Costa Rica vs Thailand

Illuminated beachfront dining pavilion with white railings and thatched-roof bungalows reflected in the pool at dusk.

Woven cabana with turquoise daybed on white sand beach at Centara Grand Beach Resort Phuket, with pool and palm trees beyond.

Costa Rica and Thailand, side by side: live travel advisories, our resort catalog's real guest data, and each destination's honest weather picture. Everything you need to break the tie.

Costa Rica guide · Thailand guide · How we score

By the numbers

Costa Rica compared with Thailand
Costa Rica	Measure	Thailand
Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution	U.S. travel advisory	Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions
7	Resorts in our catalog	8
★ 4.4	Average guest rating	★ 4.5 (better)
$119–$289/night pp	Nightly rates	$36–$247/night pp
1 of 7	Adults-only resorts	0 of 8
Low hurricane risk	Hurricane exposure	Low hurricane risk
May–November ('green season'), with September–October seriously wet	Rainy season	May–October, wettest September–October
December–April, bone-dry in Guanacaste	Sweet spot	November–April (the Gulf side, Koh Samui, runs on a different clock; wettest October–December)
Spanish (English common in tourist areas)	Language	Thai (English widely used in tourist areas)
Costa Rican colón – USD widely accepted	Currency	Thai baht (THB); cards common, cash for markets
120V, Type A/B plugs (same as the US)	Power	230V, Type A/B/C plugs (bring an adapter)
On the right	Driving	On the left
Liberia – Daniel Oduber (LIR)	Main airport	Phuket International (HKT)
~3.5–5.5h from the US (nonstops to Liberia)	Flight time	~20–24h from the US with one stop

Advisory levels sync from travel.state.gov; catalog figures reflect the resorts we've researched, not every hotel in the country.

On the map

Costa Rica

Thailand

Weather, month by month

Month-by-month average high temperature and rainfall for Costa Rica and Thailand
Measure	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Costa Rica · high °F	91	92	93	93	91	88	88	88	87	86	87	89
Thailand · high °F	89	90	91	91	89	88	88	88	87	87	87	88
Costa Rica · rain (in)	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.7	7.7	9.0	5.9	7.9	13.0	12.2	4.3	0.5
Thailand · rain (in)	1.4	1.2	2.3	4.3	13.5	8.7	10.2	10.5	15.5	12.1	7.1	3.0

Approximate climate normals for Guanacaste / Papagayo and Phuket / Andaman coast: planning guidance, not a forecast. Deeper gold = hotter; deeper teal = wetter.