El Nino Watch

National situation vs Koh Samui

The national level describes the worst province in Thailand; the Samui level describes the island. A national flood mostly affects Samui through travel and supplies, not directly.

Koh Samui watch

Koh Samui (Maenam) is about 470 km south of Bangkok and about 390-410 km from Pattaya and Sri Racha, across the Gulf of Thailand. Heavy rain there does not flood the island.

What it can do:

  • close or delay the routes off the island (flights through Bangkok, ferries to Don Sak / Surat Thani, the southern railway, roads);
  • slow deliveries of food, fuel and bottled water that come from the mainland;
  • keep family or visitors from reaching you.

The distance note on the Thailand page (under "What this means for Samui") is written from the live data. The rings on the map mark 100, 250, 500 and 750 km from Maenam.

Why it matters for Koh Samui

Keep two answers apart: "is the island in danger?" (Koh Samui page) and "can I get off the island, or get supplies, if I need to?" (this page and the Exit plan).

Sources

Related

ENSO status now

ONI (NOAA CPC)
+1.80 °C, JJA 2026 (previous +1.39 °C)
RONI (NOAA CPC)
+1.36 °C, JJA 2026
Nino 3.4 weekly (NOAA CPC / OISST)
+3.0 °C anomaly, week of 16 Sep 2026 (SST 29.6 °C)