Joining Loy Krathong Festival in Thailand

One of the most fascinating water-based cultural events in Thailand, Loy Krathong takes place on the full-moon night of the twelfth lunar month, or in November. It is a well-known festival among foreigners, as well.

The festival lasts a few days in some places, but the highlight of the celebration is on the full-moon night, which this year falls on 17 November.

People celebrate this festival by gathering on the banks of rivers and canals to float lotus blossom shaped vessels of various sizes called krathong. They light candles and incense sticks, making a wish, and carefully place the krathong in a river, canal, stream, or pond.

Loy Krathong is a form of thanksgiving by the people to the waterways on which they depend. The festival is also meant to seek pardon from the Goddess of Water for their sins in polluting the water. For the rural folk, this festival is believed to carry away the sins and misfortunes of the past year.

Today, Sukhothai province in the North is one of the focal points of the Loy Krathong celebration, with many cultural performances and decorated scenes. The province is holding the festival from 13 to 17 November at the Sukhothai Historical Park in Mueang district.

The northern province of Chiang Mai also celebrates the Loy Krathong Festival on a grand scale. This year, it is scheduled to hold various activities from 16 to 18 November. Other interesting places to celebrate this festival include Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Tak, Samut Songkhram, Suphan Buri, Ratchaburi, and Lop Buri.