Public holidays in Thailand 2025: Exactly when to take leave for the longest vacations

If there’s one good thing about living in Thailand, it’s the amount of public holidays we get. Here is how to get the most out of your vacation leaves, and plan for public holidays in Thailand in 2025.

Planning for a vacation can be complicated. Although many destinations are doable for the weekend, many times, you want to vacay for more than one night to really get to know a new city a little better. Thankfully, if you plan your leaves around the many public holidays we get in Thailand in 2025, a long vacay is extremely doable.

Keep in mind that some of the days are observed differently depending if you’re working in the private sectors or government institutions. Examples include the Royal Ploughing Ceremony and Khao Phansa Day, which are only recognised by government institutions as holidays. Plus, there are days when events fall on weekends. We might get extra days off on Mondays after that. Be sure to double check beforehand.

[Hero image credit: Phạm Mạnh/Unsplash; featured image credit: Estée Janssens/Unsplash]

Public holidays in Thailand 2025: When to take leave for the longest vacations

February

You use: Two leave days. You get: Five days of vacation.

February sees Makha Bucha as the only public holiday. However, it’s considerable using your leave on whichever complicated app your HR forces you to use, because that Friday is Valentine’s Day, and not having to worry about work is perfect if you want to plan a big date.

April

You use: Six leave days. You get: Sixteen days of vacation.

Six leave days sound like a lot, but using them means you get to not care about your emails and your management for two whole weeks. It’s a trade off we’re willing to consider. An alternative would be using only two leave days for a whole week of vacay, because Songkran keeps our calendar busy and us not so much.

May

You use: Five leave days. You get: Twelve days of vacation.

May sees Labour Day, Coronation Day, and Visakha Bucha in one month, which can lead us to join those together to get a long vacation going. Using five leave days, we can do so, as Labour Day falls on the first of May, which this year is on a Thursday.

July

You use: Three leave days. You get: Nine days of vacation.

July has Asalha Bucha and Buddhist Lent Day back to back, so with three more leave days, you could be enjoying eight days of vacation touring Japan. Note that the 28th is King Vajiralongkorn’s birthday, so you’ll also see a three-day weekend at the end of the month.

August

You use: Three leave days. You get: Nine days of vacation.

The Queen’s birthday is on a Tuesday, and the government announced an additional bridge public holiday on the prior day. However, check if your HR is letting you take off on that day. If it’s a yes, you can trade in three leave days for eight whole days of vacation for you to stroll around Hong Kong and sample their street food.

October

You use: One leave day. You get: Two long weekends.

With the anniversary of the death of King Bhumibhol Adulyadej, and King Chulalongkorn’s memorial day, we’re looking at two long weekends by taking just one day off. It’s ample time if you want to pop by somewhere not too far for short trips, perhaps Pattaya, Chiang Mai, or even Vietnam and Luang Prabang.

December

You use: Three leave days. You get: Almost half a month of not working.

Fifteen days of vacation spread throughout the month — that’s basically half a month of not working, and you can achieve that by using only three days of leave. Do mini trips spread across the month, or take three at the end of the month for eight days straight of vacay.