{
  "id": "thailand",
  "destination": "thailand",
  "name": "Thailand",
  "route_label": "from Phuket",
  "kind": "classic",
  "question": "What is a good 7-day sailing itinerary in Thailand from Phuket?",
  "answer": "A classic 7-day sailing itinerary in Thailand from Phuket starts and ends in Ao Chalong and goes Ao Chalong → Koh Phi Phi → Railay (Krabi) → Koh Hong → Phang Nga Bay → Koh Yao Noi → Ao Chalong: 6 legs and about 110 nautical miles in straight lines between the stops (our calculation; you will sail further). By our rules we name no best months, because we have no monsoon rule yet; the mean wind at Ao Chalong, Phuket is 5–8 knots (our calculation from NASA POWER data) across the year; most anchorages have mooring buoys and damaging coral is a criminal offence, according to a marine guide (no official Thai page found).",
  "answer_markdown": "A classic 7-day sailing itinerary in Thailand from Phuket starts and ends in Ao Chalong and goes Ao Chalong → Koh Phi Phi → Railay (Krabi) → Koh Hong → Phang Nga Bay → Koh Yao Noi → Ao Chalong: 6 legs and about 110 nautical miles in straight lines between the stops (our calculation; you will sail further). By our rules we name no best months, because we have no monsoon rule yet; the mean wind at Ao Chalong, Phuket is 5–8 knots (our calculation from NASA POWER data ([NASA POWER](https://power.larc.nasa.gov/docs/services/api/temporal/monthly/), checked 28 Oct 2026)) across the year; most anchorages have mooring buoys and damaging coral is a criminal offence, according to a marine guide (no official Thai page found) ([Thai Marine Guide](https://thaimarineguide.com/info/restricted-areas/), checked 28 Oct 2026).",
  "canonical_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/itineraries/thailand/",
  "markdown_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/itineraries/thailand.md",
  "api_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/api/itineraries/thailand.json",
  "destination_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/thailand/",
  "best_time_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/best-time/thailand/",
  "true_cost_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/true-cost/thailand/",
  "licence_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/licence-by-country/thailand/",
  "book_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/go/samboat?dest=thailand&pos=api",
  "checked": "2026-10-29",
  "basis": {
    "status": "editorial",
    "note": "",
    "sources": []
  },
  "stops": [
    {
      "index": 0,
      "name": "Ao Chalong",
      "lat": 7.8197,
      "lon": 98.3505,
      "kind": "not_verified",
      "kind_sources": [],
      "rules": [],
      "fees": []
    },
    {
      "index": 1,
      "name": "Koh Phi Phi",
      "lat": 7.7363,
      "lon": 98.7703,
      "kind": "not_verified",
      "kind_sources": [],
      "rules": [],
      "fees": []
    },
    {
      "index": 2,
      "name": "Railay (Krabi)",
      "lat": 8.0114,
      "lon": 98.8365,
      "kind": "not_verified",
      "kind_sources": [],
      "rules": [],
      "fees": []
    },
    {
      "index": 3,
      "name": "Koh Hong",
      "lat": 8.2388,
      "lon": 98.5061,
      "kind": "not_verified",
      "kind_sources": [],
      "rules": [],
      "fees": []
    },
    {
      "index": 4,
      "name": "Phang Nga Bay",
      "lat": 8.3359,
      "lon": 98.5029,
      "kind": "not_verified",
      "kind_sources": [],
      "rules": [],
      "fees": []
    },
    {
      "index": 5,
      "name": "Koh Yao Noi",
      "lat": 8.1339,
      "lon": 98.6099,
      "kind": "not_verified",
      "kind_sources": [],
      "rules": [],
      "fees": []
    }
  ],
  "legs": [
    {
      "day": 1,
      "from": "Ao Chalong",
      "to": "Koh Phi Phi",
      "distance_nm": 25.5
    },
    {
      "day": 2,
      "from": "Koh Phi Phi",
      "to": "Railay (Krabi)",
      "distance_nm": 17
    },
    {
      "day": 3,
      "from": "Railay (Krabi)",
      "to": "Koh Hong",
      "distance_nm": 23.9
    },
    {
      "day": 4,
      "from": "Koh Hong",
      "to": "Phang Nga Bay",
      "distance_nm": 5.8
    },
    {
      "day": 5,
      "from": "Phang Nga Bay",
      "to": "Koh Yao Noi",
      "distance_nm": 13.7
    },
    {
      "day": 6,
      "from": "Koh Yao Noi",
      "to": "Ao Chalong",
      "distance_nm": 24.4
    }
  ],
  "total_distance_nm": 110.3,
  "distance_method": "Great-circle distance between OpenStreetMap (Nominatim) coordinates, Earth radius 6,371.0088 km, 1 nm = 1.852 km. Straight lines: the sailed distance is longer.",
  "weather": {
    "reference_point": {
      "place": "Ao Chalong, Phuket",
      "lat": 7.822,
      "lon": 98.363,
      "elevation_m": 10.57
    },
    "months": [
      {
        "month": 1,
        "name": "January",
        "mean_temp_c": 27.2,
        "mean_wind_kn": 6.5
      },
      {
        "month": 2,
        "name": "February",
        "mean_temp_c": 27.7,
        "mean_wind_kn": 6.5
      },
      {
        "month": 3,
        "name": "March",
        "mean_temp_c": 28.7,
        "mean_wind_kn": 5.5
      },
      {
        "month": 4,
        "name": "April",
        "mean_temp_c": 29,
        "mean_wind_kn": 5.2
      },
      {
        "month": 5,
        "name": "May",
        "mean_temp_c": 28.9,
        "mean_wind_kn": 6
      },
      {
        "month": 6,
        "name": "June",
        "mean_temp_c": 28.4,
        "mean_wind_kn": 7.2
      },
      {
        "month": 7,
        "name": "July",
        "mean_temp_c": 28.2,
        "mean_wind_kn": 7.7
      },
      {
        "month": 8,
        "name": "August",
        "mean_temp_c": 28,
        "mean_wind_kn": 8.1
      },
      {
        "month": 9,
        "name": "September",
        "mean_temp_c": 27.7,
        "mean_wind_kn": 7.7
      },
      {
        "month": 10,
        "name": "October",
        "mean_temp_c": 27.5,
        "mean_wind_kn": 6.2
      },
      {
        "month": 11,
        "name": "November",
        "mean_temp_c": 27.6,
        "mean_wind_kn": 5.6
      },
      {
        "month": 12,
        "name": "December",
        "mean_temp_c": 27.3,
        "mean_wind_kn": 6.5
      }
    ],
    "source": "NASA POWER monthly, 2016–2025 means (our calculation)"
  },
  "best_months": {
    "best_weather": null,
    "sweet_spot": null,
    "families": [
      "March",
      "April",
      "November"
    ],
    "windiest": [
      "July",
      "August",
      "September"
    ],
    "rules": {
      "best_weather": "Warm (≥ 20 °C) and outside the Atlantic hurricane season (1 June–30 November, NOAA) or Tahiti's wet season (November–April, Tahiti Tourisme). Not given where we have no season or rainfall source.",
      "sweet_spot": "Best-weather months that are not among the 3 priciest months (our rule).",
      "families": "The calmest best-weather months by mean wind (our suggestion; mean wind is not gusts or sea state).",
      "wind": "The windiest months by mean wind speed at our reference point (our ranking)."
    }
  },
  "marina_examples": [],
  "rules": [
    {
      "text": "Thai Marine Guide: most anchorages have mooring buoys (yellow or red with a blue band); if none is free, anchor well away from coral, because damaging coral is a criminal offence.",
      "status": "secondary",
      "sources": [
        {
          "id": "fish_thailand_1",
          "name": "Thai Marine Guide",
          "title": "Thai Marine Guide – restricted areas",
          "url": "https://thaimarineguide.com/info/restricted-areas/",
          "checked": "2026-10-28",
          "note": "Secondary source (not official).",
          "tier": "secondary"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "fees": [
    {
      "item": "Anchoring fees in marine national parks",
      "amount": "Not verified",
      "status": "not_verified",
      "note": "Thai Marine Guide says rangers can charge anchoring fees set by the department, by yacht size and people on board.",
      "sources": [
        {
          "id": "fish_thailand_1",
          "name": "Thai Marine Guide",
          "title": "Thai Marine Guide – restricted areas",
          "url": "https://thaimarineguide.com/info/restricted-areas/",
          "checked": "2026-10-28",
          "note": "Secondary source (not official).",
          "tier": "secondary"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "not_verified": [
    "Mu Ko Phi Phi and Ao Phang Nga national park entry fees for yacht guests.",
    "Which Koh Hong the route means (we read it as the one in Phang Nga Bay)."
  ],
  "status_legend": {
    "official": "Read in an official text: government, park or port authority, or an operator's own published price list.",
    "secondary": "From a newspaper, NGO, guide, charter company or community map; not official.",
    "not_verified": "We could not confirm it. We leave it open rather than guess, and never add it to a total."
  },
  "source_counts": {
    "official": 0,
    "secondary": 2
  },
  "derived": "distance_nm, total_distance_nm, catamaran_eur_by_month and best_months are our calculation; weather means are our calculation from NASA POWER data.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "fish_thailand_1",
      "name": "Thai Marine Guide",
      "title": "Thai Marine Guide – restricted areas",
      "url": "https://thaimarineguide.com/info/restricted-areas/",
      "checked": "2026-10-28",
      "note": "Secondary source (not official).",
      "tier": "secondary"
    },
    {
      "id": "it_osm_nominatim",
      "name": "OpenStreetMap (Nominatim geocoder)",
      "title": "Nominatim search API: coordinates of each itinerary stop",
      "url": "https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/",
      "checked": "2026-10-29",
      "note": "Coordinates © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database Licence (https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright). One query per stop, run by scripts/fetch-stop-coords.mjs; the queries are in src/data/itinerary-stops.json. Community map data, not an official gazetteer.",
      "tier": "secondary"
    },
    {
      "id": "nasa_power_monthly",
      "name": "NASA POWER",
      "title": "Prediction Of Worldwide Energy Resources: Monthly API (T2M, WS10M)",
      "url": "https://power.larc.nasa.gov/docs/services/api/temporal/monthly/",
      "checked": "2026-10-28",
      "note": "Monthly point data for 2016–2025 pulled on 28 Oct 2026 with scripts/fetch-weather.mjs (API v2.10.0, community RE, parameters T2M = temperature at 2 m in °C and WS10M = wind speed at 10 m in m/s; meteorological grid ½° × ⅝° per https://power.larc.nasa.gov/docs/methodology/). One request per reference point, in the form https://power.larc.nasa.gov/api/temporal/monthly/point?parameters=T2M,WS10M&community=RE&longitude=<lon>&latitude=<lat>&start=2016&end=2025&format=JSON (coordinates in src/data/weather.ts). Route points for the Dubrovnik and Cyclades itineraries are in src/data/weather-routes.ts (scripts/fetch-route-weather.mjs, pulled 29 Oct 2026). Credit: https://power.larc.nasa.gov/docs/referencing/ . The pages we opened did not state a licence; NASA data is described to us as free for any use. Palma (Mallorca) reference point for the Mallorca vs Ibiza comparison in src/data/weather-routes.ts (scripts/fetch-route-weather.mjs, pulled 29 Oct 2026)."
    },
    {
      "id": "k12_thailand",
      "name": "12 Knots",
      "title": "Catamaran charter in Thailand",
      "url": "https://12knots.com/en/yacht-charter/destinations/southeast-asia/thailand/catamaran-charter/",
      "checked": "2026-10-27",
      "note": "Page states \"Updated October 2026\"."
    }
  ],
  "attribution": "Cite \"Catamaran Index\" with a link to the canonical_url of the page the figure comes from, and name the original source listed with it.",
  "coordinates_licence": "Coordinates © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL (https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright).",
  "affiliate_note": "book_url links go through /go/samboat, an affiliate link: Catamaran Index may earn a commission on bookings, at no extra cost to the traveller. It never changes the data."
}