Loy Krathong

“Loy Krathong” is a festival celebrated by the Thai people to thank the goddess of water – “Phra Mae Khongkha”. Water is an integral part of Thailand, whether for its agricultural needs, trade or transport. The people are aware of the significant role that it plays in the sustenance of their everyday lives. On a full moon night of the twelfth month of the Thai lunar calendar, people get together and float small boats of offerings as a token of gratitude to Goddess Phra Mae Khongkha. In 2024, this festival was celebrated on the 15th of November.

About Loy Krathong :

“Loy” means to float and “Krathong” is a small basket. People make small decorated baskets called “krathongs” and float these in rivers, lakes and ponds wishing for good luck. This was my first year in Thailand and I was fortunate to witness and join in this festival. My curiosity and free time at hand, made me enrol in a “Krathong-making” class. It was here that I realized that the Thai are perfectionists. They take the art of folding a leaf extremely seriously! Before we come to that, let me tell you the structure of a krathong. It is made out of banana stems and/or banana leaves. The stem is cut in a circular shape and forms the base of the krathong. Leaves are then folded into rectangular shapes and pinned all around the base. The top is decorated with flowers and lastly, a candle and incense sticks are attached to the krathong. The trickiest part is folding each leaf into that perfect shape. At the workshop, all of us struggled with this technique. Impatience and shortcuts got the better of us as we slyly turned the leaves into our personalized multi-dimensional folds! We were all reveling at our success and admiring each other’s artwork when our instructors asked us redo everything until we reached that rectangle (or triangle in my case !). Perfectionists!

For the above reason, some people prefer buying a krathong rather than making one!

Once you’ve made or purchased your very own krathong, you wait for nightfall at the nearest water body. You then join a gathering of people lighting up their krathongs. Devotees make a wish for good fortune as they carefully place these on the water. Sometimes, people place coins on it for children to fish out later. I was also told that to drive away bad luck one can put a strand of their hair! Well, I am at a stage in life where my tresses are in a free-fall mode, hence, I opted to save up on the last few left!

With almost everyone participating in this festival, the water bodies are a magnificent panorama of beautifully illuminated offerings. The incense sticks emit a sweet fragrance, adding a subtle aroma to the soft breeze that nudges these well-crafted krathongs away.

There were environmental questions that me and my boys had about how it affects the water bodies. We were informed that there are only designated places being used for the occasion. The water bodies are promptly cleaned the next day. (We saw the pond that we used, clear of all the krathongs before dawn the next morning). A majority of the krathongs made are from natural materials. The few that are not are segregated from the bio-degradable ones. The bio-degradable krathongs are further sorted by hand to remove the metal pins before sending them to the fertilizer factory. The end product is mostly used later for plants along the roads or trees.

If you want to learn more about this festival, its origins, worship and beliefs then visit :

https://www.thailandfoundation.or.th/culture_heritage/loy-krathong-festival-all-you-need-to-know