Be patient a little longer. The Meteorological Department clarifies why winter in 2026 is arriving late, comparing it to 2023 and pointing out that the factors are quite similar.
On 2 November 2026, reports stated that on 14 October 2026, the Meteorological Department forecasted that Thailand's winter in 2026 would begin about one week later than average, around the third week of October 2026, and would end around mid-February 2027.
Most recently, on 2 November 2026, the Meteorological Department said, “We’ve been waiting so long for winter that even the sweaters feel neglected. Why is winter arriving so late this year?” Looking back at 2023, Thailand also began winter late, officially entering winter on 14 November 2023.
The cause was that 2023 was a year of Strong El Niño. Northern Thailand experienced continuous rain in October, and the central and eastern regions had rainfall during the first half of November. Later in the second half of November, temperatures dropped, bringing cool to cold weather, prompting the Meteorological Department to declare winter’s start on 14 November 2023.
For 2026, the meteorological factors are quite similar to those in 2023, which may result in a similar weather pattern at the start of winter. Those who have prepared winter clothes should wait a bit longer and keep following the Meteorological Department’s forecasts continuously.
Thairath Online has compiled official declarations of Thailand’s entry into winter over the past 10 years, from 2016 to 2026, as follows.
In 2016, winter was officially declared on 30 October 2016.
In 2017, winter was officially declared on23 October 2017.
In 2018, winter was officially declared on27 October 2018.
In 2019, winter was officially declared on17 October 2019.
In 2020, winter was officially declared on22 October 2020.
In 2021, winter was officially declared on2 November 2021.
In 2022, winter was officially declared on29 October 2022.
In 2023, winter was officially declared on14 November 2023.
In 2024, winter was officially declared on3 November 2024.
In 2025, winter was officially declared on23 October 2025.
Information from the Meteorological Department.