Thailand Public Holidays 2026: The Calendar, and What It Closes
Sixteen gazetted holidays, two months with none at all, and a set of Buddhist dates that move every year. Here is the 2026 calendar, plus what actually shuts — because a closed government office can cost you a visa appointment.
If you are living or arriving in Thailand, the Thailand public holidays 2026 calendar is not trivia — it is the thing that decides whether your container clears, whether the immigration counter is staffed, and whether your children are in school. Two features catch newcomers out. Several holidays are Buddhist and follow the lunar calendar, so they move each year and cannot be predicted from last year's date. And Thailand adds substitute days when a holiday falls at the weekend, which quietly turns a single date into a long weekend. Below is the full year, month by month, followed by what each type of holiday actually closes. If you are timing an arrival around it, that is the kind of thing our Thailand relocation team plans backwards from.
On this page
01How Thai holidays are set
Thailand's holidays are gazetted — formally proclaimed — rather than fixed permanently in law, and they come in more than one grade. Understanding the grades tells you what to expect on the day.
- Regular national holidays. Government offices close, and most businesses follow. These are the dates in section 03.
- Special non-working days. Added by proclamation, often to bridge a gap and create a long weekend. They can be announced with relatively little notice.
- Substitute holidays. When a national holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, a weekday is substituted. This is why a single gazetted date can close offices for four days.
- Bank holidays. Some dates bind financial institutions only. Your bank is shut, the rest of the country is working.
- Observances. National Elephant Day, the equinoxes, New Year's Eve. Culturally marked, but not days off — though schools sometimes close.
The Buddhist holidays — Makha Bucha, Visakha Bucha, Asarnha Bucha and the start of Buddhist Lent — are set by the lunar calendar. They shift by roughly eleven days a year, and when a leap month intervenes they jump forward by about nineteen instead. There is no way to work out next year's date from this year's, which is precisely why an annual gazette exists.
⚠ Check the gazette before you commit money
Dates below follow the published 2026 list, but special non-working days can be added during the year and substitute days depend on where each date falls. Before you book flights, a container sailing or a government appointment, confirm against the current proclamation rather than any calendar — including this one.
02The three periods that matter
Sixteen dates are a lot to hold in your head. In practice three clusters do almost all the disruption, and if you plan around only these you will avoid most of the trouble.
01
Songkran — 13 to 15 April
Thai New Year, and the longest shutdown of the year. The country genuinely stops: offices, many businesses, and a large share of the workforce travelling to home provinces. Our Songkran guide covers what the festival is actually like.
02
The royal dates
Coronation Day in May, the Queen's birthdays in June and August, the King's in July, and the memorial and birthday dates for King Bhumibol in October and December. Several fall close enough to a weekend to generate substitute days.
03
The year-end run
King Bhumibol's birthday and National Day on 5 December, Constitution Day on the 10th, then New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Government processing slows well before the dates themselves.
03The 2026 calendar
National holidays and the main observances, in order. Two months — September and November — carry no national holiday at all, which makes them the easiest windows for anything that needs an open government office.
| Date | Holiday | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January (Thu) | New Year's Day | National |
| 2 March (Mon) | Makha Bucha Day — the Buddha's teachings and the gathering of 1,250 enlightened monks | National · lunar |
| 13 March (Fri) | National Elephant Day | Observance |
| 6 April (Mon) | Chakri Memorial Day — King Rama I and the founding of the Chakri dynasty | National |
| 13–15 April | Songkran — Thai New Year | National · 3 days |
| 1 May (Fri) | National Labour Day | National |
| 4 May (Mon) | Coronation Day — His Majesty King Rama X | National |
| 1 June (Mon) | Visakha Bucha Day — the holiest Buddhist date: birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha | National · lunar |
| 3 June (Wed) | Her Majesty Queen Suthida's Birthday | National |
| 28 July (Tue) | His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn's Birthday | National |
| 29 July (Wed) | Asarnha Bucha Day — the Buddha's first sermon | National · lunar |
| 30 July (Thu) | Buddhist Lent Day (Khao Phansa) — start of the three-month monastic retreat | National · lunar |
| 12 August (Wed) | Her Majesty Queen Sirikit's Birthday · Mother's Day | National |
| 13 October (Tue) | His Majesty King Bhumibol Memorial Day | National |
| 23 October (Fri) | Chulalongkorn Day — King Rama V | National |
| 5 December (Sat) | King Bhumibol's Birthday · National Day · Father's Day | National |
| 10 December (Thu) | Constitution Day — the first permanent constitution, 1932 | National |
| 31 December (Thu) | New Year's Eve | Observance |
⚠ Two dates to verify yourself
5 December falls on a Saturday, so expect a substitute weekday to be proclaimed — check which one before planning around it. And the lunar dates should be confirmed against the official proclamation: an earlier version of this guide listed Makha Bucha twice, in February and in March, which is exactly the kind of slip a lunar calendar invites.
04What actually closes
“Public holiday” does not mean the country stops uniformly, and knowing the difference saves wasted journeys.
| On a national holiday | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Government offices & immigration | Closed. Appointments cannot be made or kept, and the backlog lands on the following working day. |
| Banks | Closed, and some dates bind banks alone. Transfers initiated the day before may not clear. |
| Ports, customs & clearance | Effectively paused. A container arriving into a holiday cluster sits until offices reopen. |
| Schools | Closed — and international schools may also close for observances that are not national holidays, so check the calendar of the school you are considering during your school search. |
| Shops, malls, restaurants | Largely open, often busier than usual. Retail treats holidays as trading days. |
| Domestic transport | Running but heavily booked, particularly around Songkran and the year-end. |
05Planning a move around them
Three habits are worth adopting, and they come from watching where relocations actually lose time.
Do not let a container land in a holiday cluster. Clearance needs staffed offices at both the port and the revenue side. A shipment arriving on 12 April waits out Songkran in a yard, and demurrage does not pause for the New Year. The same applies to the December run.
Book government business into September or November. They are the only two months of 2026 with no national holiday. If you have a visa extension, a work permit step or a registration to complete, these are the clean windows.
Treat the holiday calendar as part of settling in, not as tourism. Knowing that offices shut on a royal birthday, that Buddhist Lent begins a three-month retreat, and that Songkran empties Bangkok is the sort of practical fluency that makes a first year in Thailand easier — and it is usually learned the hard way.
Timing an arrival in Thailand?
Tell us your dates and we will work back from them — shipping, clearance, school start and any immigration steps — around the holidays that would otherwise cost you a fortnight. Talk to our Thailand team →
06Common questions
How many public holidays does Thailand have in 2026?
Sixteen gazetted national holiday dates, with Songkran accounting for three consecutive days in April. Observances such as National Elephant Day and the equinoxes are marked but are not days off, and additional special non-working days can be proclaimed during the year.
Which Thai holiday causes the most disruption?
Songkran, from 13 to 15 April. It is Thai New Year and the longest shutdown of the year: government offices close, many businesses stop, and a large share of the workforce travels to home provinces. Domestic transport is booked out well in advance.
Why do some Thai holidays change date every year?
Because Makha Bucha, Visakha Bucha, Asarnha Bucha and Buddhist Lent Day follow the lunar calendar. They move by roughly eleven days a year, and when a leap month intervenes they jump forward by about nineteen instead, so next year's date cannot be worked out from this year's.
What is a substitute holiday in Thailand?
When a national holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, a weekday is proclaimed in its place. It is why one gazetted date can close government offices for several consecutive days, and why you should confirm the proclamation rather than reading the calendar date alone.
Which months of 2026 have no public holiday?
September and November carry no national holiday. They are the best windows for anything that needs a staffed government office: a visa extension, a work permit step, a registration, or a customs clearance you cannot afford to have sitting in a yard.
Do shops and restaurants close on Thai public holidays?
Generally no — retail, malls and restaurants treat public holidays as trading days and are often busier than usual. What closes is the official layer: government offices and immigration, banks, schools, and effectively the ports and customs clearance that a household shipment depends on.
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