Loy Krathong: Thailand's Festival of Light on Water

Loy Krathong (ลอยกระทง) takes place on the full moon of the twelfth Thai lunar month — usually November — and involves floating small decorated rafts (krathong) on rivers, canals, and lakes as an offering to the water spirits and to release the past year's misfortunes. The krathong are traditionally made from banana trunk, banana leaves, and flowers, with incense sticks and a candle at the centre. Modern krathong also use bread (which decomposes and feeds fish) and carved Styrofoam (discouraged for environmental reasons). The largest celebrations are at Sukhothai, where the historical park creates a genuinely magical backdrop; Chiang Mai, where the festival merges with Yi Peng (sky lantern festival) to produce a simultaneous release of floating water lights and rising sky lanterns — one of the world's great visual spectacles; and Bangkok, where the Chao Phraya River hosts enormous floats, fireworks, and the capital's official ceremony. At Chiang Mai's Yi Peng, ticketed mass lantern-release events (฿500–1,000) coordinate a simultaneous launch of thousands of rice-paper lanterns that rise in formation — an experience impossible to describe adequately in words. Loy Krathong is also associated with romantic tradition — couples float krathong together and make wishes.