The Thai Government has announced a four-day weekend from July 4th to July 7th, adding the extra public holidays for Asarnha Bucha Day and Buddhist Lent.
The announcement was made by the Culture Minister, Itthipol Kunplome, following a weekly cabinet meeting. He said the two religious holidays had initially been suggested by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s secretariat.
Asarnha Bucha Day falls on Saturday, July 4th, and Buddhist Lent on July 5th. Mr. Kunplome said the two new public holidays on July 6th and 7th were approved to mark these special religious days.
He added that the cabinet meeting scheduled for that week would take place on Wednesday, July 6th, instead of the usual Tuesday weekly cabinet meeting. He also said the cabinet meeting scheduled for July 28th would move to July 29th due to a holiday for HM King’s birthday.
The Culture Minister also referenced the outstanding Songkran holidays, which had previously been discussed for early July. He said the two extra public holidays were not in-lieu of Soongjran, and the exact dates for substituting the holiday were not decided yet. He said:
“Therefore, the 3-day Songkran holiday is still to come. The prime minister wants to see the evaluation of the Covid-19 situation first and will consider other recovery projects. After this, the prime minister will give guidelines for use in considering additional public holidays, taking into consideration those recovery projects and use of a 400-billion-baht budget to stimulate the economy, especially domestic tourism.”
He added that Songkran substitute dates might be scheduled for August or September.
Source: Bangkok Post
