The Thai Calendar - Thailand Travel Guide

Thailand has adopted the Western calendar dividing the year into days, weeks andmonths and using Thai names for days and months. Years may be numbered according to the Buddhist era (BE) or Christian era (CE). The Buddhist era began 543 years before the Christian era, therefore 2006 (CE) is BE 2549 and 2007 is BE 2550.

Thailand’s national holidays are linked to religious or agricultural traditions. They follow the lunar calendar and therefore the dates for some of the holidays change each year. For the precise dates of the lunar holidays and festival locations, please check www.tourismthailand.org. The following are national public holidays in Thailand:
• New Year’s Day: Jan 1
• Makha Bucha Day: late January to early March
• Chakri Day: April 6
• Songkran Day: April 13
• National Labour Day: May 1
• Coronation Day: May 5
• Visakha Bucha Day: May
• Asanha Bucha Day: July
• Khao Phansa (Buddhist Lent): July
• HM the Queen’s Birthday: August 12
• Chulalongkorn Day: October 23
• Constitution Day: December 10
• HM the King’s Birthday: December 5
• Constitution Day: December 10