Phichit Rowed for Ten Days on the Nan River and the Season Runs Into October
Thai longboat racing is in its main window, with provincial regattas from late August through to the end of the rains retreat.
The Phichit longboat races ran from 28 August to 6 September on the Nan River in front of Wat Tha Luang. Teams compete for a Royal Cup bestowed by the King, which is the standard prize at the larger provincial regattas.
The season is set by water levels rather than a fixture list. Races run through September and October, when the rivers are at their highest, and they are tied to the Phansa rains retreat. Ayutthaya, Chonburi, Phitsanulok and Nan all hold their own events in this window.
The tradition is traced to the Ayutthaya kingdom, where longboats featured in royal ceremonies during the flood season before the racing became a village-against-village affair.
In Bangkok, Royal Barge Procession rehearsals are scheduled for 3, 8, 17 and 23 September and are open to the public. They are ceremonial rather than competitive, but they draw from the same river tradition and land in the same weeks.
Longboat racing sits alongside the Chonburi buffalo races as one of Thailand's two big end-of-Lent sporting traditions. The buffalo races have still not had a 2026 date confirmed by the province or the tourism authority.