pants and trendy clothing that would people in NYC would wear. Too many sunburnt tourists wearing flip-flops or shorts and t-shirts in a metropolitan city, where you'll see many in full business attire on Sukhumvit. You can wear linen based suits and still say cool-- i wear long sleeves and long pants (all linen) and stay as cool as in a tank top and shorts!!

Yeah, I am going for the best dressed in Bangkok.

Nothing to chance.

Good tip.

Quote:

I've been in Thailand during this month though not Bangkok. As mentioned several times you are only restricted by how much time you are planning to spend outdoors. In that sense the comparison to Vegas is very real.

What about the humidity difference between the two?

[chochemonger1]

Ill be in Saigon, Vietnam in April and, based on wikipedia, the weather and heat are almost identical to that of bangkok. Will have to try to use that to my advantage... like suggesting to the local young ladies during the day, that it is best to go watch a movie at my swanky air conditioned pad, so that they wont sweat or get sunburned.

[Frost]

I couldn't imagine spending five minutes outside in Bangkok in a suit today, even now.

But you will never have to spend more than 30 seconds outside before midnight. Air conned hotel, to air conned cab, to air conned club. Actually you may want to bring a heavy suit, Thais love to crank that AC.

Not sure if you're looking to mix in a trip to the islands before or after Bangkok, but a tip if you are: Come to Ko Phi Phi, and schedule your trip so you're here during the full moon party on Ko Pha Ngan. The early-twenties party animal set clears out and the island is much more chilled and spacious. Great if you're trying to relax, detox and get some work done (as I am) or if you're just not into the hippie rave scene.

http://fullmoonparty-thailand.com/schedules.html

[thegmanifesto]

(03-08-2012 12:05 AM)Frost Wrote:  

I couldn't imagine spending five minutes outside in Bangkok in a suit today, even now.

Does it cool down enough at night to wear one?