A Few Words From Me
There are a few signs that the wet season is ending. In Bangkok, shops and bars are putting up Halloween decorations, which in my experience is when the capital’s streets start to fill again. The Similan Islands reopen today, which is the surest marker of all. Two other dates are worth marking. Hoi An switches off its lights next Friday, and Thailand’s Revenue Department is taking comments until 29 October on a 1,000-baht departure tax. Added to the airport charge and the proposed tourist fee, that makes three charges to pass through a Thai airport. Each is modest alone. Together they come to 2,570 baht, about £57 a head. The story I’d keep an eye on is the quieter one at the end, the smoke over Singapore and Malaysia. It is the only item here you can’t plan around with a calendar, and the rains that normally clear it are running late. None of this changes my view that late October is a good time to be out here. The hills are still green and the crowds haven’t arrived. It just means doing a little homework before you book. As always, tell me what you’re seeing where you are, and if I’ve got something wrong, I’d rather hear it from you than find out later.
This Week in Southeast Asia
Hoi An Turns Its Lights Off on 23 October. Go Early.
Operators say that on the fourteenth night of each lunar month, Hoi An’s old town stays free of motor traffic and dims its electric lights in favour of lanterns and candles. This month that night is Friday 23 October, which falls ahead of the sky’s full moon on 26 October, so do not plan around the moon you can see.
You need an old town ticket, and the heritage centre’s official notice asks visitors to buy one before entering and mentions no free evening access, so assume you need it. It comes in two versions, VND 80,000 (about US$3 or £2.30) or VND 120,000 (about US$4.60 or £3.40), and either one is valid for three days.
Lanterns light up Hoi An
Plan the evening around the light. Operators put the main hours at about 6pm to 10pm, with the river busiest between roughly 7pm and 8.30pm and noticeably calmer after 9pm. Turn up before six, buy your ticket, and claim a riverside table or a rooftop seat while there is still a choice, because those fill early. A sampan ride out among the lanterns costs about VND 150,000 to 200,000 (roughly US$6 to $7.60, or £4.30 to £5.70) and gets you off the crowded bank.
Floating a paper lantern costs a few thousand to 20,000 dong, well under a dollar. Every one adds to what the river’s clean-up crews collect afterwards, so buy one rather than six. Most visitors drift towards the Japanese Covered Bridge, so if you want room to stand, start at the central market end and walk towards Le Loi Street, where it tends to be quieter.
Central Vietnam is deep into its wet season right now, so check the forecast the day before. If the night rains out, the next one is Sunday 22 November, then Tuesday 22 December.
The Similan Islands Reopen Today as the Andaman Monsoon Eases
Similan and Surin open for the season today, 15 October, and stay open until mid-May. The closure gives the reefs a rest through the monsoon, and Thailand’s Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning reports (in Thai) that Similan took more than 400,000 visitors last season, over 90% of them foreign. That is a lot of people for a few small beaches, and it is why the rules are worth reading before you book.
Foreign adults pay 500 baht to enter (about US$15 or £11) and children aged 3 to 14 pay 250 baht. Day-trip operators normally sort the ticket for you, but if you are going independently, check the national parks department’s e-ticket requirement first. Mineral sunscreen is the safe choice, because oxybenzone, octinoxate, 4-MBC and butylparaben are banned in Thailand’s marine parks, with fines of up to 100,000 baht.
Granite boulders and clear shallows are the Similan Islands’ signature view.
The first weeks of the season can still bring rough seas, and the parks can close early for weather, so pick an operator that lets you move the date for free. We covered the 2024 reopening, and the same rule applies now: book the boat, not the date.
Thailand Wants Another 1,000 Baht From You on the Way Out
Stack up everything Thailand is now charging or planning to charge air travellers and one trip could cost 2,570 baht, about US$76 or £57. Only the first charge is in force. The airport passenger service charge rose from 730 to 1,120 baht on 20 June, and tickets issued since then carry the new rate (we covered the rise in Issue 13).
The other two are proposals. The 450-baht tourist fee, which we covered in Issue 22, is still awaiting approval, with air arrivals first and land and sea collection pushed back a year. The new one is a 1,000-baht departure tax on every air passenger of every nationality, capped in law at 5,000 baht. It would take effect 180 days after publication in the Royal Gazette, and tickets bought before then are exempt as drafted. The Revenue Department is taking public comments until 29 October through the government’s legal consultation site, law.go.th.
Together, four people paying all three would hand over 10,280 baht (about US$306 or £228), which is worth knowing before you book rather than after.
Sumatra’s Smoke Has Reached Singapore Again, and the Rains Are Late
Singapore’s air entered the “very unhealthy” band overnight on 14 October, and by midday on 15 October the 24-hour PSI in the west stood at 212, the highest of the year so far. Other regions read between 128 and 194. Smoke from fires in Kalimantan and southern Sumatra is drifting across. Johor closed its schools on 8 and 9 October.
The problem is the calendar. Singapore’s weather service expects the transition to wetter weather to occur in late October or early November, later than in the last two years, because El Niño tends to delay the end of the dry season. Some experts expect real relief only around December. The National Environment Agency now tells people to check the one-hour PM2.5 reading before going outside. In the “very high” band, healthy people should minimise outdoor activity for the next hour, and people with chronic lung or heart disease should avoid it.
Check the PM2.5 and PSI readings on the morning you fly, keep the hike or the bike ride flexible, and leave a spare day in the plan. The fires behind the haze include the West Kalimantan blazes we covered from the orangutan side in Issue 26.
What’s On
This Week
PHUKET VEGETARIAN FESTIVAL – Phuket, Thailand | Until 18 October
The final days include fire-walking at Baan Tha Rue Shrine in Thalang at 8pm on 15 October, a knife-ladder ritual on 17 October and a bridge-crossing and farewell procession on 18 October, though ritual times shift, so confirm locally.
WAX CASTLE PROCESSION AND ROYAL TROPHY LONG BOAT RACING – Sakon Nakhon, Thailand | 20-26 October
Illuminated wax castles and long-boat racing mark the end of Buddhist Lent at Wat Phra That Choeng Chum Worawihan, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s October listings give the dates.
UBUD WRITERS & READERS FESTIVAL – Ubud, Bali, Indonesia | 21-25 October
This year’s theme is “Samarasā: Awareness. Empathy. Action.”, with programmes spread across central Ubud, and the tourism board’s event page says to book tickets and rooms early.
DEEPAVALI FESTIVAL VILLAGE – Little India, Singapore | 10 October to 8 November
Stalls open from 7pm on Campbell Lane and the Serangoon Road lights glow from 7pm until midnight, with Deepavali itself on Sunday 8 November.
Coming Up
LUANG PRABANG HALF MARATHON – Luang Prabang, Laos | 24 October
The race starts at the Royal Palace and runs through the historic streets beside the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers in 21 km, 14 km and 7 km versions, raising money for the Lao Friends Hospital for Children, and NT2 Run Club has the details.
BOUN OK PHANSA – Laos | 26 October
Laos marks the end of Buddhist Lent with a public holiday on Monday 26 October, and boat racing on the Mekong in Vientiane belongs to the same celebrations, so expect closed offices and busy riverbanks.
BANGKOK ART BIENNALE – Bangkok, Thailand | 29 October 2026 to 28 February 2027
The fifth edition, themed “Angels & Mara”, takes over temples including Wat Arun and Wat Pho as well as museums and malls, and the official event listing names the venues.
Worth Reading
If this week’s dates have you checking the weather, Southeast Asia Does Not Have One Wet Season. It Has Eleven Timetables, and Most Visitors Read the Wrong One explains which countries are still wet and which have moved on.
That is Issue No. 29. Follow Asia Unmasked on Facebook and Twitter/X for stories between issues, and forward this to someone who is planning a trip. More at asiaunmasked.com.
