Thai Meteorological Department Data Centre — Weather Observations and Forecasts
The Thai Meteorological Department’s data portal — station measurements from across the country, forecasts, radar, satellite imagery and sea conditions in one place.
data.tmd.go.th
What you can do
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Measurements from stations nationwide
Temperature, humidity, wind and rainfall actually recorded at meteorological stations around the country — not model estimates alone.
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Daily and regional forecasts
See how the coming days look for the region or province you care about, so weather-dependent work can be planned ahead.
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Weather radar and satellite imagery
Track approaching rain cells close to real time, and see the larger weather systems moving across the region.
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Rainfall records and historical data
Look up accumulated rainfall and past measurements for research, planning, or comparison against earlier years.
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Sea state and wave conditions
Wave and wind conditions in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, for fishers, boat operators and marine tourism.
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Warnings from the responsible authority
TMD is the national authority for weather warnings, so what appears here is the reference version rather than something passed along second-hand.
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A starting point for researchers and developers
For anyone who needs weather data to analyse further or to build a service on — check the official terms of use first.
What the TMD Data Centre is
The TMD Data Centre is the portal through which the Thai Meteorological Department publishes the country’s weather data. It covers what is actually measured at meteorological stations spread across every region — temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, rainfall — together with forecast output, weather radar, satellite imagery and sea conditions in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea. What sets it apart is that this is source material from the agency legally responsible for it, rather than data that has already been interpreted, summarised or repackaged by someone else.
The main datasets on the portal
| Dataset | What it answers | Read it alongside |
|---|---|---|
| Station observations | Temperature, humidity, wind and rain actually measured in each area | The recording time — these are values from the recent past |
| Forecasts | How the weather is expected to develop, by day and by region | The most recent warning announcement |
| Weather radar | Where rain is falling now and which way the cells are moving | Several consecutive frames, not one still image |
| Satellite imagery | The broad picture of cloud and large systems over the region | Radar, for detail at local scale |
| Rainfall totals | Rain accumulated over a day or a chosen period | Water-level data from the water agencies |
| Sea and wave conditions | Wave height and wind strength in the Gulf and the Andaman Sea | Advisories for small boats when seas are rough |
Who relies on this data
Weather data is not read only by meteorologists. In practice the same figures underpin decisions that carry real cost, almost every day.
- Farmers time sowing, fertilising and harvesting around rainfall and the outlook — rain arriving a few days out of step can be enough to damage a crop.
- Fishers and boat operators use wave and wind data, and rough-sea advisories, to decide whether to go out or wait another day.
- Construction and logistics teams plan concrete pours, crane work and truck schedules around the rain forecast, avoiding downpours and routes prone to flooding.
- Researchers and students use the historical series for climate trends, dissertations and area risk assessments.
- App developers build weather alerts on official data — after checking the department’s terms of use.
- And the general public, above all during storms or long spells of heavy rain, when a few hours of warning is enough to move a car, pack things up or change travel plans.
Thailand’s seasons and when this data matters most
Thailand’s weather is governed largely by the monsoons. The rainy season, driven by the southwest monsoon, runs roughly from May to October, and accumulated rainfall over those months matters both for farming and for flood preparation. Tropical storms reaching the country are most frequent in roughly August to October. TMD announces the official start and end of each season every year, and those dates can fall earlier or later than the long-run average.
| Approximate period | What the weather does | What to follow |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-May to October | The rainy season under the southwest monsoon | Accumulated rainfall and radar imagery |
| August to October | The window when tropical storms are most likely to affect Thailand | Warning announcements and satellite imagery |
| Mid-October to February | The northeast monsoon: cool, dry air over upper Thailand but heavy rain on the southern east coast | Regional forecasts and Gulf of Thailand sea conditions |
| February to May | The hot season, punctuated by summer storms and strong gusts | Summer-storm advisories and wind data |
Treat TMD announcements as the reference
TMD is the body charged with issuing the country’s weather warnings; when other agencies and the media pass a warning on, they are relaying this same source. The trouble is what happens in transit. During a storm, radar and satellite images get screenshotted and shared with no date or time attached — sometimes they are years old, sometimes an exaggerated caption has been bolted on and people panic more than the situation warrants. Going back to the source takes a few seconds and removes almost all of that noise.
- Always look for the date and time on the image or announcement — weather data without a timestamp is close to useless.
- Official announcements normally carry a number in sequence and the period the warning covers. If what reached you has neither, treat it as unconfirmed.
- Check that the address sits under the tmd.go.th domain before believing it or forwarding it.
- Be sceptical of posts naming the exact hour a storm will make landfall weeks ahead — storm-track forecasts carry wide uncertainty and are revised continuously.
- Do not tap chat or SMS links promising storm images or a flood-risk check for your area; type the address in yourself instead.
When the most accurate weather source is the one you cannot find
Our check of this portal’s robots.txt found a blanket Disallow: / — a request that search engines index none of the site — on top of the specific exclusions for maps, satellite imagery and radar. The consequence is not merely technical; it lands on people at the worst possible moment. After several days of heavy rain, someone types “rain radar” or “storm heading for Thailand” and what comes back first is a foreign aggregator, a re-shared screenshot, or a news article at one remove, while the most accurate source — the office that actually issues the warnings — stays out of view. This page exists to be the findable signpost: it describes the portal in the words Thai people really search with, then sends you straight to the official site. ThaiGov.co is an independent directory, unaffiliated with the Thai Meteorological Department, and it keeps no copy or adaptation of any of this weather data.
How to use it
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Open the portal from the official address
Type the address yourself or use a saved bookmark instead of tapping a forwarded link — fake pages imitating government sites multiply noticeably whenever a storm is in the news.
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Decide whether you need observations or a forecast
To find out where it is raining now or how much fell overnight, use the observations and radar; to plan ahead, use the forecast section. They answer different questions and carry different kinds of certainty.
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Narrow down the area and the period
Choose the region, province or station nearest to you, then set the period that matches your question — rainfall in Thailand can differ sharply within a few dozen kilometres.
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Always read the timestamp
Weather data ages quickly. A radar frame an hour old can tell a completely different story from the present, so confirm you are looking at the newest update before acting on it.
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Read the warnings alongside the raw data
The numbers and images say what is happening; the warnings say how forecasters judge the severity and which areas are exposed. During a storm, always use both together.
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Record the source if you will reuse the data
If the figures are going into a report, a study or a damage claim, note the time you retrieved them, the station name and the dataset used, so the numbers can be traced back later.
Go to the official site
You are leaving ThaiGov.co for the agency’s official website — data.tmd.go.th
Other official channels
Frequently asked questions
How is this different from an ordinary weather app?
Most weather apps take output from global forecast models and compress it into a sun or rain-cloud icon. The TMD portal is Thailand’s own source material: values actually measured at stations, plus analysis by forecasters who know the country’s terrain and rainfall patterns. When the two disagree — especially about warnings — the TMD announcement is the one to follow.
What is the difference between observations and forecasts?
Observations are what the instruments have already measured — the millimetres of rain that fell, the temperature logged an hour ago. A forecast is an estimate of what has not happened yet, so uncertainty is built into it. In practice you want both: the observations describe the situation you are in, while the forecast lets you decide in advance.
Can I get historical data for research or as evidence?
General observation data and statistics are published on the portal already. For high-resolution datasets, long historical series, or a certified data letter to use in a legal or insurance matter, you normally have to file a formal request, and departmental rules may attach conditions or a charge. Check the current procedure and rates on the official site before you start.
The radar or satellite images will not load — what now?
Most often the images are large files that refresh on a cycle, so your browser is still showing a cached copy — try a hard refresh, a different browser, or turning off extensions and ad blockers that may be stopping the image from loading. The other common cause is sheer traffic: during a storm or heavy rain a great many people open the site at once and it slows down. Wait a moment and retry, or view the same data through another official TMD channel.
How much can I trust radar images and storm notices shared on social media?
Whenever a storm is in the news, old radar frames and superseded announcements come back around, sometimes with the date altered or an exaggerated caption added to drive shares. The quickest check is to read the date and time printed on the image, then open the official portal yourself and compare it with the latest announcement. Be wary too of chat or SMS links offering to “check whether your area is at risk” — that is a standard scam pattern aimed at people who are already alarmed.
Can I use this data in my own site or app?
TMD makes some data available to developers in machine-readable form, but the access terms, permitted uses and attribution requirements have to be checked against the department’s own notices, because those details change. What you should not do is scrape the pages: the site’s robots.txt explicitly disallows automated collection, so use the channel the department provides instead.
Why does this site barely show up in Google?
Because the portal’s robots.txt asks search engines not to index the site at all. What surfaces instead tends to be foreign weather aggregators or news write-ups at one remove. The most direct route is to type the address yourself, or bookmark it now, while nothing is happening — so you are not searching for it under pressure.