Thai solar calendar

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/thai-solar-calendar

1. What is the calendar type?
2. What is the year offset?
3. What is the Thai solar calendar and why is it 543 years ahead of the Gregorian calendar?
4. Why did King Chulalongkorn change Thailand’s calendar in 1888?

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the calendar type?Solar calendar
2. What is the year offset?543 years ahead of the Gregorian calendar (CE)
3. What is the Thai solar calendar and why is it 543 years ahead of the Gregorian calendar?The Thai solar calendar uses the Buddhist Era, which starts with the Buddha’s passing in 543 BCE, so every year is 543 years ahead of the Gregorian calendar.
4. Why did King Chulalongkorn change Thailand’s calendar in 1888?He wanted Thailand to match Western timekeeping for trade, diplomacy, and science, making government and business easier to run.

Solar Calendar: A calendrical system based on the apparent annual motion of the Sun, approximating the tropical year.
Gregorian Calendar: The internationally accepted civil calendar, a reform of the Julian calendar, introduced in 1582.
Buddhist Era (B.E.): The chronological system used in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, dating from the Buddha's death.
Lunar Calendar: A calendar that is based on the cycles of the Moon's phases.