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Events Calendar | Public Holidays
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 PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
Holidays & Special Events
January
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Don Chedi Monument Fair
Held at the Don Chedi memorial in Suphanburi Province, this event commemorates
the victory of King Nuesuan of Ayuthaya over Burmese invaders in 1592.
The highlight of the fair is dramatised elephant-back duelling.
New Year's Day
A rather recent public holiday in deference to
the western calendar.
That Phanom Festival
An annual week-long homage to the North- East's
most sacred Buddhist stupa (Wat Phra That Phanom) in Nakhon Phanom Province.
Pilgrims from all over the country, as well as from Laos, attend.
February
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Chinese New Year
Called trut jiin in Thai, Chinese populations
all over Thailand celebrate their lunar new year (the date shifts from.
year to year) with a week of house-cleaning, lion dances and fireworks.
The most impressive festivities take place in the Chinese-dominated province
capital of Nakhon Sawan.
Chiang Mai Flower Festival
Colourful floats and parades exhibit
Chiang Mai's cultivated flora.
Magha Puja
(Makkha Buchaa) Held on the full moon of the
third lunar in the to commemorate the preaching of the Buddha to 1250
enlightened monks who came to hear him 'without prior summons'. A public
holiday throughout the country, it culminates with a candle-lit walk around
the nudn chapel at every wat.
Phra Nakhon Khiri Diamond Festival
This is a week-long celebration of Phetchaburi's
history and architecture focused on Phra Nakhon Kbiri Historical Park
(also known as Khao Wang), a hill topped by a former royal palace overlooking
the city. It features a sound- and-light show on Khao Wang; the temples
are festooned with lights and presentations of Thai classical dance-drama.
March
ASEAN Barred Ground Dove Fair
This is a large dove-singing contest held 1St
week of March in Yala that attracts dove- lovers from all over Thailand,
Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
Bangkok International Jewellery Fair
Held in several large
Bangkok hotels, this is Thailand's most important annual gem and jewellery
trade show. It runs concurrently with the Department of Export Promotion's
Gems & Jewellery Fair.
Phanom Rung Festival
A newly established festival to commemorate restoration
work in the Phanom Rung Estorical Park, an impressive Angkor-style temple
complex in Buffiain Province. It involves a daytime Procession up Phanom
Rung Hill and spectacular sound-and-light shows at night. It takes place
on the last week of the month - be prepared for very hot weather.
Phra Phutthabaat Festival
Annual Pilgrimage to Wat Phra Phutthabaat (Temple
of the Holy Footprint) at Saraburi, 236km north-cast of Bangkok. It's
quite an affair, with music, outdoor drama and many other festivities.
if you're in the area, the shrine is worth visiting at any tinny during
the year, even in the 'off season'.
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April
The 6th Chakri Day
This is a public holiday commemorating the founder
of the Chakri Dynasty, Rama 1. It's held on 6 April.
13th - 15th Songkhran Festival
The New Year's celebration of the lunar year
in Thailand. The Buddha images am 'bathed', monks and elders receive the
respect of younger Thais by the sprinkling of water over their hands,
and a lot of water is generously tossed about for fun. Songkhran generally
gives everyone a chance to release their frustrations and literally cool
off during the peak of the hot season. Hide out in your room or expect
to be soaked; the latter is a lot more fun. Held 13 to 15 April.
May
Coronation Day
Public holiday, 5 May. The king and queen preside
at a ceremony at Wat Phra Kaew, commemorating their 1950 coronation.
Visakha Puja
(Wisakha Buchaa) A public holiday that falls
on the 15th day of the waxing moon in the sixth lunar month. This is considered
the date of the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and parinibbana, or pass-
ing away. Activities are centred around the wat, with candle-lit processions,
much chanting and sermonizing.
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 June
Royal Ploughing Ceremony
To kick off the official rice-planting season,
the king participates in this ancient Brahman ritual at Sanam Luang (the
large field across from Wat Phra Kaew) in Bangkok. Thousands of Thais
gather to watch, and traffic in this part of the city comes to a standstill.
Bun Prawet Festival
One of the wildest in Thailand,
an animist- Buddhist celebration held in Loci's Dan Sai district (nowadays
also in other places around Loei Province) in which revellers dress in
garish 'spirit' costumes, wear painted masks and brandish carved wooden
phalli. The festival commemorates a Buddhist legend in which a host of
spirits (phii) appeared to greet the Buddha-to-be upon his return to his
home town, during his penultimate birth.
Rocket Festival
In the North-East, villagers craft large sky-
rockets of bamboo that they then fire into the sky to bring rain for rice
fields. This festival is best celebrated in the town of Yasothon. but
is also good in Ubon Ratchathani and Nong Khai. It's known in Thai as
Bun Bang Fai.
July
Asalha Puja
(Asanhaa Buchaa) Conunemorates the first sermon
preached by the Buddha.
Candle Festival
Khao Phansaa is celebrated in the North-East
by carving huge candies and parading them on floats in the streets. This
festival is best celebrated in Ubon Ratchathani.
Khao Phansaa
A public holiday and
the beginning of Buddhist 'lent', this is the traditional time of year
for young men to enter-the monkbood for the rainy season and for all monks
to station themselves in a monastery for the three months. It's a good
time to observe a Buddhist ordination.
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 August
Queen's Birthday
Public holiday. In Bangkok, Th Ratchadamnoen
Klang and the Grand Palace are festooned with coloured lights. Celebrated
on 12 August.
September
Thailand International Swan-Boat Races
These take place on the Chao Phraya River in
Bangkok near the Rama IX Bridge.
Narathiwat Fair
An annual week-long festival celebrating local
culture in Narathiwat Province with boat races, dove-singing contests,
handicraft displays, traditional Southern Thai music and dance. The king
and queen almost always attend.
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 October
Vegetarian Festival
A nine day celebration
in Trang and Phuket during which devout Chinese Buddhists cat only vegetarian
food. There are various cere- monies at Chinese temples and inter-making
processions that bring to mind ffindu Thai- pusam in its exhibition of
self-nior6fication. Smaller towns in the South such as Krabi and Phang-Nga
also celebrate the veggic fest on a smaller scale.
Chulalongkorn Day
A public holiday in commemoration of King Chulalongkom
(Rania V). Held on 23 October.
Thawt Kathin
A month at the end of the Buddhist lent during
which new monastic robes and requisites are offered to the Sangha. In
Nan Province long- boat races are held on the Nan River.
November
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Loi Krathong
On the proper full-moon night, small lotus- shaped
baskets or boats made of banana leaves containing flowers, incense, candles
and a coin are floated on Thai rivers, lakes and canals. This is a peculiarly
Thai festival that probably originated in Sukhothai and is best celebrated
in the North. In Chiang Mai, where the festival is called Yi Peng, residents
also launch hot-air paper balloons into the sky. At the Sukhothai lfistorical
Park there is an impressive sound-and-light show.
Surin Annual Elephant Roundup
Held in the third weekend in November,
Thailand's biggest elephant show is pretty tourist these days. If you
have ever had the desire to see a lot of elephants in one place, then
here's your chance.
December
River Khwae Bridge Week
Sound-and-light shows every night at the Death
Railway Bridge in Kanchanaburi. It in- cludes historical exhibitions and
vintage train rides on the infamous railway.
Constitution Day
10 December - public holiday.
King's Birthday
This is a public holiday that is celebrated with
some fervor in Bangkok. As with the queen's birthday, it features lots
of lights and other decorations along Th Ratchadamnoen Klang. Some people
erect temporary shrines to the king outside their homes or businesses.
Celebrated on 5 December.
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Events Calendar | Public Holidays
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