Loy Krathong: Whatever Floats Your "Boat"

I envy those of you who are in Thailand right now, because you have the opportunity to participate in one of the loveliest of all the traditions there: Loy Krathong - a night for wishes and amends. The wishes are often for good fortune in the year ahead, the amends are made to Phra Mae Khonka - the Goddess of Water, for all we have done to her "home" over the year just passed - in addition to thanking her for the bounty the water has brought us.

Loy means to float, and krathong refers to the hand-made rafts or boats seemingly used by at least three-quarters of the population. Individual krathong are usually smaller than a dinner plate - say, eight or nine inches (20 - 23cm) across, but some commercial or corporate krathong can be much larger. I've seen some that were at least 15 feet wide.

Each has a candle, a symbolic veneration for the Buddha. As the candle's flame floats away from you on the water it's intended to take with it your year's worth of anger and grudges, allowing your heart and spirit to start afresh. Each also has a flower, and three sticks of incense, and some people add a coin to the load; Christians may liken this to "casting bread on the waters," if they wish.

Traditionally krathong were made of banana leaves with cork or something natural used for flotation, but all too often today they contain styrofoam and other non-biodegradable parts that cause a lot of headaches as the floating debris gathers in waterways after the festival. The photo to the left is of a man in Udonthani a week before the festival, creating a net to collect the leftover krathong. It's unfortunate that the festival intended to make apologies to the Water Goddess leaves such an insult behind, but it's not my place to judge - so let's move on.

The Loy Krathong Festival is observed across the whole of Thailand the evening of the full moon of the 12th Lunar month, which is usually November by our Western calendars. This year it falls on Sunday the 21st, but there are celebrations of various stripes throughout the weekend, depending on where you happen to be in Thailand.

Chiang Mai holds parades and several evenings of festivities. In addition to the traditional launching of the krathong they'll also release balloon-like bags called khom fai that are illuminated by candles, rising silently into the night sky with the heat the candle's flame generates. Udon Thani hosts a festival in the large central town park that is a blend of paths, walkways and bridges surrounded by water.

In Bangkok the Chao Phraya river is lit not only by the candles of the krathong released onto its surface but by the fireworks launched from barges along it, bursting into colorful blooms high in the sky. Wherever there are bodies of water - lakes, rivers, ponds, dams, and the ocean itself - people gather together to release their krathong and wish for luck, health and prosperity. Families often go together as one, oftentimes you'll see couples launch krathong together.

In cities, towns and villages - everywhere you go throughout the country - you'll find krathong for sale: street-side stalls, grocery stores, open markets, along the highways and byways and on tables set up in front of homes where families have joined forces to make krathong to generate a little more family income, like the women in Samut Prakan (below). Contests are held in many areas where individuals compete to see who can create the most distinctive or ornate krathong.

While it's a festive occasion, there's a serious note beneath the fun. The launching of krathong is not something done frivolously - it's a sincere gesture, and you can sense that as you see people kneel at the water's edge and say a prayer before gently releasing the krathong onto the surface, watching it float out away from them.

I was told that after you released your krathong onto a river you'd watch and hope it didn't stray back to shore, because if it continued to glide along with the current until it was out of sight it would mean your wish would be granted.

Here's wishing all of you a year of good fortune ahead.