South Africa vs Thailand

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

South Africa 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.

South Africa guide · Thailand guide · How we score

By the numbers

South Africa compared with Thailand
South Africa	Measure	Thailand
Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution	U.S. travel advisory	Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions
0	Resorts in our catalog	8
–	Average guest rating	★ 4.5
–	Nightly rates	$36–$247/night pp
0 of 0	Adults-only resorts	0 of 8
No hurricane season	Hurricane exposure	Low hurricane risk
November–March (southern-hemisphere summer thunderstorms)	Rainy season	May–October, wettest September–October
April–September for dry, mild weather; also prime safari season inland	Sweet spot	November–April (the Gulf side, Koh Samui, runs on a different clock; wettest October–December)
11 official languages – English widely spoken	Language	Thai (English widely used in tourist areas)
South African rand (ZAR)	Currency	Thai baht (THB); cards common, cash for markets
230V, large Type M/N plugs (special adapter needed)	Power	230V, Type A/B/C plugs (bring an adapter)
On the left	Driving	On the left
Durban (DUR) or Johannesburg (JNB)	Main airport	Phuket International (HKT)
~15–17h from the US East Coast (often via Europe or the Gulf)	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

No mapped resorts yet

South Africa

Thailand

Weather, month by month

Month-by-month average high temperature and rainfall for South Africa and Thailand
Measure	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
South Africa · high °F	82	83	82	79	77	74	73	74	75	77	79	81
Thailand · high °F	89	90	91	91	89	88	88	88	87	87	87	88
South Africa · rain (in)	5.3	4.8	4.8	2.9	2.2	1.1	1.5	1.9	2.9	4.3	4.8	4.0
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 KwaZulu-Natal coast (Durban) and Phuket / Andaman coast: planning guidance, not a forecast. Deeper gold = hotter; deeper teal = wetter.

Where you'd actually stay

Best of South Africa

No South Africa resorts in our catalog yet.

Full South Africa guide

Best of Thailand

Full Thailand guide

Chains here: Centara Grand · Club Med · Marriott Hotels & Resorts