Buddhist Calendar Converter
To convert a Gregorian year to the Buddhist Era as Thailand uses it, add 543: 2026 is BE 2569, all year. Sri Lanka, by custom, starts each Buddhist year at Vesak, so there 2026 counts as BE 2569 until Vesak and BE 2570 after it (the State Vesak of 2026 was officially numbered 2570). This Buddhist calendar converter gives the answer for Thailand, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, and says how sure each one is.
BE 2569
In Thailand in 2026 CE · Buddhist Era = Gregorian year + 543
| Where | Buddhist year |
|---|---|
| Thailand official sources | BE 2569 2026 CE + 543. Since 1941 the Thai year starts on 1 January, so this holds for the whole year. |
| Sri Lanka customary | BE 2569 until Vesak, BE 2570 from Vesak Vesak Full Moon Poya Day 2026 was 30 May (Department of Buddhist Affairs, which numbered that Vesak BE 2570). By custom the Buddhist year turns at Vesak; the +543 before it is customary, not officially sourced. |
| Myanmar secondary sources | BE 2569 early in the year, BE 2570 after the change We found no official statement of when the Buddhist (Sāsana) year changes in Myanmar. The Myanmar Calendar library documents three conventions: the April New Year, the first day of Tagu, and the full moon of Kason. In Burmese sources "B.E." can also mean the Burmese Era, a different count. |
| Laos secondary sources | BE 2569 CE + 543: the Lao state news agency labelled the April Lao New Years of 2025 and 2026 this way (B.E. 2568, 2569). We found no Lao source for how the year is numbered after Vesak. |
| Cambodia sources disagree | BE 2569 or BE 2570 Official Cambodian sources use both: the 2018 Khmer New Year was labelled CE + 543, the 2026 one CE + 544. Until we find a source that states the rule, we show both. |
| Chula Sakarat (C.S. / Myanmar Era) secondary sources | 1387 until the April new year, 1388 after CE − 638 from the traditional new year in mid-April (whose exact day varies), CE − 639 before it. The mid-April window holds for modern years; the traditional new year has drifted over the centuries, from about 21 March to 16 April. |
How sure each row is: official sources, the rule is stated by government or official sources; customary, official numbering confirms part of it and the rest is custom reported elsewhere; secondary sources, supported by secondary sources or partial official usage only; sources disagree, official sources use more than one number.
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Why 543 in one country and 544 in another
Both counts start from the same event, the Buddha’s death, his parinibbāna. They differ in when the year turns. Thailand’s Buddhist year has begun on 1 January since 1941, so since then the Thai year has always been the Gregorian year plus 543. In Sri Lanka the year customarily begins at Vesak, the full moon of Vesākha, so for the months after Vesak the Sri Lankan number is one higher: the 2026 State Vesak was numbered “Sri Buddha Varsha 2570” while Thailand was in BE 2569. The one-year spread in the traditional epoch itself (544 or 543 BCE) comes partly from whether the year of the parinibbāna is counted as year 0 or year 1, and partly from the missing year 0.
Elsewhere the picture is less tidy, and the converter says so. Myanmar also runs one ahead after its year changes, but we found no official statement of when that happens: the Myanmar Calendar library documents three conventions, the April New Year, the first day of Tagu and the full moon of Kason. Cambodian official sources have labelled the April New Year both ways, CE + 543 in 2018 and CE + 544 in 2026. For Laos, the state news agency labels the April New Year with CE + 543, and we found no source for the rest of the year. Where the sources are partial or disagree, the converter shows both numbers rather than guessing.
Old Thai dates and the 1 April New Year
A modern “+ 543” can be one year off for older Thai documents. From 1889 the Thai year began on 1 April, and the Buddhist Era replaced the Rattanakosin Era in official use in 1912 (BE 2455). The Calendar Years Act of BE 2483 moved New Year’s Day to 1 January, and the first year to begin then was BE 2484, 1941. That made BE 2483 a short year, April to December 1940, and it means a document written between January and March from 1913 to 1940 carries a BE one lower than the modern conversion. Enter the full date and the converter shows both.
Where the count starts, and what historians say
The traditional reckonings place the parinibbāna in 544 or 543 BCE. Modern historians place it later, and they do not agree on when: the proposals surveyed by Choong Mun-keat run from 486 BCE, the “long chronology” built on the Sri Lankan tradition, to 368 BCE, and the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy says many scholars now hold that the Buddha died around 405 BCE. The Buddhist Era is a convention for counting years, not a claim about that history. More on the dates on who was the Buddha.
One more trap: there is no year 0. 1 BCE is followed directly by 1 CE, so 1 BCE is Thai BE 543 and 1 CE is BE 544. A naive “add 543” is one year off for every BCE year, and the converter corrects for it. Every BE figure for a BCE year is a modern back-calculation: no Buddhist calendar was dated that way at the time.
Related: the lunar months and festivals of the Buddhist calendar, Vesak, and Buddhism in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. See all our free tools.
Frequently asked questions
What year is it in the Buddhist calendar?
In Thailand, 2026 is BE 2569 for the whole year: the Thai government's holiday list is headed 'Official Holidays B.E. 2569 (2026)'. Sri Lanka customarily numbers the year one higher from Vesak, and its State Vesak in 2026 was officially numbered 'Sri Buddha Varsha 2570'.
How do I convert a Buddhist Era year to the Gregorian year?
For a Thai date, subtract 543: BE 2569 is 2026. That has been exact for the whole year since 1941, when Thailand moved the start of its year from 1 April to 1 January. For a Sri Lankan Buddhist year, subtract 544 to find the year in which it began at Vesak: Sri Lanka's BE 2570 runs from Vesak 2026 to Vesak 2027.
Why do some countries add 543 and others 544?
Thailand adds 543 for the whole year, while Sri Lanka by custom starts each Buddhist year at Vesak, so after Vesak it is one ahead. Myanmar also runs one ahead after its year changes, though we found no official statement of when. Cambodian official sources have used both numbers. The tool shows each country's answer, with how sure it is.
Did the Thai year always start on 1 January?
No. From 1889 the Thai year began on 1 April, and the Buddhist Era replaced the Rattanakosin Era in official use in 1912. The Calendar Years Act of BE 2483 moved New Year to 1 January from 1941. So BE 2483 was a short year, April to December 1940, and Thai documents dated January to March between 1913 and 1940 carry a BE one lower than a modern conversion gives.
What does the Buddhist Era count from?
It counts from the Buddha's death, his parinibbāna, which the traditional reckonings place in 544 or 543 BCE. Modern historians do not agree on the real date: the proposals surveyed by Choong Mun-keat run from 486 BCE (the long chronology) to 368 BCE, and the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy says many scholars now hold c. 405 BCE.
Sources
- Calendar Years Act, 2483 Buddhist Era (Royal Gazette vol. 57, p. 419, 17 September 2483), English translation — Wikisource: the 1 January start of the Thai year
- Announcement for Observance of New Year's Day on the First Day of January (Royal Gazette vol. 58, p. 31, 1 January 2484), English translation — Wikisource: 'the first day of April has been adopted as the year commencement day since 2432 Buddhist Era on'
- Visudh Busyakul, 'The Thai Standard Time', Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand 27(3), July–September 2002, English abstract (Office of the Royal Society): the Rattanakosin Era and the return to the Buddhist Era in BE 2455
- Royal Thai Embassy, Berlin (Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs), 'Official Holidays B.E. 2569 (2026)'
- Department of Buddhist Affairs, Sri Lanka, 'Sri Buddha Varsha 2570 State Vesak Festival & Vesak Week – 2026': Vesak Full Moon Poya Day, 30 May 2026
- Department of Archaeology, Sri Lanka, 'State Vesak Festival 2025': the 2025 Vesak numbered 2569
- A. M. B. Irwin, The Burmese Calendar (London, 1901), Internet Archive: the Burmese Era from 638 CE, and 'B.E.' used for it
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Myanmar, Consulate General in Hong Kong: Myanmar New Year 1388 ME (April 2026)
- KPL Lao News Agency, 'Savannakhet Celebrates Lao New Year B.E. 2569' (15 April 2026)
- Press and Quick Reaction Unit, Office of the Council of Ministers, Cambodia, Angkor Sankranta 13–16 April 2018: the Khmer New Year labelled B.E. 2561
- Ministry of Interior, Cambodia, Siem Reap Sankranta (14 April 2026): the Khmer New Year labelled Buddhist Era 2570
- Ānandajoti Bhikkhu, 'Simple Buddhist–Common Era Calculators', Ancient Buddhist Texts (updated March 2023), secondary: Sri Lanka and Myanmar count the parinibbāna year as year 1, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos as year 0, and some calendars start at Vesak
- Yan Naing Aye, Myanmar Calendar library (mmcal), ceMmDateTime.js, secondary (software documentation): the Sāsana year as Myanmar Era + 1182 and its three year-change conventions
- Mark Siderits, 'Buddha', Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (revised 6 March 2023): 'many scholars now hold that he must have died around 405 BCE'
- Choong Mun-keat, 'A Discussion on the Determination of the Date of the Historical Buddha', Journal of Indian History (publ. 2004), quoting L. S. Cousins: the long chronology and later proposals