Phuket in February

The weather in February

February is the driest month of Phuket's year. On average about 24 mm of rain falls, on about 3 days, and thunder is heard on about one day. Days reach 34°C, nights drop to 25°C, and the air is at its least humid, about 69%.

These figures are the Thai Meteorological Department's averages for its Phuket weather station, 1991 to 2020. In four years out of five, February brought less than 39 mm of rain; the wettest February of the period had 104 mm.

Around the middle of the month the weather office's cool season ends and its hot season, which runs from mid-February to mid-May, begins. In 2026 it declared the hot season from 22 February.

The sea in February

The north-east monsoon, which blows from about mid-October to mid-February, is in its last weeks. Early in the month it can still freshen for a few days at a time, as the weather office forecast it would twice in the first part of February 2026, and then the wind turns easterly and the sea settles.

With the rough-surf months of May to October far off, the west coast's sea is usually calm, and about 28–29°C. Even so, look for the flag: red, stay out; yellow, swim with care; green, calm. A red-and-yellow flag means lifeguards are on duty.

The Similan and Surin island parks are open all month, from 15 October to 15 May. Leave sun cream with oxybenzone, octinoxate, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor or butylparaben at home: the parks have banned it since 2021.

Sunset and golden hour

The sun goes down between 18:34 and 18:38 in February. The sky is at its clearest of the year: on an average day cloud covers about four tenths of the sky.

The gold arrives in the last half hour before sunset; face west, over the sea, to catch it.

Chinese New Year in Phuket

Chinese New Year falls between late January and mid-February; this time it is Saturday 6 February, and Old Town and the island's shrines keep it for days.

On the day itself, families set out tables of offerings in front of their homes and shophouses, and at the shrines, Jui Tui among them, people top up the oil lamps and set off firecrackers.

Old Town's own festival follows, usually opening five days after the new year: three nights of food stalls, stages, shows and a parade, with Thalang Road and other Old Town streets closed to traffic in the evenings. The town announces the dates a week or two ahead.

Wat Chalong holds its fair for about a week around the new year, from dusk until about midnight, as it has for more than a century.

Where to eat, the shrines and the streets to walk: Phuket Old Town

Makha Bucha

Makha Bucha, one of the great Buddhist holy days, falls at a full moon in February, or some years early March: Sunday 21 February this time, with Monday 22 February a holiday.

In the morning people give alms to monks. After dark they walk three times around a temple's ordination hall carrying candles, incense and flowers, at Wat Chalong and temples across the island.

For the whole day, shops and restaurants don't sell alcohol: only licensed hotels, licensed entertainment venues and the airport terminal may. Government offices close too, immigration included.

The high season

February sits well inside November to April, the months the Tourism Authority of Thailand recommends for Phuket. In January and February 2025, the hotel association for southern Thailand reported the island's hotels about 92% full.

Chinese New Year week is busier still: on Chinese New Year's Day 2026, Phuket's airport set a one-day record of 40,221 international passengers. Book flights and a room early if your dates fall near it.

What to pack

• Breathable clothes for dry heat.
• A hat, sunglasses and a refillable water bottle.
• Sun cream that is safe for coral, for the island parks.
• Something red, if you'll be in Old Town for the new year.
• Long trousers or a long skirt and covered shoulders, for a temple on Makha Bucha.