Thai Buddhist holidays and the lunar calendar

Thailand's Buddhist holy days are set by the moon, not by the Western calendar, so they fall on different dates each year. The Royal Society's dictionary places Makha Bucha on the full-moon day of the third Thai lunar month, Visakha Bucha on the full moon of the sixth and Asarnha Bucha on the full moon of the eighth.[1] The official dates for a given year are in the Bank of Thailand's holiday notices. For 2027 they are Sunday 21 February (holiday Monday 22 February), Thursday 20 May and Sunday 18 July (holiday Monday 19 July);[3] the 2026 notice had put them on 3 March, Sunday 31 May (holiday Monday 1 June) and 29 July.[2] Those notices are for banks. XTOUR has not read official rules for other offices, shops or temples on these days.

The three Bucha days

Each of the three marks an event in the Buddha's life or teaching, and the Royal Society's dictionary gives the meaning of each.[1]

• Makha Bucha is a day of special merit-making on the full moon of the third month. It recalls a gathering with four elements: the full moon in the Magha asterism, 1,250 monks assembling without being summoned, all of them ordained by the Buddha himself, and all of them arahants. The dictionary gives a second name, Wan Chaturongkha Sannibat.[1]
• Visakha Bucha falls on the full moon of the sixth month and marks the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and passing.[1]
• Asarnha Bucha falls on the full moon of the eighth month and marks the day the Buddha gave his first sermon.[1]

The rains retreat: Khao Phansa and Ok Phansa

Two further days frame the three-month rains residence of the monks. The dictionary defines Khao Phansa as the day monks begin it, the first waning day of the eighth month, and Ok Phansa as the day it ends, the fifteenth waxing day of the eleventh month, also called Wan Pavarana.[1] XTOUR's reading of those definitions is that Khao Phansa follows Asarnha Bucha, the eighth-month full moon, by one day.

Neither day is on the Bank of Thailand's lists for 2026 or 2027,[3][2] and XTOUR has not read an official notice that dates them, so it publishes no date for either.

Wan phra: the weekly observance days

Between the major holy days, the Thai Buddhist month has its own rhythm. The dictionary defines wan phra as the days for keeping the precepts and hearing the dhamma, four in each month: the eighth and fifteenth days of the waxing moon and the eighth and fifteenth of the waning moon, or the fourteenth waning day in a short month.[1] XTOUR does not publish a calendar of them.

Why the dates move

The lunar reckoning, as the dictionary defines it, counts days from the first waxing day to the fifteenth waning day and months from duean ai, the first, to the twelfth. Some lunar years have a thirteenth month: the dictionary's entry for adhikamas describes a year with the eighth month twice, written "duean 8 song 8", two eighth months.[1] XTOUR has not read an official source that says which years are thirteen-month years.

The effect shows in the Bank of Thailand's two lists. From 2026 to 2027, Makha Bucha moves from 3 March to 21 February, Visakha Bucha from 31 May to 20 May and Asarnha Bucha from 29 July to 18 July.[3][2] In XTOUR's reading that is ten or eleven days earlier for each; XTOUR does not project the dates beyond 2027.

What the Bank of Thailand's list is, and what it is not

The notices are the Bank of Thailand's announcements of holidays for financial institutions and specialized financial institutions under the Financial Institution Business Act, published in English as unofficial translations with the Thai text as the official version.[2] They are the official dated list XTOUR could read, which is why this page uses them; they say nothing about schools, government offices, shops, museums or transport.

• They come out early. The 2026 list was announced on 5 August 2025[2] and the 2027 list on 17 August 2026.[3]
• Weekend holidays get a Monday. In both lists, each holiday that falls on a Saturday or Sunday is followed by a substitution day on the Monday, which is why the holiday and the holy day differ in three cases in the table.[3][2]
• They can change during the year. A notice of 4 June 2026 added Friday 16 October 2026 as a special holiday for financial institutions in Bangkok, after the Cabinet declared a special public holiday there for the IMF and World Bank Group annual meetings.[5]
• Some holidays are regional. The notices give extra holidays for Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha and Chinese New Year to branches in Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, Satun and Songkhla.[2]

The Bank of Thailand's own holiday page carries a small inconsistency. Its heading reads "Holidays and Additional Special Holiday for B.E. 2569 (2027)", while the notifications it links give B.E. 2569 as 2026 and B.E. 2570 as 2027.[3][2][4] XTOUR takes its dates from the notifications themselves, whose lists match the page's calendar.

Planning around a holy day

XTOUR's reading is that a holy day's date is on the bank list some months ahead (the 2027 list appeared on 17 August 2026, about six months before Makha Bucha),[3] while what happens on the day is not described by any source XTOUR read. XTOUR has not read official rules on alcohol sales, office or shop closures, temple visiting arrangements or ceremonies for these days, and states none. For conduct inside a temple, follow what the temple itself displays or publishes.

Thailand's two largest festivals run on different calendars: Songkran on the solar calendar and Loy Krathong on the lunar one. See Songkran, Loy Krathong and Yi Peng explained, and Thailand for the country overview.