Name| Dates | Commemoration | New Year's Day | January 1 | New Year Greeting | Makha Bucha | Feb. Full Moon | Spontaneous gathering of 1,250 Buddha's disciples | Chakri Day | April 6 | Founding of the Royal House of Chakri Dynasty | Songkran | April 13-15 | Thai New Year Festival | Labor Day | May 1 | International Labor Day | Coronation Day | May 5 | H.M. the King Adulyadej - Rama IX Enthronement | Visakha Bucha | May Full Moon | Birth, Enlightenment and Death of the Lord Buddha | Asalaha Bucha | July Full Moon | Lord Buddha's First Sermon | Khao Phansa | July | Beginning of the Buddhist rainy season retreat | The Queen's Birthday | August 12 | H.M. the Queen's Birthday Celebrations | Chulalongkorn Day | October 23 | The King Rama V Memorial Day | The King's Birthday | December 5 | H.M. the King's Birthday Celebrations | Constitution Day | December 10 | Inauguration of Constitutional Monarchy in Thailand | New Year's Eve | December 31 | Salutations to the outgoing year | Several unofficial yet popular Thai and international holidays like Loi Krathong festival, Chinese New Year, Chrismas, Chanuka and more are also widely celebrated in Thailand. | ||||||
Even though, the western Gregorian calendar is the official calendar in the kingdom of Thailand, the traditional lunar calendar is very much in use for determining many Thai holidays, especially Buddhists. Thai ancient lunar calendar distinguishes itself from Islamic and other lunar calendars by being set up based on the yearly agricultural cycle, as it was the most important aspect of the primarily agrarian society. Thai ancient lunar calendar is divided into 12 lunar months, like the western calendar, but the months are determined by the phases of the moon, rather than by a position of the earth in relation to sun. Being based on the cycles of the moon phases, half of the lunar months are 28 days long and another half are 29 days long. The Thai lunar month is also divided into four weeks. |

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