How pansaa dates are calculated

[bluesofa]

 I wonder if it's possible to find out how the pansaa dates are calculated, specifically kaopansaa and ogpansaa?

I'm guessing it's based on a lunar calendar, as it changes slightly per year?

Sorry about my awful romanised spelling of it, I wasn't sure if there's a standard spelling for them.

 

[Chou Anou]

Khao Phansaa takes place in the middle of the 8th lunar month (that is, the day of the full moon, which is always the middle of a lunar month)...well, technically, the day of the full moon is Asanha Bucha, and the first day of the waning moon is the first day of Khao Phansaa.   Ok Phansaa takes place in the middle (on the full moon day) of the 11th lunar month.  The day following Ok Phansaa is Kathin.

[bluesofa]

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I have had a look at lunar calendar to Gregorian calendar converters, but it doesn't seem too easy to follow.

In the words of someone quite witty: I am none the wiser, but I am better informed.

Think I'll stick to looking it up every time. Thanks again.

 

[allane]

If I may jump in with an obvious related question: What are the lunar months measured from ? e.g "the 8th lunar month" measured from what starting day ?

[Chou Anou]

3 hours ago, allane said:

If I may jump in with an obvious related question: What are the lunar months measured from ? e.g "the 8th lunar month" measured from what starting day ?

The first lunar month or "deuan ai" usually starts sometime in December; it begins on the first day of the waxing moon following the 12th full moon of the previous year (lunar months always begin on the first day of the waxing moon).  However, as I'm sure you know, this is not considered the "new year"--that falls during the fifth lunar month, which coincides with April on the solar calendar.  You can read probably more than you'd ever want to know about it all here:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_lunar_calendar

[allane]

Much appreciated. In 22 yrs. here, I have never met anyone, Thai or foreign, who was able to answer that for me. I had never thought of Wiki.

[bluesofa]

22 minutes ago, allane said:

Much appreciated. In 22 yrs. here, I have never met anyone, Thai or foreign, who was able to answer that for me. I had never thought of Wiki.

I echo your comment,

Since following the link to Wiki, I have spent some time reading the article. It is fascinating reading, but suffering from 'hard of learning' syndrome, it's not exactly easy to follow all the details.

 

[Chou Anou]

10 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

I echo your comment,

Since following the link to Wiki, I have spent some time reading the article. It is fascinating reading, but suffering from 'hard of learning' syndrome, it's not exactly easy to follow all the details.

 

Like I said, that article likely contains way more detail than most people want to know!  I think the most interesting (and useful) thing about the lunar calendar is that it explains when the holy days occur each month ("wan phra")--8th and 15th days of the waxing and waning moon--and also when all of the major Buddhist festivals occur.  It's probably even more useful (living in Thailand) to get used to converting Buddhist year dates to/from Christian year dates (add/subtract 543), since if you say something like, "oh, I went there in 1995," most Thais will have no idea what you're talking about, unless they've studied/worked overseas...  

[bluesofa]

7 minutes ago, Chou Anou said:

Like I said, that article likely contains way more detail than most people want to know!  I think the most interesting (and useful) thing about the lunar calendar is that it explains when the holy days occur each month ("wan phra")--8th and 15th days of the waxing and waning moon--and also when all of the major Buddhist festivals occur.  It's probably even more useful (living in Thailand) to get used to converting Buddhist year dates to/from Christian year dates (add/subtract 543), since if you say something like, "oh, I went there in 1995," most Thais will have no idea what you're talking about, unless they've studied/worked overseas...  

Yes, the CE>BE years does throw most Thais. As you say the magic number 543 is always useful.

 

One thing I noticed i the Wiki article was the reference to 'wan pra': "These are not normally days off (วันหยุด), except for butcher, barber, and beautician shops that observe the Eight Precepts."

I have to remember avoid the barbers on Wednesdays, as they are always closed in a lot of (rural) places, from what I can see. I marked Wednesdays in my calendar as 'unlucky hair cutting day'. However, this is the first time I've seen any reference to barbers and days off explained in print, although I don't quite know how wan pra can always be on a Wednesday, or is it purely the 28 day lunar calendar and the Moon days mentioned?

I'm guessing these hairdressing occupations follow Precept number seven of the eight, perhaps?

 

[Chou Anou]

1 hour ago, bluesofa said:

Yes, the CE>BE years does throw most Thais. As you say the magic number 543 is always useful.

 

One thing I noticed i the Wiki article was the reference to 'wan pra': "These are not normally days off (วันหยุด), except for butcher, barber, and beautician shops that observe the Eight Precepts."

I have to remember avoid the barbers on Wednesdays, as they are always closed in a lot of (rural) places, from what I can see. I marked Wednesdays in my calendar as 'unlucky hair cutting day'. However, this is the first time I've seen any reference to barbers and days off explained in print, although I don't quite know how wan pra can always be on a Wednesday, or is it purely the 28 day lunar calendar and the Moon days mentioned?

I'm guessing these hairdressing occupations follow Precept number seven of the eight, perhaps?

 

I never heard of barbers taking "wan phra" off!  Butchers makes sense, haha.  And yes, I've heard of the hair-cutting thing, but I'm pretty sure that's a uniquely Thai belief, and not tied to Theravada Buddhism at all (no such belief exists in Cambodia, which otherwise does everything pretty much the same as Thailand in these matters).

[bluesofa]

Latest on the hair cutting saga:

My wife has just confirmed about not cutting hair on Wednesdays. She then added that Thursdays is a no shaving day!

 

When I asked why, she said she'd always heard that said all her life, and confirmed it wasn't anything Bhuddist, but a Thai customs she assumed went back centuries.

I have asked in the General Topics forum, to try and find out if it's regional, or national thing. I live in Udon Thani.

 

[bluesofa]

At the risk of cross-posting a link, this is from a reply in General Topics:

http://www.thephuketnews.com/the-cutting-truth-why-you-cant-cut-your-hair-on-a-wednesday-41739.php