The rain is general all over Thailand. It's falling on the chattering coconut palms and mangrove swamps of Trang province where we're staying, and on my three kids, making sandcastles on the beach now the steamy shower has wet the sand enough to make it stick.

This is off-season. Not many people come to Thailand during the monsoons; holiday companies can even advise against it. A tan is a token of a holiday, and you're not likely to get one. But I think it's by far the best time to take the kids. It may be raining, but it's very warm, so you can swim and play outside without being too worried about sunburn. And children, being more sensible than adults, aren't in the least bit interested in token tans; they just want to have fun. With few tourists about, they can have the whole beach to themselves. From the adults' point of view, Thailand's low season is our summer holidays, so you can go there for a fortnight in August for about the same price as two weeks in Corfu or Menorca at the same time of year.

We're finding Thailand an ideal family summer holiday destination. The accommodation is amazing; everywhere is so clean; the food is fabulous and costs only a few pounds for a huge meal (the twins are addicted to satay - chicken lollipops, as they call them); and the weather is reliably hot so you can swim any time of day or night - even if it's in the rain. As my 11-year-old says, if you're underwater from the neck down anyway, then you don't really care if a few extra drops fall on your hair.

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