How do you convert a Gregorian year to the Thai Buddhist Era?

For any date from 1 January 1941 onward, add 543 to the Gregorian (Christian Era) year. 2026 CE is 2569 BE. To go the other way, subtract 543.

What does พ.ศ. mean?

พ.ศ. (phɔɔ sɔɔ) is short for พุทธศักราช, phút-tà-sàk-gà-ràat, 'Buddhist Era'. It counts years from the passing of the Buddha. The Gregorian year is written ค.ศ. (kɔɔ sɔɔ), คริสต์ศักราช, 'Christian Era'.

Why is the Thai Buddhist year different from the one used in Sri Lanka or Myanmar?

Thailand counts the first year after the Buddha's passing as year 1, giving CE + 543. Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Cambodia count the year of the passing itself as year 1, so their Buddhist year is usually one higher, CE + 544.

Tool

Buddhist Date Calculator

Thailand runs on a different year to the rest of the world. Bank forms, ID cards, newspapers and temple noticeboards are all dated in the Buddhist Era — พ.ศ. — which is 543 years ahead of the calendar you grew up with. Here is today's date the Thai way, and a converter for any other.

Today's date

Written as a Thai official document or newspaper would write it — day name, the ordinal ที่ (thîi, "the …th"), month, then the Buddhist year.

Thailand · วันนี้ wan-níi

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A monk in saffron robes stands with palms pressed together in front of a row of enormous seated Buddha images, gold and white, against a blue sky. — The Buddhist Era counts forward from the Buddha's passing — the event these images commemorate.

Convert a date

Pick a direction, choose the day, month and year, and the converter gives you the other calendar — with the Thai reading, the romanization and the day of the week.

Day

Month

Year (ค.ศ. / CE)

Choose a date and press Convert.

Where the Buddhist Era came from

A gilded seated Buddha in the meditation posture on a temple terrace at sunrise, with tiered Thai temple roofs, a white chedi and bougainvillea behind it. — Year one of the Buddhist Era begins at the Buddha's *parinibbāna* — his final passing — traditionally placed at 543 BCE in the Thai reckoning. Every date on a Thai form still counts forward from that moment.

Every calendar needs a starting point. The Gregorian calendar counts from a reckoning of the birth of Christ; the Islamic calendar counts from the Hijra. The Buddhist Era — พุทธศักราช, phút-tà-sàk-gà-ràat, abbreviated พ.ศ. and read aloud as phɔɔ sɔɔ — counts forward from the parinibbāna, the death and final release of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha.

Theravada tradition places that moment in what we now call 543 BCE. Thailand then does something slightly particular: it treats the first full year after the passing as year 1. Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Cambodia count the year of the passing itself as year 1, which is why their Buddhist year usually runs one higher than Thailand's. Historians, for what it is worth, generally date the parinibbāna nearer 480 BCE — the traditional figure is a religious reckoning, not an archaeological one.

The era is far older than its use as Thailand's official calendar. For most of Siamese history dates were kept in other systems entirely: the จุลศักราช (Chunlasàkkàràat, the "Minor Era" inherited from Burma), the มหาศักราช (Greater Era), and from 1889 the รัตนโกสินทร์ศก (Rattanakosin Sok), which counted from the founding of Bangkok in 1782. Buddhist Era dates appeared in temple inscriptions and religious texts long before they appeared on a government form.

543 BCE · Year 0

The traditional date of the Buddha's parinibbāna. The count begins the following year.
1888–89 CE

King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) introduces the Rattanakosin Era, dating from the founding of Bangkok, to standardise a patchwork of competing systems.
1912 CE · B.E. 2455

King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) replaces it with the Buddhist Era for all official use — aligning the state calendar with the country's religion and with its Theravada neighbours. The new reckoning came into force the following year.
1940–41 CE

Until then the Thai year began on 1 April. Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram moved New Year's Day to 1 January to fall in step with the West. B.E. 2483 was consequently a stub of a year — nine months, April to December 1940 — and from 1 January 1941 the modern rule has held without exception.
Today

พ.ศ. is the calendar of Thai law, banking, ID cards, newspapers and school terms. ค.ศ. (kɔɔ sɔɔ, "Christian Era") is used alongside it in international business and on anything aimed at foreigners.