The low season is the off season because it’s wet. We traveled in May/June, which was still very dry. You might get anything from odd showers through to heavy rain. We found that rain didn’t seem to last very long, though – usually a few hours at most. Apart from one big storm in southern Thailand, it hardly rained during our trip at all.
Low prices
Accommodation prices drop like a rock, and you may well have your pick of rooms in certain places. Case in point: our first resort on Koh Lanta…
Limited choice
A lot of places close down during the quiet season, which is a bummer. While stuck in Krabi between transfers, I went wandering through the town looking for food. To say that there wasn’t a lot to choose from would be an understatement. Luckily, I stumbled across the local markets and picked up a clam curry, fried veggie fritters and some coconut treats.
We also found that the boats between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh weren’t running, leaving us no choice but to catch a bus – a bit disappointing, since I’d hoped to get a taste of river travel that way.
With all that said, aside from south Thailand, it was still incredibly busy everywhere we went. Bangkok was bustling, Angkor Wat was packed, and Halong Bay was pretty darn crowded too – I can’t imagine what it would be like in peak season.