Loy Krathong in Bangkok

06.11.2014 - 06.11.2014 32 °C

Thailand is a country that always fascinates me since I was young and never failed to impress me even now. The word Amazing Thailand used to describe this kingdom by the Tourism Authority of Thailand in promoting the country to the world fits in just right. The country is so rich in its culture including the several interesting and unique festivals celebrated in such way that bring everyone not only the Thais but as well as foreigners and travellers to come together and enjoy themselves in embracing these festivals indulging in activities organised by the TAT and local governments throughout the many provinces in Thailand. Apart from the infamous Songkran festival where people indulge in water splashing among themselves, other important Thai festival celebrated by locals and foreigners include Loy Krathong Festival (now known as River Festival where this is celebrated as a sign of thanks giving to the River Water Goddess, who helped Thais in many ways in which water has benefited them in their daily life as well as to asked for forgiveness for any wrongdoings that has resulted from the rapid developments of Thailand today. The Loy Krathong Festival is celebrated in several ways such as releasing beautifully and creatively decorated float which include placing of candles on the float and lighting them before it is being released onto the river. Couple revellers of Loy Krathong Festival will offer prayers in thanking the River Goddess and asking for forgiveness together before the nice and interesting float and would then released it to the river. The float basically is made from banana leaves and the banana tree branch and decorated with flower and other decorations made from the banana leaves and paper to enhance the design of the float. in Chiang Mai, Loy Krathong also known as Yee Peng, a Lanna festival is celebrated with the release of a stretchable lantern made from paper of which the lantern would be pulled up to its maximum length before the candle placed in the middle on the base of the lantern being light up. The heat from the candle will fill up the lantern with the air needed for it to float in the air. I had opportunity to try out the Yee Peng Lantern while celebrating the new year in Chiang Mai back in 2012 which was phenomenal in Chiang Mai during each and every new year. For Loy Kratong Festival , other than releasing the flower float into the river, it is also celebrated with decorated boats which would then cruise and paraded to revellers. As I did the walking tour through the Old Bangkok or Rattanakosin area, I saw several of such boats when I was at the Phra Sumen Fort, where the boats were docked at the riverbanks of Chao Phraya river. Over here at Phra Sumen Fort, Loy Krathong Festival is synonym to this historic area as revellers would come together in huge numbers to release floats into the Chao Phraya river in celebrating the unique festival every year. As for me, I celebrated Loy Krathong this year at the Si Phraya Pier along the Chao Phraya river, next to the River City Mall, which is a boarding pier for those who purchase the dinner cruise. This was not a major celebration points throughout Bangkok but was good enough to have a moderate celebration as it also means it was less crowded since it was not being a designated Bangkok-wide Loy Krathong Festival celebration point. As in most areas where people would gather to celebrate this river festival, there would be many flower float vendors around the area and it was overwhelmed to see so many nice and marvellous floats available. And due to the huge varieties of flower floats sold, it just put one in a difficult position in choosing one to purchase. Apart from the candle, fireworks can also be added to the float to add some flavour to the overall decoration of the flower floats. The wind can be rather detrimental in the lighting up of the candle of the flower float so it can be quite a challenging tasks. But whether the candles being lit up or otherwise, it would still be released to the river as the most important part of the celebration was to offer thanksgiving and ask for forgiveness from the Water Goddess. Because Si Phraya pier is a busy pier with frequent boat stops, it was difficult for the flower float to drift far but again, this should not be a disappointing effort as the ultimate objective was to release the flower float that symbolised the thanksgiving celebration of Loy Krathong.

SOME VENDORS OF THE LOY KRATHONG FLOWER FLOATS AT SI PHRAYA PIER, BANGKOK

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