Thailand, keep those umbrellas within arm’s reach! The Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) has raised the flag for heavy rain in 44 provinces, with the Northeast squarely in the splash zone—about 70% of the region is expected to see showers that go from steady to downright drenching. The watchwords for the day: flash floods and forest runoff, especially near hills, watercourses, and low-lying communities.
What’s steering the storm?
Two main players are driving this soggy setup. First, a monsoon trough is draped across northern Laos and northern Vietnam. Second, a strengthening southwest monsoon is sweeping moisture across the Andaman Sea, Thailand, and the Gulf of Thailand. Together, they’re priming the skies for widespread thunderstorms and pockets of heavy to very heavy rain.
And yes, Typhoon Podul is on the map—currently roaming the Pacific, tracking past Taiwan and forecast to make landfall on China’s eastern coast around August 13–14. Good news for Thailand: Podul isn’t expected to enter the Kingdom. Still, its broad circulation can juice up the monsoon, keeping our rain engine humming.
Heads up at sea: choppy and then some
Mariners, take note. Strong winds are whipping up both the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand:
- Upper Andaman Sea: Waves around 2 meters, higher in thunderstorms.
- Lower Andaman & Upper Gulf: Waves 1–2 meters, again higher near storm cells.
If your route intersects dark clouds or lightning, steer clear. Thunderstorms can turn seas from bumpy to brutal in minutes.
Region-by-region forecast
Northern Thailand
Scattered to numerous thunderstorms, covering about 60% of the region, with heavy bursts likely. Watch areas include Chiang Rai, Phayao, Nan, Uttaradit, Phitsanulok, and Phetchabun. Temperatures range from 23°C in the morning to 36°C by day, with southwest winds around 10–15 km/h.
Northeastern Thailand
The rain bull’s-eye. Roughly 70% of the area can expect storms, some intense, particularly in Loei, Nong Khai, Bueng Kan, Nong Bua Lamphu, Udon Thani, Sakon Nakhon, Nakhon Phanom, Chaiyaphum, Khon Kaen, Nakhon Ratchasima, and Buriram. Temperatures 23–35°C, with southwest winds 10–20 km/h. With saturated ground, even moderate rains can trigger swift runoff—stay alert near streams and slopes.
Central Thailand
Storms in about 60% of the area, with downpours possible in Nakhon Sawan, Uthai Thani, Lopburi, Saraburi, Suphanburi, Kanchanaburi, and Ratchaburi. Temperatures 24–37°C, southwest winds 10–20 km/h. Brief but heavy rain is likely during the afternoon and evening commute.
Eastern Thailand
Thunderstorms over 60% of the region, with heavy rain eyed for Nakhon Nayok, Prachinburi, Rayong, Chanthaburi, and Trat. Temperatures 24–35°C. Southwest winds 15–35 km/h will push seas to 1–2 meters, higher near storms—beach flags and boat captains, take heed.
Southern Thailand (Gulf coast)
Expect thunderstorms over about 40% of the area, particularly in Chumphon, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat. Temperatures 23–35°C, with brisk southwest winds 15–35 km/h. Seas around 1 meter, building to 1–2 meters offshore or under storm cells.
Southern Thailand (Andaman coast)
Stormier here: around 60% coverage, with heavy rain likely in Ranong, Phang Nga, Phuket, Krabi, Trang, and Satun. Temperatures 24–32°C. From Ranong northward, southwest winds 20–35 km/h and seas near 2 meters; from Phang Nga southward, southwest winds 15–35 km/h and seas 1–2 meters. Expect quick-hitting squalls and reduced visibility.
Bangkok and Metropolitan Area
Thunderstorms in about 60% of the capital and its neighbors. Temperatures 26–36°C with southwest winds 10–20 km/h. Drainage-heavy intersections could pond quickly—budget a few extra minutes if you’re headed out.
Safety first: simple steps that matter
- Avoid steep slopes, riverbanks, and low-lying spots during prolonged rain—flash floods move faster than you think.
- Drivers: slow down in downpours and give extra space; hydroplaning loves slick roads.
- Secure loose items outdoors and clear drains around homes to help water flow where it should.
- Mariners: check the latest marine warnings, wear lifejackets, and sidestep any thunderstorm cells on the horizon.
- Keep a small go-bag handy—torch, power bank, basic first aid, and essential meds—just in case.
About Typhoon Podul—close, but not coming
Podul is projected to pass Taiwan and move ashore along China’s eastern coast between August 13 and 14. While it isn’t forecast to enter Thailand, its broad circulation can enhance the southwest monsoon, feeding more moisture into our weather pattern. Translation: Thailand’s rains are homegrown monsoon mischief, not a direct typhoon hit.
Bottom line
For the next 24 hours, Thailand’s north, northeast, east, and the Andaman side of the south are in for frequent storms with pockets of heavy rain. The seas will be feisty, the air thick with humidity, and the umbrellas well-used. Keep tabs on updates from the TMD and local authorities, plan travel with the weather in mind, and give waterways the respect they deserve. Sunshine will return—just not today.
If the TMD says 70% of the Northeast is getting hammered, I’m taking that seriously. Flash floods don’t care about your pickup’s snorkel kit. Please stop driving into brown water just to save five minutes.
They raise the red flag every other week and half the time it’s drizzle. People can’t shut their shops every time the sky looks grumpy.
Last year in Nan the early warning gave my aunt time to move her stuff upstairs, and it saved a lot. False alarm once is better than being wrong once when it counts. The ground is already saturated, so it doesn’t take much to flash.
This one isn’t just vibes, it’s physics: monsoon trough over northern Laos/Vietnam plus a stronger southwest monsoon equals moisture conveyor belt. Podul’s broad circulation adds divergence aloft, so storms vent and intensify. That’s textbook heavy rain setup.
Textbooks don’t keep rice dry, friend.
Rural roads flood faster than city streets because culverts are clogged with weeds and plastic. If the village clears them today, half the trouble is gone.
TMD has gotten more accurate in the last five years, but their communication still swings between bland and panic. We need probabilistic maps, not just province lists. Also, stop treating typhoons as binary hit/miss; moisture plumes matter. This is climate change meeting bad land use in real time.
Agree on communication, but the article actually did a decent job on Podul enhancing the monsoon while not making landfall. That nuance is rare in Thai weather posts.
True, credit where due. Now give us open data feeds so local volunteers can model neighborhood flood risk.
In Phuket the station network is patchy up in the hills, so orographic rain gets undercounted. When the app says light showers, Kamala is sometimes drowning. Microclimates make blanket forecasts look wrong even when they’re right on average.
Ensemble rainfall forecasts exist, but agencies rarely publish them in a digestible way. With saturated soils, the runoff coefficient spikes, and even moderate bursts drive fast rises in small catchments. Orographic lift on the Andaman side will be nasty under those SW winds.
Just tell me if Talat Nam is open or underwater. Not everyone speaks storm science.
Farmers are always told to be patient while the dams ‘manage’ for the city. Then they hold too much and panic-release at night. Give us a public, staggered release schedule and we’ll plan harvests and pumps.
Upstream deforestation and corn expansion dump sediment into reservoirs, shrinking storage every year. It’s not just dam ops; the whole watershed is sick.
In 1995 we listened to the radio and moved the buffalo when they said so. Now we get ten different app alerts and nobody believes any of them. Too much noise, not enough trust.
Exactly, trust comes from transparency. Post gate openings in real time and compensate when releases flood fields we were told would be safe.
It’s the sugarcane and maize on steep slopes. You strip the hills, you get brown rivers in 30 minutes.
Sorry if this is dumb, what is runoff? Does it mean the water runs away?
Not dumb at all. Runoff is rain that can’t soak into the ground, so it flows over land into streams, and when there’s too much, it becomes a flood.
If you’re in a small boat on the Andaman side today, don’t be a hero. Two-meter waves with squalls will flip a long-tail in seconds. Lifejackets aren’t optional just because you know the bay.
Been at sea 20 years, and the only times I got scared were in thunderstorms that looked harmless from the beach. Gust fronts hit like a truck and the chop goes vertical. Respect the black line on the horizon.
Thank you! Also, lightning on open water is not romantic. It’s a lottery you don’t want to win.
Fishermen can’t feed families from the dock. Warnings don’t pay fuel debts.
Upper Andaman around 2 m, higher in cells, and gusts 35–45 km/h with outflow. If you must go, hug the lee and watch the radar for fast-moving lines. But honestly, delay if you can.
Bangkok floods every payday and we act surprised. We spent billions on tunnels and still Rama 9 turns into a canal by 6 pm. Either the drains are clogged or the planners assumed rain obeys office hours. Which is it?
It’s also us throwing cups and plastic into the drains. City Hall can’t vacuum every noodle bowl. Stop littering and half the flood is gone.
Fair, but enforcement exists for a reason. Fine the vendors blocking storm grates, and put grates that can’t be pried off. Maintenance schedules should be public.
Don’t forget electrical cabinets. Every year some intersection shorts out because the panel sits at knee height.
Designs are decent but maintenance cycles are too slow for monsoon reality. Leaves, silt, and cooking oil build up, then a 50 mm burst hits and everything backs up. Add permeable pavements and you buy time.
BTS still runs, I’m good.
Please stop sharing that LINE message saying Typhoon Podul will slam into Bangkok. It’s not entering Thailand, it’s juicing the monsoon from afar. Big difference, same wet result.
Does that mean flights to Chiang Mai will be canceled? I’m supposed to go tomorrow afternoon.
Scattered storms don’t necessarily shut airports, but delays are likely if cells sit on approach. Check your airline app and watch the TMD radar around noon. Bring patience and a portable charger.
My kids’ bus route crosses two low spots that flood every time. I’d rather they be late than floating.
If you want signals beyond rumors, follow the TMD warning feed and the airport’s official notices. Crowd videos can be misleading on timing and location.
Tourists in Phuket: red flags on the beach aren’t decoration. Rip currents under storm swells are invisible and deadly. Storm selfies aren’t worth a funeral.
I surfed in Bali storms and it was fine. Waves are fun if you know what you’re doing.
Different beach, different bottom, different current. Lifeguards here drag locals out every week in monsoon season.
Kata and Karon had three rescues last week even with big red flags out. People think they can outswim a conveyor belt, but you can’t. Swim parallel or don’t go in at all.
Booked island-hopping tomorrow; operator says ‘up to you’. Up to me to lose the deposit, I guess.
Hillside condos and road cuts are turning slope runoff into torrents. You pave the watershed and the rain has only one place to go. Then we act shocked when ‘forest runoff’ wipes out a village market. Stop approving builds on unstable slopes during monsoon.
Developers aren’t the boogeyman; we follow the permits the state gives us. Proper retaining and drainage can coexist with buildings. Blanket bans are lazy policy.
Permits aren’t physics. Retaining walls fail when the backfill saturates and drainage clogs with leaf litter. The risk window is now, not when the glossy EIA was printed.
Chanthaburi had a slide two years ago after a new road cut, and it wasn’t even pouring that day. After a week of rain, one more squall is enough to tip it. Slope risk is cumulative.
As long as envelopes change hands, those EIAs will keep saying ‘minimal impact’. The hills will answer differently.
Every year same warning, same drama.
Tell that to my shop in Ubon that filled with knee-deep water in 40 minutes. If I hadn’t moved the stock fast, I’d have lost a month’s income. The warnings let me stack the bags near the door.
Fair point, I’m just tired of the noise. Maybe we need fewer alerts but more specific ones.
Warning fatigue is real, which is why impact-based alerts help: ‘flooding on this road’ beats ‘60% chance of storms’. Hyperlocal data plus history can target messages better. It’s doable if agencies share.
Just wear flip-flops and keep going.
The go-bag advice is solid and boring, which means it works. Torch, power bank, basic meds, copies of IDs in a zip bag. Add a whistle if you live near waterways.
Water treatment tabs or a small filter are cheap and useful when mains get muddy. Also a headlamp beats a hand torch when you’re moving stuff.
Good call on the headlamp. And keep the power bank charged, not fossilized at 3% like mine last time.
Pet owners, pack kibble and a spare leash. Frightened cats do not negotiate evacuations.
Avoid wading if you can; floodwater carries bacteria and can cause leptospirosis. If you must, cover cuts and wash with clean water after. Tetanus shots aren’t a meme.
Schools in flood-prone zones should decide closures the night before, not at 7 am. Parents juggling commutes need certainty. Safety beats perfect attendance.
We have an online backup plan but it’s hard when half the class loses power or signal. Maybe staggered schedules on heavy-rain days would help. Teachers aren’t storm-proof either.
Staggered is fine if it’s communicated early. I just don’t want kids stuck on buses as water rises.
Can’t stay home every time it rains; bosses don’t care about monsoon. The school text needs to come before I’m already at the office.
Cancel math exam then please. My socks were wet all day last time.
Tie closures to thresholds: river levels, 24-hr rainfall, and road passability. Publish the triggers so it’s not guessing. It reduces fights and panic.
Upper Andaman near 2 m and higher in storms means small fishing boats should not be outside the shelter of islands. Upper Gulf at 1–2 m still slaps hard in a squall line. If your route intersects dark cells, detour or delay.
If boats don’t go, restaurants don’t get fish and staff don’t get shifts. Weather warnings ripple through wallets fast.
I get it, but a capsized boat pays no debts. Plan around the windows between cells; they exist if you watch the sky and radar.
Watch for sharp wind shifts and temperature drops at the shoreline; that’s a gust front. The sea goes from lumpy to stacked in minutes when the line hits.
TV will show one flooded soi in Bangkok all day while Buriram gets hammered. Keep an eye on your local forecast, not just the capital.