VacationSelector
Wat Pho, Bangkok
BangkokWat Pho
The yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo, Merida
MeridaThe yellow Palacio Canton on Paseo de Montejo

Photos: Bangkok by Lu Zhao, Pexels License; Merida by Mariposa2723, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Bangkok or Merida?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Bangkok for

  • nightlife
  • wellness
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Bangkok’s own page.

Choose Merida for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Merida’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Bangkok 12, Merida 50: Merida leads by 38 points.
Food & drink. Bangkok 95, Merida 72: Bangkok leads by 23 points.
Culture & sights. Bangkok 80, Merida 64: Bangkok leads by 16 points.
Nightlife. Bangkok 85, Merida 42: Bangkok leads by 43 points.
Nature & outdoors. Bangkok 25, Merida 48: Merida leads by 23 points.
Day trips. Bangkok 72, Merida 80: Merida leads by 8 points.
Good for families. Bangkok and Merida are level on 50.
Getting around. Bangkok 50, Merida 45: Bangkok leads by 5 points.
Shopping & style. Bangkok 80, Merida 50: Bangkok leads by 30 points.
Affordability. Bangkok 85, Merida 75: Bangkok leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Bangkok and Merida are level on 52.
Wellness & relaxation. Bangkok 75, Merida 40: Bangkok leads by 35 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Bangkok and Merida.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Bangkok
Best match
63match

Wins on nightlife and wellness with your weighting.

Merida
56match

Wins on beaches and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Bangkok in July

34 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
184 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
30 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Merida in July

35 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
148 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
27 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
BangkokMerida

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Bangkok: 1991-2020 normals, Bangkok (5.7 km from centre). Merida: 1991-2020 normals, Merida / lic Manuel Crecencio (5.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBangkokMerida
Official languageThaiSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya
CurrencyBaht (THB)Mexican Peso (MXN)
SocketsABCF220 V, 50 HzAB127 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC-6
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199911
Elevation2 m12 m
Main airportSuvarnabhumi Airport (BKK)26 km from centre150 non-stop destinationsManuel Crescencio Rejón International Airport (MID)5 km from centre22 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-9 days

By the numbers

MeasureBangkokMerida
City population5,676,648892,363
People per km²3,6191,010
Museums within 10 km595
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Bangkok or Merida somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.