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1 January · Songkran · Chinese New Year

Three New Years in Thailand

Thailand celebrates the new year three times. The official year turns on 1 January; the traditional Thai new year, Songkran, fills the middle of April with temple visits, family blessings and water; and Thai-Chinese families keep Chinese New Year in January or February. Here is when each falls, which are holidays, and how each is kept.

The dates

New year20262027Status
New YearThu 1 Jan and Fri 2 Jan (a special holiday); New Year’s Eve, Thu 31 DecFri 1 Jan; New Year’s Eve, Fri 31 DecPublic holiday for banks and government
SongkranMon 13 to Wed 15 AprTue 13 to Thu 15 AprPublic holiday for banks and government
Chinese New YearTue 17 FebSat 6 FebWorking day, except for banks in five southern provinces

1 January

The official year has not always started in January. For centuries the Thai year turned at Songkran or with the lunar months. In 1889 King Chulalongkorn fixed the new year on 1 April, and in 1941 the government moved it to 1 January to bring Thailand into line with the rest of the world; the year 1940 was simply cut short at the end of December.

The western new year is now a major holiday. New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are both days off for banks and government offices, and the cabinet often adds a special holiday next to them, as it did for Friday 2 January 2026, to make a long break. Cities hold countdowns with fireworks, and many people spend the night at a temple instead: chanting through midnight into the new year, สวดมนต์ข้ามปี (suat mon kham pi), has become a popular way to begin the year, and the next morning is a favourite time to give alms to monks. Companies hand out new-year baskets of food and gifts, and the greeting is สวัสดีปีใหม่, sawatdi pi mai.

Songkran, the Thai new year

Songkran takes its name from the Sanskrit for the sun’s passage into a new sign of the zodiac, here its move into Aries in mid-April, the hottest time of the year and the slack season before the rice is planted. It is fixed on 13 to 15 April, and in 2023 UNESCO inscribed Songkran in Thailand on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

It is above all a family festival. Millions travel home to their provinces, and the three days have names and customs of their own: 13 April is also National Elderly Day and 14 April Family Day. People go to the temple to make merit and bring sand to build small sand chedis in the grounds, a way of returning the sand carried out on their feet during the year. They pour scented water over Buddha images, and over the hands of parents, grandparents and teachers in a ceremony called รดน้ำดำหัว, rot nam dam hua, asking forgiveness for the year’s wrongs and receiving a blessing in return.

The gentle sprinkle of water that goes with these blessings has grown into the water fights the festival is famous for. In Bangkok, Chiang Mai and the tourist towns whole streets become battlegrounds of water guns, buckets and hoses, often with white clay paste dabbed on cheeks. In Chiang Mai, where Songkran is called Pi Mai Mueang, the northern new year, the festivities run over four days to 16 April and centre on the moat around the old city.

Songkran also has a darker side. With so many people driving home and drinking, the government counts road casualties over the “seven dangerous days” around the holiday and runs a road-safety campaign every year. If you travel, go early, and avoid driving at night.

Chinese New Year

A large share of Thais have Chinese ancestors, many of them Teochew, and their families keep the lunar new year, called ตรุษจีน, trut chin, in Thai. It falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice, between late January and mid-February: on Tuesday 17 February 2026 and Saturday 6 February 2027.

Thai-Chinese families keep three days. On the first, the day of shopping, people buy what they need for the offerings. On the second, the day of worship, they offer food, paper money and incense to their ancestors and the household gods, and children receive red envelopes of money, ang pao. On the third, the day of going out, families visit relatives, wear red and avoid sweeping the house, so as not to sweep the luck away. Bangkok’s Chinatown on Yaowarat Road is lit with lanterns and closed to traffic for parades and lion dances, and Nakhon Sawan holds one of the country’s best-known celebrations.

It is not a national public holiday, but banks in the southern provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, Satun and Songkhla close when it falls on a weekday, and many family-owned shops and wholesalers close for a day or two.

Sources

Checked against the sources below. Rules, fees and dates change, sometimes at short notice: confirm with the Bank of Thailand or your employer before you rely on them.

Questions people ask

How long is the Songkran holiday?

Officially three days, 13 to 15 April, for banks, government offices and most employers. In practice many people take the whole week to travel home, and the cabinet sometimes adds a special holiday to make a longer break. In Chiang Mai the celebrations run from 13 to 16 April.

Will I get wet during Songkran?

If you walk the streets of a city during the three days, almost certainly: water fights are part of the festival, and nobody is spared. Keep your phone and passport in a waterproof pouch, avoid high-pressure water guns aimed at faces, and leave monks, the elderly and people in work clothes alone.

Is Chinese New Year a holiday in Thailand?

Not nationally. It is a working day for government offices and most firms, but banks in Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, Satun and Songkhla close when it falls on a weekday, and many Thai-Chinese family businesses close for a day or more. Bangkok’s Chinatown on Yaowarat Road holds the biggest celebrations.

Related

Thai public holidaysEvery Thai public holiday for 2026 and 2027 with its date, which days close banks and which close government offices, how substitute days work, and the Buddhist Era year.The Buddhist calendarHow the Thai Buddhist calendar works: the Buddhist Era, the lunar months, why Makha Bucha, Visakha Bucha and the Buddhist Lent move every year, and the weekly holy days.Buddhism in ThailandTheravada Buddhism as Thais live it: the temple and its buildings, monks and the morning alms round, making merit, ordination, the Sangha, and how to behave as a visitor.Chiang MaiChiang Mai for people who live there or plan to: the districts, the three seasons and the smoky months, getting around, where foreigners live, costs, and the temples including Doi Suthep.Thai cultureGuides to Thai culture: the calendar and public holidays, Buddhism and the temples, regional food, festivals, the anthems, Muay Thai, massage and the hermit exercises.