Thailand Local Travel

Celebrate Christmas At The Melia Hotel
2025-12-01 - 2026-01-01 | Chiang Mai Thailand, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Meliá Chiang Mai has unveiled an extravaganza of feasts, fiestas and culinary treats for the months of December and January in celebration of Christmas and the New Year.
Situated in the heart of Chiang Mai, with the city’s highest rooftop bar affording spectacular views, the award-winning hotel will celebrate its fourth festive season with a program filled with merriment and dining delicacies, with everything from mulled wine to festive cocktails, and from Spanish cuisine to Japanese afternoon tea.
Learn More Here:
How To Celebrate Christmas At The Family Friendly Melia Chiang Mai

Chinese New Year
2026-02-17 - 2026-03-03 | Bangkok Thailand, Bangkok, 10100, Thailand
This is when the new lunar year officially begins, and lasts over two weeks. Traditional celebrations typically span around 16 days, roughly from 17 February to 3 March 2026 (ending with the Lantern Festival). Chinese New Year is a regional public holiday in provinces with significant Chinese-Thai populations — Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala and Satun.

Across the rest of Thailand, it’s widely celebrated culturally (especially in Bangkok’s Chinatown (Yaowarat), Chiang Mai, Phuket, and other cities with Chinese communities), but most businesses and government offices may remain open. Expect high hotel prices especially in the first few days, with more crowded areas than usual.

Makha Bucha (Magha Puja) — Thailand 2026
2026-03-03
Makha Bucha (Thai: Wan Makha Bucha, มาฆบูชา) is one of Thailand’s most important Buddhist holy days. It’s observed on the full moon day of the third lunar month according to the traditional Buddhist calendar.

The day commemorates a remarkable event in Buddhist history over 2,500 years ago when 1,250 enlightened disciples spontaneously gathered to hear the Buddha teach, without prior notice or formal scheduling.

In Thailand, Makha Bucha is also a no-alcohol day, meaning the sale of alcoholic beverages is prohibited nationwide on that date out of respect for the religious observance.

Chakri Day (Chakri Memorial Day)
2026-04-06
Chakri Day (Wan Chakkri) commemorates the **founding of the Chakri Dynasty, Thailand’s current royal house, by King Rama I in 1782. This dynasty established Bangkok as the capital and has continued through successive kings to the present monarch, King Rama X. National Holiday.

Ceremonial events: The King and the royal family attend official ceremonies, including religious rites and offerings at the Royal Pantheon in Bangkok. Government offices, schools, and many businesses are typically closed, though shops, tourist sites, and services like transit remain open.

Songkran Festival
2026-04-13 - 2026-04-15 | Thailand, Thailand
Songkran is an annual festival which takes place over 3 days during the traditional Thai New Year, April 13th-15th (in almost all provinces). The official Songkran festival lasts 3 days but, in reality, the whole week is taken over by a mass celebration as the whole country shuts down for a momentous water fight. Wild scenes of exuberance can be seen throughout the Kingdom with music, dancing, drinking and people drenched from head to toe. Water guns, hose pipes, buckets, in fact, anything you can get your hands on can be used to splash people, and one thing is for certain: you will get wet!
As April is the hottest month of the year in Thailand, everyone gets involved with this country-wide water fight and it brings great relief from the soaring temperatures. Songkran started as a Buddhist tradition, using a light sprinkling of water to symbolize purification but, as time went by, people began splashing each other in a more playful manner until recent years, when the entire country becomes one almighty water fight celebrated by millions!

Visakha Bucha Day- National Holiday
2026-05-01
Visakha Bucha Day is the most significant event in the Buddhist calendar. The day commemorates three defining events in the life of the Buddha, which all occurred on the full-moon day of the sixth lunar month (the Visakha month). Therefor the date changes each year, and is a National Holiday.

It is observed by attending temples, with candlelight processions around temples in the evening (3 clockwise laps with candles, incense, and flowers). Alcohol sales are banned, and most bars are closed.

Birthday of HM Queen Suthida- National Holiday
2026-06-03
Her Majesty Queen Suthida of Thailand’s birthday is on June 3, 1978, making June 3rd a national holiday in Thailand to celebrate her birthday, marked by public ceremonies and observances across the country.

Birthday of HM King Maha Vajiralongkorn
2026-07-28
This national holiday in Thailand is held annually on July 28th. If July 28th falls on a weekend, the holiday will be observed on the following Monday. The day commemorates the birthday of the King of Thailand, Vajiralongkorn, who was born on this day in 1952.

Asahna Bucha Day
2026-07-29
It marks the day when the Buddha delivered his first sermon (Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta) to his five disciples, which led to The first Buddhist monk, the completion of the Triple Gem: Buddha, Dhamma (teachings), and Sangha (monastic community).

Observed on the full moon of the 8th lunar month, usually in July, and is a National Holiday.
On Asahna Bucha Day, most Thai Buddhists will visit their local wat (temple) to make merit. One way of doing this is by donating candles to the temple. This ancient tradition dates back long before the advent of electricity when monks living in the temple relied on candlelight to see them through the darker days of the rainy season. The most famous of the candle festivals is held in the north-east city of Ubon Ratchathani.

Birthday Of The Queen Mother Sirikit
2026-08-12
Mother’s Day (Wan Mae) is celebrated each year on August 12, the birthday of Queen Mother Sirikit. Well-known for her charity work, the Queen Mother is the honorary president of the Thai Red Cross.

HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej Memorial Day
2026-10-13
Also known as His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great Memorial Day, this national holiday in Thailand is held annually on October 13th. If October 13th falls on a weekend, the holiday will be observed on the following Monday.

This holiday has been observed since 2017 to commemorate the death of the late King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej on this day in 2016. Most government businesses are closed and selling alcohol is prohibited.

Loy Krathong Festival 2026
2026-11-24 - 2026-11-25 | Thailand, Thailand
Loy Krathong is a Thai festival celebrated annually throughout Thailand and in nearby countries with significant South Western Thai cultures (Laos, Shan, Mon, Tanintharyi, Kelantan, Kedah, and Xishuangbanna). The name could be translated as “to float ritual vessel or lamp,” and comes from the tradition of making Krathong or buoyant, decorated baskets, which are then floated on a river. Many Thais use the Krathong to thank the Goddess of Water and River, Goddess Khongkha or to worship the Holy Buddha’s hair pagoda in heaven in Buddhist beliefs. This festival traces its origin back to India.
Loy Krathong takes place on the evening of the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar, so the exact date of the festival changes every year. In the Western calendar this usually falls in the month of November. In Chiang Mai, the festival lasts three days.
Yi Peng is taking place at the same time, with it’s epic lantern festivals.
Chiang Mai Tips:

No need to buy tickets or pay. From Tha Phae Gate square along Tha Phae Road, down to the Ping River are all free festivities.
Parade along Tha Phae Road is free.
Can purchase Lanterns from vendors along the way.
Can purchase Krathong’s and release in the river across the bridge.
The old city hotels fill up, so book as soon as possible.

Yi Peng Festival 2026
2026-11-24 - 2026-11-25 | Thailand, Thailand
Loy Krathong coincides with the Lanna (northern Thai) festival known as Yi Peng. Yi means ‘two’ and peng means a ‘full moon day’. Yi Peng refers to the full moon day in the second month according to the Lanna lunar calendar (the twelfth month of the Thai lunar calendar). The festival is meant as a time to make merit.
Swarms of sky lanterns (Thai: โคมลอย; RTGS: khom loi), literally: ‘floating lanterns’, are launched into the air. Khom loi are made from a thin fabric, such as rice paper, stretched over a bamboo or wire frame, to which a candle or fuel cell is attached. When the fuel cell is lit, the resulting hot air is trapped inside the lantern and creates enough lift for the khom loi to float into the sky.
