Coronation Day in Thailand Date in the current year: May 4, 2024

Coronation Day in Thailand used to be celebrated on May 5, commemorating the coronation anniversary of King Rama IX (Bhumibol Adulyadej) that took place in 1950. The holiday was temporarily canceled after Bhumibol Adulyadej’s death in 2016, since the coronation of the new king had to be postponed due to mourning, which lasted a whole year.

Bhumibol Adulyadej was succeeded by Maha Vajiralongkorn, his second child and only son. Maha Vajiralongkorn was born on July 28, 1952 to King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit. After completing primary education in Thailand, he was sent to England, where he was educated at independent schools.

Upon graduation, Vajiralongkorn went to Australia, where he underwent military training at the Royal Military College, Duntroon and received a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from the University of New South Wales. In 1982, he also received a bachelor’s degree in law from the Sukhotai Thammathirat Open University in Thailand.

Having obtained his first degree, Vajiralongkorn served in the Royal Thai Armed Forces and took up royal duties, representing his father at various official functions and ceremonies. At age 26, he took a brief hiatus from both military service and royal duties to be ordained as a monk and spend 15 days at a Buddhist monastery, as is traditional for Thai royals. Vajiralongkorn also curated various healthcare, educational, and agricultural projects.

King Rama IX died on October 13, 2016. Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn asked that his ascension to the throne be postponed since he needed time to mourn his father. For a month and a half, Thailand was ruled by Regent Prem Tinsulanonda (President of the Privy Council). Vajiralongkorn finally ascended to the throne as Rama X on December 1, 2016, putting an end to Prem Tinsulanonda’s regency.

The government of Thailand retroactively declared Rama X’s reign to have begun on the day of his father’s death, but the formal coronation ceremony was postponed until Bhumibol Adulyadej’s cremation. The mourning period lasted for a year, until a royal cremation ceremony and a burial were held in late October 2017. After that, Vajiralongkorn’s coronation was scheduled for May 2019.

The official preparations for the coronation day commenced on April 6, 2019 (Chakri Day): water for the purification ceremony during the coronation was collected from natural reservoirs in all Thai provinces and Bangkok. On May 1, Vajiralongkorn married General Suthida Tidjai, who was officially designated as Queen of Thailand.

The Royal Coronation began on May 4, 2019. All events and ceremonies, starting with the Royal Purification and a 101-gun salute, and ending with the King’s meeting with foreign diplomats and a drone-flying exhibition, lasted for three days. Soon after the coronation, its anniversary was added to the list of public holidays as Coronation Day.