Top Events
January
The weather is cool and dry in Thailand, ushering in the peak tourist season when Europeans escape dreary winter weather.
Chinese New Year
Thais with Chinese ancestry celebrate the Chinese lunar new year (dates vary) with a week of house-cleaning and fireworks. Phuket, Bangkok and Pattaya all host citywide festivities, but in general Chinese New Year (đrùđ jeen) is a family event.
February
Still in the high season swing, snowbirds flock to Thailand for sun and fun.
Makha Bucha
One of three holy days marking important moments of Buddha’s life, Makha Bucha (mah·ká boo·chah) falls on the full moon of the third lunar month and commemorates Buddha preaching to 1250 enlightened monks who came to hear him ‘without prior summons’. A public holiday, it’s mainly a day for temple visits. Organisations and schools will often make merit as a group at a local temple.
March
Hot and dry season approaches, and the beaches start to empty out. The winds kick up ushering in kite-flying and kiteboarding season. This is also Thailand’s semester break, and students head out on sightseeing trips.
Pattaya International Music
Festival
Pattaya showcases pop and rock bands from across Asia at this free music event, attracting bus loads of Bangkok university students.
April
Hot, dry weather sweeps across the land as the tourist season winds down, except for one last hurrah during Songkran. Make reservations well in advance since the whole country is on the move for this holiday.
Songkran
Thailand’s traditional new year (12–14 April) starts out as a respectful affair then degenerates into a water war. Morning visits to the temple involve colourful processions of the sacred Buddha images, which are ceremoniously sprinkled with water. Elders are shown respect by younger family members by having water sprinkled on their hands. Afterwards Thais load up their water guns and head out to the streets for battle: water is thrown, catapulted and sprayed from roving commandos and outfitted pick-up trucks at willing and unwilling targets. Bangkok is the epicentre of the battle. Innocent bystanders shelter indoors until the ammunition runs out.
May
Leading up to the rainy season, festivals encourage plentiful rains and bountiful harvests. This is an under-appreciated shoulder season when prices are lower and tourists are few.
Royal Ploughing Ceremony
This royal ceremony employs astrology and ancient Brahman rituals to kick off the rice-planting season. Sacred oxen are hitched to a wooden plough and part the ground of Sanam Luang in Bangkok. The ritual was revived in the 1960s by the king, and Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn has assumed the ceremony’s helm.
June
In some parts of the region, the rainy season is merely an afternoon shower, leaving the rest of the day for music and merriment.
Hua Hin Jazz Festival
Jazz groups descend on this royal retreat for a musical homage to the king, an accomplished jazz saxophonist and composer.
Devotees at the Jui Tui temple during the
Vegetarian Festival (Click here) in Phuket Town
CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES ©
PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES ©
July
With the start of the rainy season, the religious community and attendant festivals prepare for Buddhist Lent, a period of reflection and meditation.
Khao Phansaa
The day after Asahna Bucha, the day the lord Buddha delivered his first sermon, marks the beginning of Buddhist Lent (the first day of the waning moon in the eighth lunar month), the traditional time for men to enter the monkhood and when monks typically retreat inside the monastery for a period of study and meditation. During Khao Phansaa, worshippers make offerings of candles and other necessities to the temples and attend ordinations.
August
Overcast skies and daily showers mark the middle of the rainy season. The predictable rain just adds to the ever-present humidity.
HM the Queen’s Birthday
The Thai Queen’s Birthday (12 August) is a public holiday and national mother’s day. In Bangkok, the day is marked with cultural displays along Th Ratchadamnoen and Sanam Luang.
October
Religious preparations for the end of the rainy season and the end of Buddhist Lent begin. The monsoons are reaching the finish line (in most of the country).
Vegetarian Festival
Usually held in late September or early October, the Vegetarian Festival is a holiday from meat taken for nine days (during the ninth lunar month) in adherence with Chinese Buddhist beliefs of mind and body purification. Cities with large Thai-Chinese populations, such as Bangkok, Hua Hin, Pattaya, Trang and Krabi, are festooned with yellow banners heralding vegetarian vendors, and merit-makers dressed in white shuffle off for meditation retreats. In Phuket the festival gets extreme, with entranced marchers turning themselves into human shish kebabs.
November
The cool, dry season has arrived and if you get here early enough, you’ll beat the tourist crowds. The landscape is lush: perfect for trekking and waterfall-spotting.
Loi Krathong
One of Thailand’s most beloved festivals, Loi Krathong is celebrated on the first full moon of the 12th lunar month. The festival thanks the river goddess for providing life to the fields and forests, and asks for forgiveness for the polluting ways of humans. Small handmade origami-like boats made from banana leaves (called kràthong or grà·tong) are sent adrift in the country’s waterways. They’re decorated with flowers, and incense, candles and coins are placed in them.
December
The peak of the tourist season has returned with fair skies and a holiday mood.
HM the King’s Birthday
Honouring the king’s birthday on 5 December, this public holiday hosts parades and merit-making events; it is also recognised as national father’s day. Th Ratchadamnoen Klang in Bangkok is decorated with lights and regalia. Everyone wears pink shirts, pink being the colour associated with the monarchy.
