Happy New Year in Thai: wishes for your Thai family

New Year in a Thai family comes twice: once on 1 January with everyone else, and again in April at Songkran. If you live abroad, the January one is the easy one to miss, because your own fireworks are still hours away when the family group chat lights up. Here’s what to say, how the blessings go back and forth, and what your family is probably doing that day.

How do you say happy new year in Thai?

The plain “Happy New Year” (often spelled sawasdee pee mai online) is the everyday greeting, and with elders the warmer move is a real wish: good health and happiness. New Year’s Day itself is วันขึ้นปีใหม่ (wan khuen pii mai), and New Year’s Eve is วันสิ้นปี (wan sin pii).

We haven’t got the plain one-line greeting into the Reply Thai app and reviewed yet, so we’re not printing it in Thai here. The good news: for grandparents, a wish is what lands anyway.

What New Year wishes can I give my grandparents?

Wish them good health. It’s the wish elders love most, and it works on New Year’s Day, birthdays and Songkran alike.

ขอให้ยายสุขภาพแข็งแรงนะ

khor hai yaai suk-kha-phaap khaeng raeng na

ขอให้ยายสุขภาพแข็งแรงนะครับ

khor hai yaai suk-kha-phaap khaeng raeng na khrap

ขอให้ยายสุขภาพแข็งแรงนะคะ

khor hai yaai suk-kha-phaap khaeng raeng na kha

Who is speaking?

ครับ said by a manค่ะ said by a woman

Draft: waiting for a native speaker’s review.

One honest note: many families feel blessings traditionally flow from the elder to the younger, so some would rather you simply ask for their blessing. Most happily accept a health wish from a grandchild. Swap ยาย (yaai) for the right grandparent. Not sure whether yours is ย่า (yaa) or ยาย (yaai), ตา (taa) or ปู่ (puu)? Our Thai family words guide sorts it out in a minute.

With elders, finish with your polite ending and add a wai if you’re on video. Say it slowly. Nobody is grading the tones on 1 January; they’re just happy you called.

How do Thai elders bless you back?

Expect a blessing in return, often longer than yours. Elders give the wishes, and the younger ones receive them. The Northern Illinois University SEAsite guide to Thai holidays describes people visiting elders on New Year’s Day, “who would give them the wish of good luck and prosperity.”

These are the kinds of lines you might hear from Yai. Each starts with ขอให้ (khor hai), “may you…”:

• ขอให้มีความสุขมากๆ นะหลาน (khor hai mii khwaam suk maak maak na laan): wishing you so much happiness, dear grandchild.
• ขอให้สุขภาพแข็งแรงนะหลาน (khor hai suk-kha-phaap khaeng raeng na laan): stay healthy and strong, dear grandchild.
• ขอให้โชคดีมีความสุขตลอดไปนะหลาน (khor hai chok dii mii khwaam suk ta-lort pai na laan): good luck and happiness, always, dear grandchild.

If you catch ขอให้ and หลาน, you’ve understood enough: it’s a blessing, and it’s for you.

How do you receive a blessing politely?

Wai, say สาธุ (saa-thu), “so be it”, then thank them. With Yai that’s สาธุ ขอบคุณยาย (saa-thu, khorp khun yaai). Men say สาธุ ขอบคุณครับยาย (saa-thu, khorp khun khrap yaai), women สาธุ ขอบคุณค่ะยาย (saa-thu, khorp khun kha yaai).

If that’s too much to hold in your head mid-call, a warm thank-you on its own is still lovely.

ขอบคุณ

khorp khun

ขอบคุณครับ

khorp khun khrap

ขอบคุณค่ะ

khorp khun kha

Who is speaking?

ครับ said by a manค่ะ said by a woman

Draft: waiting for a native speaker’s review.

What’s the difference between New Year and Songkran?

1 January is the official New Year; Songkran in mid-April is the traditional Thai New Year. According to Nation Thailand, Songkran was New Year’s Day until 1889, when King Chulalongkorn moved it to 1 April, and in 1941 Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram’s government moved the first day of the year to 1 January.

Songkran kept its place in people’s hearts. UNESCO, which lists it as intangible cultural heritage, describes it as a time to reunite with relatives and pay respects to older adults, with pouring water as its central act. That’s when families do the water blessing for elders, and it has its own greeting:

สุขสันต์วันสงกรานต์

suk-san wan song-graan

สุขสันต์วันสงกรานต์ครับ

suk-san wan song-graan khrap

สุขสันต์วันสงกรานต์ค่ะ

suk-san wan song-graan kha

Who is speaking?

ครับ said by a manค่ะ said by a woman

Draft: waiting for a native speaker’s review.

In the app you’ll also find สวัสดีปีใหม่ไทย (sa-wat-dii pii mai thai), “Happy Thai New Year”, for Songkran. So: water and the Songkran greeting in April, health wishes and blessings on 1 January. For the exact 2027 dates of both, see our Thai public holidays 2027 table.

Is New Year’s Eve a holiday in Thailand?

Yes, in 2026. The Bank of Thailand’s 2026 holiday list, reported by Thai PBS and HR Online, includes Thursday 31 December 2026 as New Year’s Eve. New Year’s Day 2027 falls on a Friday, so the family in Thailand gets a long weekend from Thursday to Sunday. Good news if you’re hoping for a longer call.

What do Thai families do at New Year?

Many families start the year with merit-making, then visit the elders. The SEAsite guide says Thai people start New Year’s Day with Buddhist merit-making, such as offering food to monks or setting birds or fish free, then visit elders for their blessing and send cards and gifts to friends and relatives.

Some go to the temple the night before. For the countdown to 2026 (the year 2569 in Thailand), the Ministry of Culture ran New Year’s Eve chanting from 31 December to 1 January at three big Bangkok temples, with provincial culture offices holding it around the country, as Naew Na reported.

If you’re in Thailand for the holidays and the family heads to the wat, our temple etiquette guide covers what to wear, how to wai a monk and what happens when your family makes merit, ทำบุญ (tham bun).

Every family has its own rhythm. Some do the temple, some do a big meal, some just watch the countdown on TV together. Whatever yours does is the right way.

How do I send New Year wishes to Thailand from abroad?

Call or send a voice message, and mind the clock. Midnight in Thailand and midnight where you are are rarely the same moment, so check a world clock before you ring. Calling on 1 January in their daytime, after the temple and before the big meal, is often easier than trying to catch the countdown.

• A voice message beats text. Elders love hearing your voice, even a ten-second one with the health wish.
• Use the kin word. Wishing ยาย by name makes it personal.
• Let them bless you. Leave room after your wish. That’s the part they enjoy.

If you’re nervous about the call itself, our video call with Yai phrases walk through a whole call, from hello to goodbye.

Practise the wishes before the big day

The Songkran blessing lesson lives in Big family days in Reply Thai, next to birthdays and temple visits: the health wish, saying สาธุ to a blessing and a proper thank-you, practised as replies so they’re ready when Yai picks up on 1 January too.

Reply Thai for iPhoneComing soon

Thai words on this page are a draft until a native speaker has reviewed them.