Loi Krathong

There is so much to say about my time off from work last year. In October, major flooding affected about a third of the country. Provinces located along the Chao Phraya River and Mekong River basin, including Bangkok were severely affected. As I had mentioned in a previous blog post, my neighborhood wasn’t affected directly by the flood. The only changes in my proximity were the anxious locals and the lack of food and water from every store.

After my school announced that our October break would extend into November, I decided to take advantage of my time off and buy a ticket to Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is a culturally rich city in Northern Thailand. I arrived on November 3^rd and had no idea that my travels would draw me further into Northern Thailand into the next month. When I came to Chiang Mai the only thing I was determined to do was celebrate Loi Krathong.

Loi Krathong is one of the most beautiful celebrations here in Thailand. The festival serves primarily as a means to pay respect to the river gods and goddesses and to let go of all negativity. The celebration centers upon floating Krathongs down the river and releasing paper lanterns (Khom Loi) into the night sky. Krathongs are lotus shaped floats made of a circular base decorated with folded banana leaves, flowers, candles and incense. As a child growing up, my family used to travel down to the Washington monument and float our homemade krathongs in the reflecting pool alongside other Thai families. From what I recall, there used to be a very large Thai community in Northern Virginia. I remember building floats with my Mother in our kitchen. We used to use a circular Styrofoam base and she would collect an array of vibrant flowers from her garden. I can still remember fumbling with the large stapler to adhere the folded leaves to the base. As I grew older, national security became very uptight and the organized Loi Krathong festival became nonexistent.

As the flooding continued to inundate provinces throughout Thailand, most areas had called off this celebration. Spirits were low, and I can understand why it would be hard to give thanks to the water spirits as many neighborhoods remained in high water. Chiang Mai however planned to stay on course with the festival. Once I arrived, I saw grandiose displays of lanterns. From every temple and the center square, bright colored lanterns swayed. At night, the bulbs would be turned on providing a magical display. In Chiang Mai, Loi Krathong is celebrated for a three days. Leading up to November 9^th, small fire works could be heard going off city at all times of the day. It almost felt like the Fourth of July.

I ended up being able to build my own Krathong! A hotel in Chiang Mai was providing a workshop on their front patio. Thai staff assisted in helping all that were interested for a fee of 120 or 150 baht to make a krathong. I was prompted to pick out a circular piece of a banana tree trunk. A sweet Thai girl patiently taught me how to fold my leaves and adhere them to the trunk with pins. I worked diligently to produce my krathong and covered it with bright orange flowers. Since the workshop was winding down, supplies were running low; my krathong wasn’t as colorful as I would have liked it to be. I was delighted to be making a float out of organic material rather than the Styrofoam.

The next day, I headed to the river with some new friends. We carried fireworks, paper lanterns and krathongs, eager to join the festivities. By the time we made it to the river, the streets were filling quickly with people. Families and friends were gathering to light off their paper lanterns and releasing their krathongs into the river. After I released my float into the river, I zoomed around the river site taking pictures. The beauty of the event stunned me.


My favorite part of the whole festival was lighting off the Khom Loi (floating lanterns.)  The lanterns are made from oiled rice paper on a bamboo frame and contain a small circular disc of waxy flammable material. Once lit, the flame heats the air inside the lantern causing it to rise. Some people attached fireworks to the discs that would cause the lanterns to accelerate higher into the air. The firework sparks would cause a trail of light, providing a visual that looked like a glittering jellyfish flying through the sky. The whole sky filled with lanterns looked like flickering golden constellations. It is a sight I will never forget.