It's 2567, Happy New Year! Yes, you read that right.

In Thailand, the year 2024 marks the year 2567 according to the Buddhist Era calendar system. While most countries follow the Gregorian calendar, many countries have secondary calendars for religious occasions. For instance, the Chinese New Year follows the Chinese lunisolar calendar, and the Hajj is based on the Hijri calendar. In addition to varying calendars, some countries even have unique calendar eras, or numbering systems that are based on different time periods.

In Thailand, the Buddhist Era year numbering system is quite significant to our culture. I vividly recall my primary school days when both the Buddhist and Christian era dates were displayed on the blackboard. It was crucial for us students to remember which era to use with which language. A mix-up could cost you points, even on math homework with all the answers correct!

Although the Buddhist Era system of numbering years is not uncommon, not all countries officially recognize it as Thailand does. Here, all public sector documents must use the Buddhist Era year. The government also encourages major private media outlets to follow suit. And some older generations struggle to remember their birth year in the Christian Era compared to the younger generations who have more exposure to it. My mother’s old ID cards from 20 years ago showed only the Buddhist Era year, whereas my current ID shows the numbers from both systems.

Making matters more complex is the fact that Thailand's Buddhist Era differs from the general Buddhist Era used in many other countries. For them, the year 2024 is counted as 2568, unlike Thailand’s 2567. This is because we reference the year Buddha attained parinibbāna as year 0 while other countries counted that year as year 1.

Thailand's calendar system has other unusual aspects too. Despite adopting the international standard (ISO 8601) of writing dates in the YYYY-MM-DD order, Thais often write in the reverse order (DD-MM-YYYY). This practice causes some confusion, particularly when deciphering product expiration dates between the years 2001 and 2012. For example, if you see an expiration date of 100812, you have to determine if the product came from a local or an international distributor. If it’s from Thailand, chances are it expires on August 10th, 2012. Caution must also be used in the workplace. When I first joined an international company, I was always double-checking with colleagues if "5/6" meant June 5th or May 6th.

So when you receive a New Year’s greeting card from your Thai friend with the year 2567 on it, you’ll know where that number comes from. And if you’re lucky enough to receive local snacks with the card, you’ll know how to check the expiration dates.