The
Thai solar calendar,
Suriyakhati was adopted by King
Chulalongkorn (Rama V) in
AD 1888 as the Siamese version of the
Gregorian calendar. It is the legal
calendar in
Thailand, though
Thai lunar calendar dates continue in use. Years are now counted in the Buddhist Era (BE: , pútthasàkkàrât) which began 543 years before the
Christian Era (, krítsàkkàrât). As a convenience, calendars typically include the year
AD in both
Arabic and Thai numerals.