National Teachers’ Day (Wan Kru) is a Thai school holiday celebrated on January 16th of every year. Since this day is dedicated to teachers, students show their gratitude and appreciation for teachers.
Thai Teachers’ Day is not to be confused with Thai Teachers’ Appreciation Day (Wan Wai Kru), which is observed on the second Thursday of June. Thai Teacher’s Day tends to be seen as a more secular, policy-based occasion, whereas Thai Teacher’s Appreciation Day sees more elaborate, cathartic ceremonies.
Teachers’ Day in Thailand
The Secretariat Office of the Teachers’ Council of Thailand (🇹🇭) first established the holiday in 1957, when it was held at the National Stadium of Thailand. Thai Teacher’s Day is celebrated on January 16th because on this day in 1945, the Teachers Act was published by the Royal Thai Government Gazette. The Ministry of Education had decided to give teachers and students the day off in recognition of teachers’ sacrifice and dedication to the people and nation. According to the Ministry, the purpose of Teacher’s Day is to express gratitude towards teachers and others who contribute to Thai education.
Educational institutions under all affiliations have also been asked to organize “Teachers’ Day Week” activities from January 11th to 17th, 2026. This includes volunteer service activities, the creation of school-specific Teachers’ Day slogans, teacher assemblies to pledge commitments before parents, and teacher home visits to students.
The word for “teacher” in Thai, “khru (ครู),” is derived from the Sanskrit guru and Pali kuru, reflecting the profession’s deep cultural and moral significance. Teachers are often referred to as mae phim khong chart (แม่พิมพ์ของชาติ), literally the “mold” or “role models” of the nation, in a nod to their role in molding young minds.
The Teacher’s Day flower
In 1996, the national organizing committee for Teacher’s Day declared the orchid to be the symbolic flower of Teacher’s Day, inspired by the poetry of M.L. Pin Malakul, Thailand’s Minister of Culture from 1957–1958 and Minister of Education from 1957–1969.
กล้วยไม้มีดอกช้า ฉันใด
How slow, orchids are to bloom.
การศึกษาเป็นไป เช่นนั้น
So too, is the classroom.
แต่ดอกออกคราวไร งามเด่น
Yet once in bloom, how striking!
การศึกษาปลูกปั้น เสร็จแล้วแสนงาม
So too, are the minds molded by learning.
Unofficial translation of the poetry of M.L. Pin Malakul
Teachers’ Day motto
This year, state organizers are expected to pay a special tribute on Teacher’s Day to Her Majesty the Late Queen Sirikit, The Queen Mother, who passed at the age of 93 on October 24th, 2025. As such, the motto for Thailand’s Teacher’s Day this year, now in its 90th year, is “The Mother and Teacher of the Nation.”