Loy kratong in Krabi 2017

Loy Krathong is a festival celebrated annually throughout Thailand.  The name can be translated as “to float a basket”, and comes from the tradition of making krathong or buoyant, decorated baskets, which are then floated on a river. People pay their respects to the goddess of the water. Loy Krathong takes place on the evening of the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar.

I arrived in Krabi on the evening of Loy Krathong, so was just in time to see the festivities. Roads were closed off to allow pedestrians free access to the river area. I was amazed at how many stalls there were, literally hundreds, as well as a children's fairground. It was really bustling.

I got there just around sunset so had a look at the stalls. They were selling the krathong or food. 

Traditionally the krathongs were made of banana leaves and were lotus shaped and decorated with flowers, incense and candles. Now they seem to be all different designs. 

The ones of the dolls are certainly different, also the 2 'swan's above. They remind me more of Chap Go Mei in the Spring.

As it was still not dark I had a look round the food stalls and the children's funfair. I'll do the food as a separate blog.

When it was dark, I returned to the river to watch people releasing the krathongs. There were so many school children, still in uniform. People ask for forgiveness, or show their gratitude or thank the water goddess for supplying water all year. Some just release the offering hoping for luck in the coming year. Couples release one krathong each, hoping they will float away together, a sign of everlasting love.

I read that nowadays people are encouraged to make biodegradable krathongs, with no plastic, styrofoam or staples etc. These people are busy making them -

Even at 10 pm people were still making the krathongs, and the food sellers were doing a roaring business. Unfortunately the moon was very hazy.

Sky lanterns also used to be very popular, to fly away bad luck and grievances. Now they are banned around airports. And some airports such as Chiang Mai actually cancel flights during this time because of the danger of the high flying lanterns. 78 flights are cancelled in 2017 at Chiang Mai for the festival. 

At 9 am the next morning I went back to the river and was amazed to see that all the street rubbish had been removed and all the stalls had gone. The cleaners must have been working so hard. Even the river was generally clear of debris.