Buddhist Era converter: Thai year to Western year

Thailand counts years in the Buddhist Era (พุทธศักราช, พ.ศ.), which is 543 years ahead of the Western calendar. Every Thai newspaper, government document and calendar uses it. Use the converter below, then read on for the short forms, the fiscal year and the old calendar rule that trips up historians.

Buddhist Era converter

The rule: add or subtract 543

• Thai to Western: subtract 543. พ.ศ. 2569 − 543 = 2026.
• Western to Thai: add 543. 2027 + 543 = พ.ศ. 2570.
• The Western year is ค.ศ. (คริสต์ศักราช). Thai texts write ค.ศ. 2026 when they use it, often in international news.

Short years in headlines

Headlines and casual writing drop the first two digits: ปี 70 is พ.ศ. 2570 (2027), and งบปี 71 is the budget for fiscal year 2571. Because Thai years are in the 2500s, a short year always means 25xx.

The fiscal year

Budget stories use the fiscal year (ปีงบประมาณ), which runs from 1 October to 30 September and is named after the year it ends in. So ปีงบประมาณ 2570 runs from 1 October 2569 to 30 September 2570, which is October 2026 to September 2027. When the news says งบประมาณรายจ่ายประจำปี 2571, it means the budget for October 2027 to September 2028.

Months and dates

Dates are written day, month, year: 3 พ.ย. 2569 is 3 November 2026. Months are usually abbreviated in the news:

Months ending in -คม have 31 days, those ending in -ยน have 30, and กุมภาพันธ์ has 28 or 29.

Thai digits

Official documents, royal announcements and some signs use Thai digits: ๐ ๑ ๒ ๓ ๔ ๕ ๖ ๗ ๘ ๙ (0–9). พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๙ is the same as พ.ศ. 2569. The converter above accepts both.

Dates before 1941

Until 1940 the Thai year began on 1 April, not 1 January. To align with the Western calendar, the year พ.ศ. 2483 was shortened to nine months (1 April to 31 December 1940), and พ.ศ. 2484 began on 1 January 1941. For dates in January, February or March before 1941, subtract 542 instead of 543: 15 February พ.ศ. 2475 was 15 February 1933, not 1932.

Older texts sometimes use the Rattanakosin Era (รัตนโกสินทรศก, ร.ศ.), counted from the founding of Bangkok in 1782: add 2324 to get the Buddhist Era year, so ร.ศ. 112 is พ.ศ. 2436 (1893).

To read numbers and dates in context, see the dates and numbers section of How to read Thai news, and the Thai abbreviations list for พ.ศ., ค.ศ. and the month abbreviations.

Questions

How do I convert a Thai year to a Western year?

Subtract 543 from the Buddhist Era (พ.ศ.) year. For example, พ.ศ. 2569 is 2026 and พ.ศ. 2570 is 2027. To go the other way, add 543.

What year is it in Thailand now?

Thailand uses the Buddhist Era, 543 years ahead of the Western calendar. 2026 is พ.ศ. 2569 and 2027 is พ.ศ. 2570. The Thai year changes on 1 January, the same day as the Western year.

What does ปี 71 mean in Thai news?

It is a short form of พ.ศ. 2571, which is 2028. Headlines drop the first two digits of the year, so ปี 70 means 2570 (2027).

When does the Thai fiscal year start?

The Thai government fiscal year (ปีงบประมาณ) runs from 1 October to 30 September and is named after the year in which it ends. Fiscal year 2570 runs from 1 October 2569 to 30 September 2570 (October 2026 to September 2027).