I was just informed by a university admin officer that Thursday, February 19th will be a public holiday in Songkhla, Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala only to observe Chinese New Year, which they say is a holy day.

I suspect this is a sort of 'make-up' call for giving the same provinces Muslim holidays like Hari Rayor.

Personally I wish the government would just get out of the business of religion and give us off the last working day off the month: payday.

As a southern border province, Satun is usually included in this type of thing, but my source didn't mention it.

Do we have any members in Satun? It seems to be the forgotten province in this forum.

In Songkhla province we often get extra days.

It's usually for a Chinese new year holiday, then some Muslim holidays seem to be granted ( hari raya + at least one or two more, often at very short notice ) - there are also special Buddhist days that are exclusive to southern Thais.

The festival where they seem to have mats of spun sugar and balls of pink "rice crispies" on sticks. This is a day off not observed by the rest of Thailand.

It's annoying, but I guess after a few years you learn to think ahead and adjust your expectations.

I don't mind the extra days holiday, it's just when the school add them on in the way of summer camps or extend the academic year to reclaim them, usually at very short notice after you have pushed the curriculum in the final weeks.

In Songkhla province we often get extra days.

It's usually for a Chinese new year holiday, then some Muslim holidays seem to be granted ( hari raya + at least one or two more, often at very short notice ) - there are also special Buddhist days that are exclusive to southern Thais.

The festival where they seem to have mats of spun sugar and balls of pink "rice crispies" on sticks. This is a day off not observed by the rest of Thailand.

It's annoying, but I guess after a few years you learn to think ahead and adjust your expectations.

I don't mind the extra days holiday, it's just when the school add them on in the way of summer camps or extend the academic year to reclaim them, usually at very short notice after you have pushed the curriculum in the final weeks.

Yeah, the mats of spun sugar are called roti sai mai (Cotton candy or 'Candy Floss' (UK, Canada).. I think the holiday associated with it is called tessakan deuan sip (tenth month festival) , when they pull the monks around on a float. But there are always people selling that crap on the side of the highways throughout the south...it's amazing how what a nation of sugar addicts Thailand has become