Songkran, Loy Krathong and Thai Public Holidays 2026-2027

Thailand’s public holidays come from three calendars at once: fixed civil dates, royal anniversaries, and Buddhist holy days that follow the moon and move every year. The government can also add extra days at short notice. On 27 September 2026 it made 28 and 29 September special government holidays in Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani and Samut Prakan because of flooding, and left banks and private firms to decide for themselves (Government Public Relations Department regional office and the Tourism Authority of Thailand). Friday 16 October 2026 was a separate Bangkok-only holiday for the IMF and World Bank meetings, which the Cabinet approved on 19 May 2026. The dates below are the Bank of Thailand’s, because its list could be read in full at source, for both years.

The holidays left in 2026

Date	Holiday
Monday 7 December	In place of Saturday 5 December: King Bhumibol’s birthday, National Day and Father’s Day
Thursday 10 December	Constitution Day
Thursday 31 December	New Year’s Eve

16 October 2026 was a Bangkok-only holiday. The Bank of Thailand says the Cabinet declared it on 19 May 2026, and told government offices in the capital to let staff work from home on 12, 14 and 15 October, to ease travel and security for the finance ministers and central bank governors attending the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The bank gave Bangkok’s banks the day off as well, but said they could keep core services running where stopping them would cause disruption. Outside Bangkok, 16 October 2026 was an ordinary Friday.

The holidays in 2027

The bank has already published its list for 2027. On both lists, a holiday that falls at a weekend is given a Monday in its place, which is why several dates below are marked that way.

Date	Holiday
Friday 1 January	New Year’s Day
Monday 22 February	In place of Sunday 21 February: Makha Bucha
Tuesday 6 April	Chakri Memorial Day
Tuesday 13 to Thursday 15 April	Songkran
Monday 3 May	In place of Saturday 1 May: Labour Day
Tuesday 4 May	Coronation Day
Thursday 20 May	Visakha Bucha
Thursday 3 June	Queen Suthida’s birthday
Monday 19 July	In place of Sunday 18 July: Asanha Bucha
Wednesday 28 July	King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s birthday
Thursday 12 August	Queen Sirikit The Queen Mother’s birthday anniversary and National Mother’s Day
Wednesday 13 October	King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great Memorial Day
Monday 25 October	In place of Saturday 23 October: King Chulalongkorn the Great Memorial Day
Monday 6 December	In place of Sunday 5 December: King Bhumibol’s birthday, National Day and Father’s Day
Friday 10 December	Constitution Day
Friday 31 December	New Year’s Eve

Whose list it is, and what closes

Banks close on every date above, because the Bank of Thailand’s notification is what sets their holidays. Branches in Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, Satun and Songkhla also close for Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha and Chinese New Year, when those do not already fall on a holiday or a weekend. Chinese New Year is not a holiday anywhere else on the list. For changing money around a long weekend, see our money guide.

Government offices, immigration included, work to a separate list, set by the Cabinet and published by the Secretariat of the Cabinet. The Secretariat’s site was behind a bot check when this guide was checked on 22 September 2026, so that list is not reproduced here. Because the two lists are set separately, confirm with the office itself if a visa extension or any other appointment falls near a holiday.

Museums and the palace. The Bangkok National Museum closes on Mondays and Tuesdays, according to the government’s guide for visitors to the IMF and World Bank meetings, which says nothing about public holidays; our museum page has the rest. The Grand Palace publishes no fixed list of closure days, running a dated calendar instead: see our Grand Palace page, and the royal cremation below, part of which takes place inside the palace.

Five days when shops stop selling alcohol

A Prime Minister’s Office announcement in force since 10 May 2025 bans the sale of alcohol on Makha Bucha, Visakha Bucha, Asanha Bucha, Khao Phansa and Ok Phansa. It exempts five kinds of place: passenger buildings at airports with international flights, licensed entertainment venues, similar businesses in tourist areas that the Public Health Minister designates, hotels, and venues for designated national or international events. A hotel bar may serve on those days; a convenience store in town may not. For Asanha Bucha and Khao Phansa in 2026, a news report said police would enforce the ban from 00:01 on 29 July to midnight at the end of 30 July.

The rule names the holy days themselves, not the Mondays given in their place, so these are the dates that matter:

Holy day	Date
Makha Bucha 2027	Sunday 21 February
Visakha Bucha 2027	Thursday 20 May
Asanha Bucha 2027	Sunday 18 July
Khao Phansa 2027	Monday 19 July, worked out rather than announced
Ok Phansa 2027	Not yet published

The Khao Phansa date follows from the Tourism Authority’s definition: it “takes place the day after the full moon of the eighth lunar month”, which is the day after Asanha Bucha, as it was in 2026. In 2027 that puts the ban on a Sunday and a Monday. Ok Phansa, which the Tourism Authority describes as marking the end of Buddhist Lent, is the last of the five.

Outside those five days, alcohol may be sold from 11:00 to midnight. Our guide to Thai laws for tourists has the hours, the places where drinking is banned, and the penalties.

Festivals worth planning around

Songkran, 13 to 15 April

Songkran is fixed in the calendar: 13, 14 and 15 April on the bank’s lists for both years, a Monday to Wednesday in 2026 and a Tuesday to Thursday in 2027.

It is also a dangerous week on the roads. The government runs a road safety campaign over it, known as the seven dangerous days. In 2026 the campaign ran from 10 to 16 April, and the Public Relations Department reported 95 deaths in its first three days. A news report citing the Road Safety Directing Centre put the toll for the full seven days at 242 deaths. If you are thinking of renting a scooter, read our scooter guide first; if you are travelling by train over Songkran or New Year, our trains guide explains how far ahead you can book.

Loy Krathong and Yi Peng, in November

Loy Krathong falls on “the full moon night of the 12th lunar month”, in the Public Relations Department’s words, and the celebrations last a few days in many areas. In 2025 it fell on 5 November. It is not a public holiday: it appears on neither of the bank’s lists.

In 2026 it falls on Tuesday 24 November. The Public Relations Office of Chiang Mai Province gives that date in a release of 20 October 2026, and a Thai PBS news report of 22 October 2026 gives the same date.

Yi Peng, in Chiang Mai, is held at the same time, and it is the festival of sky lanterns. The province regulates them to protect aircraft as well as people and property. Chiang Mai province announced its 2026 rules at a press briefing on 20 October 2026, as published by the Public Relations Office of Chiang Mai Province. Sky lanterns, lanterns and fireworks may be released from 19:00 until 01:00 the next morning on both 24 and 25 November. Smoke lanterns (wao hom) are allowed only on 24 November, from 10:00 to 12:00. Every release needs a permit from the district chief, applied for through the Bampen app, and is allowed only on the approved date, at the approved time and place. Lantern releases are banned outright across all of Mueang Chiang Mai and Hang Dong, and in parts of Saraphi, Mae Rim, San Sai and San Pa Tong; check the Bampen app for exact boundaries. In the areas under the airport flight path, applications closed on 25 October 2026. Elsewhere they close 14 days ahead, which is 10 November 2026. The province says breaking the rules is punishable under the relevant laws, and its 2026 announcement gives no penalty figures. No later change is confirmed as of 27 October 2026. For 2025, the Public Relations Office of Chiang Mai Province gave the penalty as up to five years in prison, a fine of up to 200,000 baht, or both, and up to seven years and a fine of up to 140,000 baht if a lantern started a fire, in its release of 7 October 2025. If you plan to release a lantern, check that whoever is organising it holds that permission.

The Phuket Vegetarian Festival (held 10 to 18 October 2026)

The Tourism Authority listed the 2026 festival from 10 to 18 October at shrines across Phuket, closing with the send-off of the gods on the night of 18 October. The festival opened with the raising of the Go Teng pole on 9 October, the date given by the Public Relations Department. The 2027 dates were not confirmed by the Tourism Authority or Phuket province as of 27 October 2026. The Tourism Authority describes the festival as a Hokkien Chinese tradition of keeping the precepts and eating jay, the festival’s vegetarian food. The festival is not a public holiday in its own right, though King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great Memorial Day, on 13 October, fell within it. Our Phuket page has where to stay.

December 2026: the royal cremation in Bangkok

Following the death of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit The Queen Mother in 2025, the royal cremation ceremonies run from Tuesday 15 to Saturday 19 December 2026 at Sanam Luang and inside the Grand Palace, according to the schedule published by the Government Public Relations Department on 29 September 2026. The Nation’s news report of 22 September 2026 also gives Wednesday 16 December as the cremation day.

The cremation day is Wednesday 16 December. On Tuesday 15 December at 17:00 a royal merit-making ceremony is held at Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall inside the Grand Palace. At 07:00 on 16 December the royal urn is moved from that hall to the royal crematorium at Sanam Luang, and the Royal Cremation Ceremony is at 16:30. On 17 December at 08:00 the royal relics are collected and taken to Phra Si Rattana Chedi at Wat Phra Kaew, inside the Grand Palace. On 18 December at 17:00 a merit-making ceremony for the relics is held at Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall. On 19 December the relics are enshrined in the Chakri Maha Prasat Throne Hall after an offering to monks at 10:00, and at 17:00 the royal ashes are enshrined at Wat Ratchabophit and Wat Bowonniwet. All times are from the Government Public Relations Department schedule of 29 September 2026.

What it means for a visit. The ceremonies take place at Sanam Luang and inside the Grand Palace itself, and the National Museum stands beside Sanam Luang. If you are in Bangkok that week, plan any visit to the Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaew or the museum around the schedule, and check the palace’s own calendar first. A special holiday for the cremation is not confirmed as of 27 October 2026. Daily News reported on 26 September 2026 that the organising committee planned to seek royal approval to make the cremation day a special government holiday, with no date given. The Bank of Thailand sets bank holidays separately, and its December 2026 list, read on 27 October 2026, shows only 7, 10 and 31 December.

What we could not confirm

• The Cabinet’s list for government offices. The Secretariat of the Cabinet’s site and the government’s own news site were both behind bot checks on 22 September 2026.
• Ok Phansa in 2026. It follows the lunar calendar, and the date a Thai calendar publisher gave, Monday 26 October, was not an announcement.
• Any holiday, closures or road arrangements for the royal cremation. None had been announced as of 27 October 2026: the Government Public Relations Department’s schedule of 29 September 2026 lists none, and neither does the Bank of Thailand’s notice list.