Date and time notation in Thailand

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Date and time notation in Thailand
Full date7 มีนาคม 2567
All-numeric date7/3/2567
Time21:21

Thailand has adopted ISO 8601 under national standard: TIS 1111:2535 in 1992. However, in practice, there are some variations.

Contents

Date

Thailand uses the Thai solar calendar as the official calendar, in which the calendar's epochal date (Year zero) was the year in which the Buddha attained parinibbāna . This places the current year at 543 years ahead of the Gregorian calendar. The year 2024 AD is indicated as 2567 BE in Thailand. Despite adopting ISO 8601, Thai official date is still written in D/M/YYYY formats, such as 30 January 2567 BE (2024 AD) or 30/1/2567. [1] Anno Domini may be used in unofficial context, and is written in the same format (D/M/YYYY).

In full date format, the year is marked with "พ.ศ." (Buddhist era) or "ค.ศ." (lit. Anno Domini) to avoid confusion. As each calendar is 543 years apart, there is very little confusion in the contemporary context.

Time

There are two systems of telling time in Thailand. Official time follows a 24-hour clock. The 24-hour clock is commonly used in military, aviation, navigation, meteorology, astronomy, computing, logistical, emergency services, and hospital settings, where the ambiguities of the 12-hour clock cannot be tolerated.

In the second, everyday usage, the day is divided into four six-hour periods. [2] :101 Additional words are used to identify the period specified (similar to a.m. or p.m. for a 12-hour system).

The distinguishing words are: [3]

Thailand is in the UTC+07:00 time zone, which is also known as Indochina Time (ICT) and military time zone Golf.

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Anno Domini</i> Western calendar era

The terms anno Domini (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used when designating years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term anno Domini is Medieval Latin and means "in the year of the Lord" but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord", taken from the full original phrase "anno Domini nostri Jesu Christi", which translates to "in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ". The form "BC" is specific to English, and equivalent abbreviations are used in other languages: the Latin form, rarely used in English, is Ante Christum natum (ACN) or Ante Christum (AC).

A calendar date is a reference to a particular day represented within a calendar system. The calendar date allows the specific day to be identified. The number of days between two dates may be calculated. For example, "25 March 2024" is ten days after "15 March 2024". The date of a particular event depends on the observed time zone. For example, the air attack on Pearl Harbor that began at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian time on 7 December 1941 took place at 3:18 a.m. Japan Standard Time, 8 December in Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ISO 8601</span> International standards for dates and times

ISO 8601 is an international standard covering the worldwide exchange and communication of date and time-related data. It is maintained by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and was first published in 1988, with updates in 1991, 2000, 2004, and 2019, and an amendment in 2022. The standard provides a well-defined, unambiguous method of representing calendar dates and times in worldwide communications, especially to avoid misinterpreting numeric dates and times when such data is transferred between countries with different conventions for writing numeric dates and times.

In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thai solar calendar</span> Legal calendar in Thailand

The Thai solar calendar was adopted by King Chulalongkorn in 1888 CE as the Siamese version of the Gregorian calendar, replacing the Thai lunar calendar as the legal calendar in Thailand. Years are now counted in the Buddhist Era (B.E.): พุทธศักราช, พ.ศ.RTGS: Phutthasakkarat which is 543 years ahead of the Gregorian calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">24-hour clock</span> Timekeeping convention

The modern 24-hour clock is the convention of timekeeping in which the day runs from midnight to midnight and is divided into 24 hours. This is indicated by the hours passed since midnight, from 00(:00) to 23(:59). This system, as opposed to the 12-hour clock, is the most commonly used time notation in the world today, and is used by the international standard ISO 8601.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midnight</span> Transition time from one day to the next

Midnight is the transition time from one day to the next – the moment when the date changes, on the local official clock time for any particular jurisdiction. By clock time, midnight is the opposite of noon, differing from it by 12 hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timestamp</span> Information identifying when an event occurred

A timestamp is a sequence of characters or encoded information identifying when a certain event occurred, usually giving date and time of day, sometimes accurate to a small fraction of a second. Timestamps do not have to be based on some absolute notion of time, however. They can have any epoch, can be relative to any arbitrary time, such as the power-on time of a system, or to some arbitrary time in the past.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thai calendar</span> Solar and lunar calendars used in Thailand

In Thailand, two main calendar systems are used alongside each other: the Thai solar calendar, based on the Gregorian calendar and used for official and most day-to-day purposes, and the Thai lunar calendar, used for traditional events and Buddhist religious practices.

A year zero does not exist in the Anno Domini (AD) calendar year system commonly used to number years in the Gregorian calendar ; in this system, the year 1 BC is followed directly by year AD 1. However, there is a year zero in both the astronomical year numbering system, and the ISO 8601:2004 system, the interchange standard for all calendar numbering systems. There is also a year zero in most Buddhist and Hindu calendars.

Different conventions exist around the world for date and time representation, both written and spoken.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital calendar</span> Electronic version of a calendar

A digital calendar is a collaborative or personal time management software with a calendar that can be used to keep track of planned events. The calendar can also contain an appointment book, address book or contact list. Common features of digital calendars are that users can:

Date and time notation in Canada combines conventions from the United Kingdom, conventions from the United States, and conventions from France, often creating confusion. The Government of Canada specifies the ISO 8601 format for all-numeric dates. It recommends writing the time using the 24-hour clock (04:48) for maximum clarity in both Canadian English and Canadian French, but also allows the 12-hour clock (4:48 a.m.) in English.

Date and time notation in the United States differs from that used in nearly all other countries. It is inherited from one historical branch of conventions from the United Kingdom. American styles of notation have also influenced customs of date notation in Canada, creating confusion in international commerce.

Date and time notation in Sweden mostly follows the ISO 8601 standard: dates are generally written in the form YYYY-MM-DD. Although this format may be abbreviated in a number of ways, almost all Swedish date notations state the month between the year and the day. Months are not capitalised when written. The week number may also be used in writing and in speech. Times are generally written using 24-hour clock notation, with full stops as separators, although 12-hour clock notation is more frequently used in speech.

Date and time notation in the United Kingdom records the date using the day–month–year format. The ISO 8601 format (1999-12-31) is increasingly used for all-numeric dates. The time can be written using either the 24-hour clock (23:59) or the 12-hour clock (11:59 pm).

The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and (CENELEC) adopted ISO 8601 with EN 28601, now EN ISO 8601. As a European Norm, CEN and CENELEC member states are obligated to adopt the standard as national standard without alterations as well.

ISO 8601 has been adopted as BIS IS 7900:2001.

References

  1. "Buddhist Calendar".
  2. Higbie, James (2011). Essential Thai (2nd ed.). Bangkok: Orchid Press. ISBN   9789745241374.
  3. "Telling Time". thai-language.com. Retrieved 17 May 2019.