Thailand has around sixteen public holidays a year, and the exact number changes annually because the government adds one-off bridge days by cabinet resolution. The calendar is unusual in combining three systems: Buddhist observances set by the lunar calendar, royal anniversaries fixed to the birthdays of living and past monarchs, and a handful of civil dates. On the Buddhist holy days, the sale of alcohol is prohibited nationwide.
The Thai Holiday Calendar
| Date | Holiday | Description |
|---|---|---|
| January 1 | New Year's Day (วันขึ้นปีใหม่) | Celebrations, temple visits, and merit-making |
| March 4 | Makha Bucha Day | Commemorates Buddha's sermon to 1,250 monks; candlelit processions at temples |
| April 6 | Chakri Memorial Day | Honours the founding of the Chakri Dynasty (1782) |
| April 13-15 | Songkran Festival (วันสงกรานต์) | Thai New Year; massive water fights; paying respects to elders |
| May 1 | National Labor Day | Public sector holiday for workers |
| May 4 | Coronation Day | Commemorates the coronation of King Rama X in 2019 |
| May 22 | Visakha Bucha Day | Most important Buddhist holiday; marks Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and death |
| June 3 | HM Queen Suthida's Birthday | Celebrates the Queen's birthday |
| July 20 | Asarnha Bucha Day | Commemorates Buddha's first sermon; start of Buddhist Lent |
| July 21 | Buddhist Lent Day (Khao Phansa) | Marks the beginning of the 3-month rains retreat for monks |
| July 28 | HM the King's Birthday | National Father's Day; birthday of King Maha Vajiralongkorn |
| August 12 | HM Queen Sirikit's Birthday | National Mother's Day; birthday of the Queen Mother |
| October 13 | King Bhumibol Memorial Day | Commemorates the passing of the beloved King Rama IX in 2016 |
| October 23 | Chulalongkorn Day | Honours King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), who modernized Thailand |
| December 5 | King Bhumibol's Birthday | National Day; birthday of late King Rama IX; formerly National Father's Day |
| December 31 | New Year's Eve (วันสิ้นปี) | Countdown celebrations; temple visits at midnight |
The Buddhist Holy Days
Four Buddhist observances are public holidays, and all four move with the lunar calendar. Makha Bucha in February or March marks a spontaneous gathering of 1,250 disciples before the Buddha; Visakha Bucha in May marks his birth, enlightenment and death, all held to have occurred on the same date; Asalha Bucha in July marks his first sermon; and the day after it begins Buddhist Lent.
On each, temples hold candlelit processions in which worshippers circle the main hall three times, and merit-making activities run through the day.
Alcohol sales are banned nationwide on these days under the Alcohol Control Act, including in bars, restaurants and shops. Enforcement varies but is generally taken seriously, and hotels serving foreign guests are the usual exception. The ban also applies on election days.
Songkran
13 to 15 April is Songkran, the traditional Thai new year, and it is the largest holiday of the year. The name comes from a Sanskrit word for astrological passage, and the dates originally tracked the sun's entry into Aries.
The original observance involves pouring scented water over Buddha images and over the hands of elders as a blessing. What it has become is a nationwide water fight, with streets closed, hoses, buckets and water pistols, and three days during which staying dry outdoors is impossible.
UNESCO inscribed Songkran on its intangible heritage list in 2023, and the Thai government has extended the official celebration period in recent years to encourage tourism. It is also the deadliest period on Thai roads, known in the press as the seven dangerous days, with road death tolls published daily.
The Royal Anniversaries
Five public holidays relate to the monarchy. King Vajiralongkorn's birthday on 28 July; Queen Suthida's on 3 June; the birthday of Queen Mother Sirikit on 12 August, which is also Mother's Day; the anniversary of King Bhumibol's death on 13 October; and King Bhumibol's birthday on 5 December, which is also Father's Day and National Day.
Coronation Day on 4 May and Chakri Day on 6 April, marking the founding of the current dynasty in 1782, complete the royal set. Chulalongkorn Day on 23 October honours Rama V, who abolished slavery and is the most revered of the nineteenth-century kings.
Thailand's monarchy is protected by one of the world's strictest lese-majeste laws, article 112 of the criminal code, carrying three to fifteen years per offence. Discussion of the institution inside Thailand is correspondingly constrained.
The Colour of the Day
Thai royal anniversaries come with a colour, drawn from an old system assigning a colour to each day of the week. King Bhumibol was born on a Monday, so yellow is his colour and yellow shirts appear across the country around 5 December; Queen Sirikit was born on a Friday, giving light blue for 12 August.
King Vajiralongkorn was also born on a Monday, so yellow serves for 28 July as well. Public buildings, bridges and shopfronts are decorated accordingly, and the colour is worn widely and voluntarily.
The system acquired a political dimension in the 2000s, when yellow shirts and red shirts became the labels for opposing protest movements. That association has faded, and the colours have largely returned to their ceremonial use.
Bridge Days by Cabinet Resolution
The Thai cabinet approves the following year's holiday calendar each autumn and routinely adds special holidays — wan yut phiset — to bridge a holiday to a weekend.
These are usually announced with a few months' notice and apply to government offices and state enterprises, with the private sector encouraged but not required to follow. Banks follow the Bank of Thailand's separate calendar, which does not always match.
The stated purpose is domestic tourism. Thailand's tourism sector accounts for a large share of GDP, and the government has used holiday policy as a stimulus tool repeatedly, including a run of extra days added during the recovery from the pandemic.
Three Calendars at Once
Thailand officially uses the Buddhist Era calendar, which runs 543 years ahead of the Gregorian: 2026 CE is 2569 BE. Official documents, newspapers and currency use BE dates.
The Thai new year was moved to 1 April in 1889 and to 1 January in 1941, so the country now has three new years — 1 January, Songkran in April, and Chinese New Year in February, which is not a public holiday but is widely observed by the substantial Thai Chinese population.
Chinese New Year is a public holiday only in the five southern provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, Satun and Songkhla, which also observe Muslim holidays not marked elsewhere in Thailand.
The Southern Provinces
The four southernmost provinces have a Malay-speaking Muslim majority and their own holiday arrangements. Hari Raya Puasa and Hari Raya Haji — Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha — are public holidays there and nowhere else in Thailand.
The provinces have been the site of a separatist insurgency since 2004, and the accommodation on holidays is one of a set of measures acknowledging the region's distinct identity. Bilingual education pilots have run since 2007.
Thailand's population is around 93% Buddhist and 5% Muslim, with the Muslim population heavily concentrated in the far south. The holiday calendar reflects that concentration rather than the national proportion.
Loy Krathong Is Not a Holiday
Thailand's most photographed festival is not a public holiday. Loy Krathong, on the full moon of the twelfth lunar month in November, involves floating small decorated rafts on rivers and canals to release misfortune.
In the north, Chiang Mai's Yi Peng festival coincides, releasing thousands of paper lanterns into the sky. The images that circulate internationally are usually from Yi Peng rather than Loy Krathong proper.
Both are ordinary working days. So is the Vegetarian Festival in Phuket in September or October, a nine-day Taoist observance involving extreme body piercing rituals, and the Surin elephant round-up in November.
Substitution and Weekend Holidays
When a Thai public holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday is generally declared a substitute holiday by cabinet resolution. The rule applies to government offices automatically and to the private sector through the Labour Protection Act, which requires employers to substitute a working day.
The Labour Protection Act sets a minimum of thirteen public holidays a year for private-sector employees, of which National Labour Day on 1 May must be one. Employers choose the rest from the official list, so a private worker may not get exactly the government's sixteen.
Working on a public holiday attracts at least double pay under the same act, and triple for overtime hours on a holiday.
What Thai Workers Get
Statutory paid annual leave in Thailand is six working days after one year of continuous employment, which is among the lowest in Asia. Most employers offer more, typically ten to fifteen days, but the legal floor is low.
The generous public holiday list partly compensates. Sixteen days plus six of leave is still short of most of Europe, and Thai working hours are long — the legal maximum is 48 hours a week for most sectors.
The holiday calendar's real function is different from a European one. Songkran and the December cluster around the king's birthday and New Year are when Thailand's internal migrant workforce returns to the north-east, and the intercity bus and rail systems are planned around them. For related context, see the countries where Thai is spoken and the count of countries in Asia.
