National Labor Day in Thailand

Thailand observe Labor Day on May 1st like most countries. Employees are given a day off to celebrate this occasion, even though there isn’t much ado about it.

I was surprised to find that the government offices here are open, as they do not observe Labor Day. Instead, they observe the Royal Ploughing Ceremony . This public holiday is also sometimes referred to as Thai Farmer’s Day. The festival’s dates change annually, according to the Lunar Calendar.  This year, it falls on May 13th.

Back home in Malaysia, government offices are also closed. Why not Thailand? It’s convenient that Thai people can run those government-office errands on a public holiday, but why? 

 

 
 

 
So are they like above labor, in a different class altogether vis-a-vis the rest of the common people? That piqued my interest and I looked up the definition of labor.

   

And what exactly is Royal Ploughing Ceremony? Sounds like hard manual, no? It’s an ancient rite observed in Thailand and Cambodia, a religious cum civil ceremony marking the beginning of the rice-planting season in May. Anyway, the common people also enjoy a day off on Royal Ploughing Ceremony day, so it’s cool, so long we get more public holiday. Who doesn’t like public holiday, right?