Songkran, Loy Krathong and Yi Peng explained

Songkran, Loy Krathong and Yi Peng run on two different calendars. Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year, fixed by the sun: the Royal Society's dictionary says it normally falls on 13, 14 and 15 April. Loy Krathong is fixed by the moon, on the full-moon day of the twelfth Thai lunar month, so its date in the Western calendar changes from year to year.[1] Yi Peng is the lantern tradition of the Lanna north, which the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) describes as incorporated into Loy Krathong, with its largest event in Chiang Mai.[10] The Bank of Thailand has put Songkran's April dates on holiday lists announced the August before;[6][5] in XTOUR's reading of the releases below, TAT publishes the event programmes for all three festivals much closer to the day.

Songkran: a solar new year on fixed days

The Royal Society's dictionary defines Songkran as the festival of the old-style new year, set by the solar calendar, and names its three days: 13 April is Wan Maha Songkran, 14 April Wan Nao and 15 April Wan Thaloeng Sok.[1] Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs gives the same three days and explains the name: from Sanskrit, meaning "movement" or "transference", it refers to the Sun's movement from one zodiac sign to another, and the Thai Songkran period is when the Sun moves from Pisces to Aries.[2]

Because the date is solar, it does not move the way the Buddhist holy days do. The Bank of Thailand's notices list 13, 14 and 15 April as financial-institution holidays in 2026 and again in 2027.[6][5] XTOUR has not read a government notice for other offices, so it does not say what else closes.

The ministry says the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, meeting in Kasane, Botswana, inscribed "Songkran in Thailand, traditional Thai New Year festival" on UNESCO's Representative List on 6 December 2023.[2] TAT adds that the Department of Cultural Promotion of the Ministry of Culture submitted the nomination, and quotes UNESCO describing Songkran as a time when people reunite with their families and pay their respects to older adults, ancestors and sacred Buddha images, with the pouring of water symbolising cleansing, reverence and good fortune.[3] XTOUR could not open UNESCO's own page for the element on 9 October 2026, so the inscription is attributed to the ministry.

The holiday and the events are not the same dates

The water festivals a visitor sees are organised event by event, and they do not keep to the three holiday dates: TAT's 2023 release says celebrations can go on for longer than the 13 to 15 April holiday, up to a week in some places.[3] Its list for 2026, dated 26 March 2026, shows how that worked in one year. It said Bangkok's large-scale events would run from 9 to 15 April, named Silom and Siam Square as water celebration zones, and in its own words described the festival as "traditionally marked by merit-making, water-pouring rituals for elders, and temple visits". The same list shows how far the local dates spread: Salaya Water Fest in Nakhon Pathom on 3 to 5 April, Chon Buri's Wan Lai tradition from 5 to 20 April, Maha Songkran at Sukhothai from 6 to 19 April and Maha Songkran at Kaeng Saphue in Ubon Ratchathani across the whole of April. In 2026 TAT listed the Chiang Mai Water Festival at Wat Chedi Luang on 11 to 13 April and a Songkran event at Wat Chaiwatthanaram, in the Ayutthaya Historical Park, on 9 to 13 April.[4] These are 2026 dates and are history now; XTOUR found no 2027 programme on the TAT Newsroom on 9 October 2026.[11]

Loy Krathong: a lunar date that moves

The Royal Society's dictionary describes Loy Krathong as a festival in which a krathong holding incense, candles and flowers is lit and floated on the water, on the full-moon day of the twelfth month.[1] TAT describes the krathong as a banana-leaf raft and the act as paying respect to the river goddess.[7]

The lunar date is the reason the festival has no fixed day in November. TAT gave the full moon of the twelfth month as 27 November in 2023[7] and as Friday 15 November in 2024.[8] Loy Krathong does not appear on the Bank of Thailand's financial-institution holiday lists for 2026 or 2027.[6][5]

When XTOUR last checked, on 9 October 2026, the TAT Newsroom had published no release for Loy Krathong 2026; its newest Loy Krathong release was from November 2025.[11] XTOUR does not calculate the 2026 date from the moon itself and does not repeat dates from unofficial calendars.

Where TAT has staged the larger events

• Sukhothai. TAT's 2024 release says the Sukhothai Loi Krathong and Candle Festival is inspired by King Ramkhamhaeng's inscription and the tale of Nang Nopphamat, and has been held at Sukhothai Historical Park for nearly 50 years; in 2024 it ran from 8 to 17 November.[8] Sukhothai on XTOUR is the modern town used as a base; the historical park is a separate place, not part of the town.
• Ayutthaya. In 2025 TAT listed Maha Loi Krathong @ Ayutthaya at Wat Phra Ram, in the Ayutthaya Historical Park, from 2 to 6 November.[9] See Ayutthaya.
• Bangkok. TAT hosted a Loy Krathong event at the Phadung Krung Kasem Canal in 2023 and listed one there again in 2024; in 2025 it listed a Bangkok River Festival at nine Chao Phraya piers from 3 to 5 November.[9][8][7] See Bangkok.
• Without water. TAT describes Loi Krathong Sawan at Wat Phra That Doi Kong Mu in Mae Hong Son, a mountain setting where krathongs are released into the sky rather than floated.[8]

Programmes change from year to year. TAT's 2025 release said the Sukhothai festival would go ahead with activities modified for the national mourning period: fireworks limited to traditional Sukhothai-style displays and the Noppamas beauty contest cancelled.[9] TAT's 2023 release encouraged krathongs made from biodegradable materials and floating one krathong per family.[7]

Yi Peng: Chiang Mai's lantern tradition

TAT describes Yi Peng as an ancient Lanna cultural tradition unique to the north of Thailand that has been incorporated into the annual Loi Krathong Festival, celebrated nationwide on the full moon of the twelfth lunar month. In TAT's account its largest event is in Chiang Mai, where lanterns are hung outside homes and temples, sky lanterns called khom loi are released, and people in traditional Lanna clothing join street parades.[10] In 2024 TAT listed Yi Peng across Chiang Mai's municipal areas from 14 to 17 November, with a krathong contest, a Lanna lantern competition and a krathong sai ceremony.[8]

The Royal Society's dictionary glosses yi as "second", as in duean yi, the second month of the lunar count, and defines khom loi as a lamp that is lit and released to float in the air; it has no entry for Yi Peng itself.[1] XTOUR has not read an official source on how the northern month count relates to the twelfth month of the central Thai calendar, so it does not explain the name further.

On sky lanterns, TAT wrote in 2024 that "guidelines have been set on the times and locations for releasing the sky lanterns".[10] XTOUR has not read those guidelines or any notice for 2026.

Yi Peng's international label is not a UNESCO one. TAT reported in 2024 that Chiang Mai's Yi Peng received a "World Night View Heritage" certificate, presented by the YAKEI Convention and Visitors Bureau at a Japanese night-view tourism summit held in Bangkok.[10] That is a tourism-body certificate, not a UNESCO listing.

The three side by side

Checking this year's dates

Two kinds of official notice matter, and they appear at different times. The Bank of Thailand has announced each year's financial-institution holidays in the August before: the 2026 list on 5 August 2025[5] and the 2027 list on 17 August 2026.[6] TAT's festival programmes come later. Its 2026 Songkran list was dated 26 March 2026.[4] Its Loy Krathong releases were dated 26 November 2023, the day before that year's 27 November full moon;[7] 6 November 2024, nine days before 15 November;[8] and 1 November 2025, when the Sukhothai festival was already under way.[9] XTOUR's reading of those dates is that a traveller who books months ahead knows the Songkran holiday but not the event programme, and learns TAT's Loy Krathong programme only days before the festival.

For the Buddhist holy days, whose dates also move with the moon, see Thai Buddhist holidays and the lunar calendar. For a festival dated by the Chinese calendar, see the Phuket Vegetarian Festival.

What XTOUR does not know

XTOUR does not calculate Loy Krathong or Yi Peng dates and publishes none that TAT has not announced. When it last checked, on 9 October 2026, the TAT Newsroom had published neither the 2026 Loy Krathong and Yi Peng dates nor the 2027 Songkran programme,[11] and XTOUR had read no sky-lantern rules for 2026. It publishes no crowd, safety, transport, hotel or price information for these festivals, and it does not say which events are suitable for which travellers. Check the TAT Newsroom and the organising province or municipality for the current year before you plan around a festival night.