Phuket Immigration has posted a notice confirming its closure for the public holidays in May.
The office will be closed for Coronation Day substitution holiday on Monday (May 4) and for Royal Plowing Ceremony Day on May 13.
The office will also be closed on June 1 for the Visakha Bucha Day substitution holiday.
Coronation Day marks the day King Maha Vajiralongkorn (Rama X) was officially crowned in 2019. This year, the holiday falls on Monday. The day is commemorated with ceremonies honouring King Vajiralongkorn and the Royal Family.
All government offices will also be closed on May 13 for Royal Ploughing Ceremony Day. Known in Thai as ‘Raek Na Khwan’ or ‘Phra Ratcha Phithi Charot Phra Nangkhan Raek Na Khwan’, the ceremony is a Thai royal tradition held to mark the start of the rice-growing season.
All government offices on the island also will be closed on June 1 for the Visakha Bucha Day substitution holiday.
Visakha Bucha Day, a major Buddhist holiday in Thailand, is celebrated on the full moon of the sixth lunar month. This year it will be observed on Sunday, May 31.
Visakha Bucha Day is one of five specific Thai Buddhist religious days ‒ Makha Bucha, Visakha Bucha, Asarnha Bucha Day, Khao Pansa and Wan Org Pansa ‒ during which there is a general ban on the sale of alcohol, with the exception of registered bars and entertainment venues in tourism areas.
All other venues are barred from selling alcohol for the 24 hours ‒ from midnight to midnight ‒ of Sunday, May 31.
During much confusion last year, Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pol Maj Gen Sinlert Sukhum clarified which venues are allowed to sell alcohol on the major Buddhist holidays, and which may not. (See story here.)