Long Holiday Weekend for HM Queen’s Birthday
Today is the birthday of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit which is an occasion marked by a public holiday in Thailand. The Queen’s birthday is always a national holiday, but tomorrow (Friday) has also been designated as an additional public holiday enabling many Thai people to enjoy a long weekend. Her Majesty is 78 today.
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Buddhist Public Holiday in Thailand
Today and tomorrow are public holidays in Thailand with government offices closed. Although many shops will be open, a number of bars and entertainment venues may be closed or have a more subdued atmosphere than normal. Those that do remain open may be discrete about serving alcohol so if you do visit a bar that [...]
Thai King Commemorates Coronation Day
Yesterday was a public holiday in Thailand to mark Coronation Day. King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit presided over a Buddhist ceremony at the Grand Palace in Bangkok and also paid homage to their ancestors. It was a rare public appearance for Thailand’s monarch who was admitted to hospital last September. Thousands of well-wishers wearing [...]
Thailand Celebrates Songkran
Today marks the official start of Songkran, the Thai New Year Festival. All over Thailand, people are out on the streets happily throwing water at each other, enjoying the party atmosphere and attending religious ceremonies to mark one of the most important Thai holidays of the year.
In Bangkok, some official celebrations have been cancelled, [...]
National Children’s Day
In Thailand, the second Saturday in January is designated as Wan Dek (Children’s Day). It’s a day when children receive gifts from family members and are generally treated with even more affection than normal. Children’s Day means that many tourist attractions see an influx of families who are able to take advantage of free or [...]
New Year Celebrations in Thailand
In towns and cities all over Thailand people have been welcoming in the New Year and wishing each other ‘Sawatdee Pii Mai’ (Happy New Year). Officially, Thailand uses the Buddhist calendar which is 543 years ahead of the Gregorian calendar used in the West. This means that the year 2010 is actually 2553 in the [...]
Do They Celebrate Christmas in Thailand?
Christmas isn’t an official public holiday in Thailand with only a small minority of the Thai population being Christian. However, T.I.T. (This Is Thailand) and so at this time of year hotel staff can be seen wearing Christmas hats whilst shopping centres and malls get decked out with decorations. Christmas trees appear amongst the palm [...]
