NOTES: Unless otherwise noted, the above
dates show bank holidays in Thailand. For more information about
holidays and festivals in Thailand please visit our Festivals in Thailand web site.
Days of the Week
The days of the week are named after the
planets in the same order as some Western countries. In Thai,
day means wan (pronounced wun) and it comes before the
name of the planet. When talking about the actual planets, then
each word should be prefixed by dao (i.e. dao ahtit
- the sun). Each day is also associated with a colour. Traditionally,
people would wear items of clothing according to the colour of
the day. A number of teachers at my school were keen for me to
wear the appropriate colour each day. So as a birthday and new
year's present, they gave give me a variety of different coloured
shirts. I now have the full set and they insist that I wear the
correct coloured shirt each day! However, this is not often seen
now.
|
English |
Thai |
Planet |
Colour |
|
Sunday |
wan-ahtit |
Sun |
red |
|
Monday |
wan-jaan |
Moon |
yellow |
|
Tuesday |
wan-angkahn |
Mars |
pink |
|
Wednesday |
wan-poot |
Mercury |
green |
|
Thursday |
wan-pa-reu-hut |
Jupiter |
orange |
|
Friday |
wan-sook |
Venus |
blue |
|
Saturday |
wan-sow |
Saturn |
purple |
Months of the Year
The calendar in Thailand can be a little
confusing because of the different methods used for telling the
months (duan) and the years (bee). However, the
names of the months are remarkably straightforward, particularly
if you want to know how many days in each month. Months that
end in yon have 30 days and months that end in kom
have 31 days. For example, January is called Mogarakom
in Thai and so therefore has 30 days.
|
Months (English) |
Months (Thai) |
Months (lunar) |
|
January |
Mogarakom |
1st - duan ai |
|
February |
Goopahpan |
2nd - duan yee |
|
March |
Meenakom |
3rd - duan sahm |
|
April |
Maysayon |
4th - duan see |
|
May |
Prootsapahkom |
5th - duan hah |
|
June |
Mitoonayon |
6th - duan hok |
|
July |
Garagadahkom |
7th - duan jed |
|
August |
Singhakom |
8th - duan bad |
|
September |
Ganyayon |
9th - duan gow |
|
October |
Dtoolahkom |
10th duan sib |
|
November |
Prootsajikayon |
11th - duan sib-et |
|
December |
Tanwakom |
12th - duan sib-song |
Lunar Calendar.
The lunar calendar was adopted from the Chinese hundreds of years
ago. It is very complicated to understand and these days it is
only used for religious events. The lunar calendar is based on
the phases of the moon. Each complete cycle is 29 days, 12 hours
and 44 minutes long, which is the time it takes for the Moon
to complete its orbit around the Earth. Each month begins on
the first day of the waxing moon (Wan Kuen 1 Kham). The
middle of the month is on the full moon (Wan Kuen 15 Kham).
Alternative months have either 29 or 30 days so the last day
(Wan Dub) is either called Wan Ram 15 Kham or Wan
Ram 14 Kham. In order to keep it synchronised with the seasons,
an extra month is added every two or three years. Wan Phra
are special holy days which fall on the 8th, 15th, 23rd, and
29th or 30th day of the lunar month. These are to Buddhists what
Sundays are to Christians.
Solar Calendar. Thailand
adopted the solar calendar during the reign of King Rama V in
1889, though using April 1st as the first day of the year. This
was later changed in 1941 to January 1st in order to be in align
with the Gregorian calendar which is now the official international
calendar.
The Years
In Thailand, there are
several methods for telling the years. (The Thai word for year is bee.)
12 Year-Cycle. One of them is the 12 year-cycle
which originally came from China and has been adapted slightly.
Every twelve years people will have a special celebration either
for a birthday or the anniversary of an important event. Recently,
one of my ex-students invited me to his grandfather's birthday
party. I asked him how old his grandfather was but he couldn't
answer. However, much to his amazement, I managed to guess correctly
that he was 72 because I remembered about the 12 year cycle.
It would seem that many youngsters are not aware of the nature
of the twelve year cycle and I think it is now only observed
by the older generation. Young people today would rather copy
their western counterparts and celebrate their birthday every
year with a party and cake!
|
Year |
Year Name (English) |
Year Name (Thai) |
|
1 |
Rat |
Bee Chuat |
|
2 |
Ox (Bull) |
Bee Chalu |
|
3 |
Tiger |
Bee Kahn |
|
4 |
Rabbit (Hare) |
Bee Toh |
|
5 |
Sea-serpent (Big snake) |
Bee Marong |
|
6 |
Small snake |
Bee Maseng |
|
7 |
Horse |
Bee Mamia |
|
8 |
Goat |
Bee Mamae |
|
9 |
Monkey |
Bee Wog |
|
10 |
Cock |
Bee Raga |
|
11 |
Dog |
Bee Jor |
|
12 |
Pig |
Bee Goon |
Buddhist Era. The official year in Thailand
is reckoned by the death of the Buddha. The year the Buddha reached
nirvana is 0 B.E. To convert from A.D. to B.E., just add 543.
For example, the year 1999 A.D. is 2542 B.E. in Thailand. Although
the Buddhist Era dates are widely used, most people are aware
of the anno domini dates. I noticed that some banks stamp their
savings books with A.D. dates but other banks use B.E. dates.
This might be because some banks have branches abroad and have
to use an internationally recognised date system. All credit
cards issued in Thailand use A.D. dates. (It should be noted
that India, Sri Lanka and Burma date the Buddha's death as 1
B.E., whereas Thailand, Laos and Cambodia date it as 0 B.E.)
Numbers
The numbering system in Thailand is relatively
easy to pick up (if you forget for a moment that Thai is a tonal
language and if you don't get the tone exactly right then you
might be saying a completely different word). For writing the
numbers, the students learn two methods: Thai and Arabic. These
seem to be interchangeable in the text books; the students usually
do their math calculations using Arabic numbers and then switch
to Thai for the answers. In shops, prices are always displayed
using Arabic numbers which are internationally recognised.
|
Thai Numbers |
|
1 |
neung |
|
11 |
sib-et |
|
21 |
yee-sib et |
|
31 |
sam-sib et |
|
2 |
song |
|
12 |
sib-song |
|
22 |
yee-sib song |
|
32 |
sam-sib song |
|
3 |
sam |
|
13 |
sib-sam |
|
23 |
yee-sib sam |
|
33 |
sam-sib sam |
|
4 |
see |
|
14 |
sib-see |
|
24 |
yee-sib see |
|
34 |
sam-sib see |
|
5 |
ha |
|
15 |
sib-ha |
|
25 |
yee-sib ha |
|
35 |
sam-sib ha |
|
6 |
hok |
|
16 |
sib-hok |
|
26 |
yee-sib hok |
|
36 |
sam-sib hok |
|
7 |
jed |
|
17 |
sib-jed |
|
27 |
yee-sib jed |
|
37 |
sam-sib jed |
|
8 |
bad |
|
18 |
sib-bad |
|
28 |
yee-sib bad |
|
38 |
sam-sib bad |
|
9 |
gow |
|
19 |
sib-gow |
|
29 |
yee-sib gow |
|
39 |
sam-sib gow |
|
10 |
sib |
|
20 |
yee-sib |
|
30 |
sam-sib |
|
40 |
see-sib |
|
Question Box. You are welcome
to e-mail the students if you have any questions you would like
answered.
