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Public Holidays and Bank Holidays for Thailand

The list of Thailand bank holidays, national holidays and public holidays for 2009, comes from the Q++ Worldwide Public Holidays Database, the professional source of international public holidays long trusted by the world's foremost diary publishers. The information on this page is provided for private, non-professional, use. Qualified professionals can license data for 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and beyond. For details, please visit our licensing information page or

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03 Jul 2009 (Bangkok Post-Bangkok) The Thai Cabinet has extended the upcoming Asarnha Bucha long weekend for Government workers by declaring an additional public sector holiday on Wednesday, July 8, 2009. • 28 Jun 2009 (Phuket Magazine-Phuket) A couple of years after the Buddhist Lent public holiday was exchanged for the Asarnha Bucha public holiday, it seems that most bars and "places of indulgence" will be closed on July 7. • 21 Jun 2009 (MCOT-Bangkok) Thailand's Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, has announced that the government would consider longer public holidays, as part of its efforts to stimulate local tourism. • 17 Jun 2009 (Bangkok Post-Bangkok) A network of monks provinces including Surin, Khon Kaen, Chanthaburi and Trat petitioned the National Committee for Alcohol Consumption Control, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Sanan Kachornprasart, to make the public holidays of Makha Bucha Day, Asarnha Bucha Day, Visakha Bucha Day and Buddhist Lent Day, declared alcohol-free days. • 26 Apr 2009 (Xinhua-Bangkok) Earlier today, Thailand's Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, confirmed that the upcoming Royal Ploughing Ceremony public holiday would occur on May 11, 2009 (though the actual ceremony will be held on May 9th). • 14 Apr 2009 (National News Bureau of Thailand-Bangkok) Thailand's Deputy Secretary-general to the Prime Minister and acting Government Spokesman, Panitharn Wattanayakorn, announced earlier today that the cabinet had approved the extension of the current 3-day Songkran public holidays for 2 additional days; Thursday and Friday, April 16 and 17, 2009. • 10 Apr 2009 (Reuters-Bangkok) Late last night, Thailand's Central Bank and the the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) both announced that all banks and financial markets would remain open on Friday, April 10, 2009. • 09 Apr 2009 (Reuters-Bangkok) Earlier today, Thailand's Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, declared a one-off public holiday for tomorrow (Friday, April 10, 2009), to help the government cope with the effects of political protests that caused traffic chaos in Bangkok. • 18 Feb 2009 (The Nation-Bangkok) Yesterday, Thailand's Governing Cabinet instituted the principle of bridge public holidays for the public sector, whereby Tuesday or Thursday public sector holidays would be linked to the adjoining weekend by declaring the Monday or Friday a bridge public holiday. • 18 Feb 2009 (National News Bureau of Thailand-Bangkok) Thailand's deputy spokesman to the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr. Supparak Kuanha, has announced that the Cabinet had approved the declaration of Monday, July 6, 2009, as a one-off bridge public holiday, thus creating a 4-day public holiday. • 12 Dec 2008 (MCOT-Bangkok) Thailand's Central Bank, the Bank of Thailand (BoT), announced a 5-day consecutive period of bank holidays, from Monday, December 29, 2008, through Friday, January 2, 2009, with the caretaker government's approval. • 09 Dec 2008 (MCOT-Bangkok) Earlier today, Deputy Spokeswoman, Wirinthira Nathongborcharas, announced that Thailand's caretaker Cabinet had declared Friday, January 2, 2009, as a one-off bridge public holiday. • 16 Nov 2006 (Bank of Thailand-Bangkok) Thailand's government has announced that, starting in the year B.E. 2550 (ie. starting mid-April 2007), the Buddhist Lent public holiday would be dropped, and be replaced by the Asarnha Bucha Day. • More News Updates For the full version of the summarized news items above, and older news items not displayed above, go to the Thailand public holidays news and updates page, or worldwide public holidays news and updates page, or subscribe to one of our free email newsletters.

Weekend Public Holidays: Public holidays falling on a Saturday or Sunday are observed on the Monday following. • Clubs and other places of indulgence are closed on Buddhist Holidays and Royal Holidays like the King/Queen's birthday. • Thai Lunar Calendar: The public holidays of Mahka Bucha, Visakha Bucha, Asanha Bucha, and Khao Phansa are based on the Thai lunar calendar. • Songkran: In 1948, the government officially fixed the 13th of April as Songkran Day and officially made it a public holiday. In 1989, the government with General Chatichai Choonhavan as the Prime Minister proclaimed the 12th of April, the 13th of April, and the 14th of April public holidays in order to allow people to return to their hometowns. In 1997, the government with General Chawalit Yongchaiyuth as the Prime Minister changed the dates of holidays on the occasion of Songkran festival to be the 13th of April, the 14th of April and the 15th of April in accordance with the days traditionally observed since time immemorial. • For Bangkok Bank in the provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala and Satun, an extra holiday is given for Eid al Fitr (End of Ramadan) announced by the Sheikhul Islam Office, if the day does not coincide with other holidays or is on Saturday or Sunday. • Royal Ploughing Ceremony Day (usually during the 2nd week of May) is supposed to be a government holiday, however, no reliable source has been found to confirm how it may be predicted. This is an ancient Brahman ceremony, held under Royal patronage in Bangkok, which celebrates the beginning of the rice planting season. The day is selected by Brahmin Priests according to their astrological calendars. • For commercial banks in the provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala and Satun, an extra holiday is given for Eidilfitri Day (Ramadan Day) announced by the Sheikhul Islam Office if the day does not coincide with the above mentioned holidays or Saturday and Sunday. • Thailand International Codes TH and THA (2 and 3-letter ISO3166 codes) and .th (ICANN national top-level internet domain). • Other Sources of Information The following specialized websites are also a good source of Thailand information and news: Bank of Thailand (Thailand central bank), ASI Hot Spots (security-related world events: terrorist threats, political strife, strikes, criminal activity, aviation incidents and health outbreaks), CIA World Factbook (Thailand maps, demographics and economic statistics), the IFES (information covering upcoming elections, referenda, electoral structures and voter participation in Thailand), and Wikipedia (includes Thailand commemorative dates that are not necessarily public holidays).

Observance : Any entry in the Observance column indicates that, in Thailand, the holiday may be regional or non-official or limited to certain religious and/or linguistic groups, or begin at a time other than midnight. Note that religious holidays are included only if they are national public holidays, or if the national labour code has specific holiday allowances for employees of specific religions. For more information, see our pages on the religious calendars of the world. Aft=Afternoon, Arm=Armenian, Bah=Bahai, Bnk=Banks and most financial institutions, Bud=Buddhist, Cat=Catholic, Chr=Christian, Cop=Coptic, Eve=Evening, Gov=Government services and civil servants, Hin=Hindu, Jew=Jewish, Lin=Linguistic or ethnic groups, Mor=Morning, Mun=Municipal, Mus=Muslim, Orth=Orthodox, Othr=Miscellaneous partial observances (usually described in the Additional Information section of this page), Prt=Protestant, Reg=Regional, Rel=Other Religion, Sch=Schools and universities, Sik=Sikh.

Religious Holidays : Public holidays in Thailand that are based on certain religious calendars may be subject to local variations due to differing interpretations between different religious authorities, or to seemingly arbitrary changes in the date a holiday is celebrated because it conflicts with another holiday that is based on another calendar, or because the day of the holiday is deemed inauspicious (bad luck). To find out more about these uncertainties, see the footnote below, if any, for each specific religion.

South-East Asian Holidays : The rules used to predict South-East Asian public holidays in Thailand are based on the models described in the book "The Calendrical Systems of Mainland South-East Asia", by J.C. Eade, published as part of the "Handbuch der Orientalistik" series. Our sincere thanks to Burghart Hoffrichter for his help in making sense of these calendrical systems.

Disclaimer
In many parts of the world, holidays are subject to arbitrary, last minute, changes by local authorities. While every effort has been made to present an accurate list of 2009 bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays for Thailand, we cannot accept any responsibility for any error or omission in the data presented above. You are therefore advised to verify the above dates with the embassy or consulate of Thailand, before planning any trip to Thailand. For last-minute updates to worldwide public holidays, visit our blog or subscribe to our free email newsletters.