Loy Krathong

Floating a wish

Loy means to float and a krathong is a small decorated vessel. The traditional krathong is made from a slice of banana trunk or a spider-lily plant, folded banana leaves and flowers, holding a candle and three sticks of incense, sometimes with a coin as an offering. On the night of the full moon people light the candle and set the krathong on a river, canal or pond, making a wish as it floats away. Many Thais do it to thank Khongkha, the goddess of water.

Government offices, companies and organisations launch large decorated krathongs, often in competition, and fireworks and beauty contests have become part of the night.

Old roots, modern festival

The custom is related to Hindu and Brahmanical traditions that reached the region long ago, and the earliest known image of floating a krathong is a bas-relief at the Bayon temple in Cambodia, from the late twelfth or early thirteenth century. Historians note that the festival was little known outside Bangkok’s elite before the Second World War, and that it spread nationwide from the 1950s and 1960s, helped by nationalism, a popular song and efforts to attract tourists.

Similar full-moon festivals are held in neighbouring countries — Tazaungdaing in Myanmar and Bon Om Touk in Cambodia among them.

Lanterns over Chiang Mai

In Chiang Mai, Loy Krathong coincides with Yi Peng, a northern Thai tradition of releasing sky lanterns. Where Loy Krathong centres on floating krathongs on water, Yi Peng fills the sky with rising lights, and the two together make Chiang Mai the best-known place to spend the festival.