Loy Krathong Thai Festival
Loy Krathong is celebrated once a year, during the November full moon. And that’s tomorrow. After Songkran it’s my favorite Thai festival.
The word “Loy” in Thai means “to float” and the word “Krathong” is “raft”. Thai people create their own rafts or they buy them from vendors. These small boats are sometimes made out of banana leaves and are beautifully decorated with candles, flowers and an incense stick.
A photo taken during Loy Krathong Thai Festival
photo by Chip Olson
Thai’s believe that floating these small rafts into the sea, lake or river honors the water goddess. The people of Thailand realize that they may sometimes waste water and harm it by unintentionally doing bad things to it; the rafts are their way of saying sorry to the Goddess of Water. Some people will cut pieces of their hair, finger nails and put money on the raft to symbolize the letting go of bad parts of themselves, from the past year or other years.
Where to go in Bangkok to celebrate Loy Krathong
The most popular places to go to celebrate Loy Krathong are sites which have water, such as a river, lake or the ocean.
Most people enjoy celebrating this fun holiday with their significant other, the fireworks and beautiful lit Krathongs in the water create quite a romantic atmosphere.
Lumpini Park
This renowned park is great place to go to celebrate this holiday. The park is magnificent all year round as it is, add thousands of people with hand-made krathongs, which are well lit in the night sky and the mood and atmosphere improves tenfold.
Chao Phraya River
This river is not too far from Khaosan road, has a lively atmosphere, which is fun for the whole family. Fireworks go off at about 9 pm. Very romantic place to bring your partner.
Rama IIX Bridge
The Rama IIX Bridge gets very crowded and the atmosphere is very bubbly, everyone is out to have a good time. People of all walks of life are out enjoying themselves and so will you if you choose to join them.
Queen’s Park on Sukhumvit Road
This is another popular site to go to celebrate Loy Krathong. The hotels and restaurants in the area provide discounted loy krathong dinners and prices. The atmosphere is energetic and fun!
Other sites in Bangkok include:
Waterside restaurants, cruises, temples, small parks with water and universities.
If you choose to go outside of Bangkok be sure to check out:
Chiang Mai (Yee Peng)
This area has a spectacular Fourth of July feel to it but only better. Thousands of people will float lit lanterns into the sky, which will create a shimmering breath-taking sky seen throughout the region. A beautiful once in a lifetime sight that shouldn’t be missed!
