How New Year's Day changed from April 13 to January 1 in Thailand
January 1 first became New Year's Day in Thailand in 1941 after the country abandoned its centuries-old custom of starting the new year on April 13, the first day of Songkran.
"Songkran" derives from the Sanskrit word “sankranti”, which literally means "going from one place to another, transference, or course change", meaning astrological passage – the Sun’s entry into the constellations or the Sun’s passage from one zodiac sign to another.
Songkran coincides with the rising of Aries on the astrological chart and with the New Year of many Buddhist and Hindu calendars of Southeast and South Asia.
The change was adopted when the country, then known as “Siam”, was under the rule of Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram on the grounds that it was in line with the civilised world.
The Siamese celebrated Western New Year long before the country officially adopted it in 1941. Historical records show that King Rama IV began sending New Year’s cards to his Western friends in 1866 after learning that January 1 was their New Year’s Day.
Siam first adopted the Gregorian calendar in the year 1889 and started having Thai names for months – such as January, February, and March – instead of calling them the first, second, or third month like before.
In that year, April 1 became the country’s New Year’s Day for the first time. Previously, Thai New Year’s Day was “the first day of the fifth lunar month” as per the lunar calendar.
It was not until 1941 that Thailand adopted January 1 as the country’s New Year’s Day.
