Loy Krathong

Loy Krathong is held on the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. In the western calendar this usually falls in November.

"Loy" means "to float". "Krathong" is a raft, about a hand span in diameter, traditionally made from a section of banana tree trunk. A raft has been developed to be made of bread or sometimes made of styrofoam. 

The reason for using bread is to protect the environment,since having many rafts in the river can create a huge water pollution problem. Bread will eventually become food for fish and other animals in the river. Even though banana leaves are biodegradable, it takes longer to be degraded than a bread. Therefore, bread is the most environmental friendly choice to make a raft whereas foam is not recommended at all. A raft is decorated with elaborately-folded banana leaves, flowers, candles, incense sticks etc.

During the night of the full moon, many people will float a small rafts (Krathong) on a river or other body of water, such as canals, lakes and seas. Some people even float a raft (Krathong) in a basin in their own yard. Thai people believe that floating a raft on the river is to honor and pay respect to the goddess of water. Also, floating a raft in the river is to apologize to the Goddess of the Water for the bad things we have done to the river during the past year. That is why Loy Krathong festival is held at the end of the year. Governmental offices, corporations and other organizations usually create big decorated rafts. There are also local and officially organised raft (Krathong) competitions, regarding its beauty and craftmanship. In addition, there are also fireworks and beauty contests during the celebration of the festival.

According to the writings of H.M. King Rama IV in 1863, the originally Brahmanical festival was adapted by Buddhists in Thailand as a ceremony to honour the original Buddha, Siddhartha Guatama. Apart from venerating the Buddha with light (the candle on the raft (Krathong)), the act of floating away the candle raft is symbolic of letting go of all one's grudges, anger and defilements, so that one can start life afresh on a better foot. People will also cut their fingernails and hair and add them to the raft as a symbol of letting go of the bad parts of oneself. Many Thai believe that floating a raft (krathong) will bring good luck, and they do it to honor and thank the Goddess of Water, Phra Mae Khongkha (พระแม่คงคา).

The beauty contests that accompany the festival are known as "Noppamas Queen Contests". According to legend, Noppamas was a consort of the Sukothai king Loethai (14th century) and she was the first to float a decorated raft (krathong).

Letting a Khom Fai float in to the air at the Loy Kratong festival in Mae Jo

The Thai tradition of Loy Kratong started off in Sukhothai, but is now celebrated throughout Thailand, with the festival in Chiang Mai and Ayutthaya being particularly well known; apart of course from its original city. In the northern part of Thailand, in addition to creating "krathong" people also celebrate the festival with "Kom Loy". People usually create "Kom Loy" from a thin fabric and let the air get inside so that "Kom Loy" can go up in the air like a balloon. This tradition is called "Yi Peng" meaning to celebrate goodness (tam-boon) in the 12th month in Thai lunar calendar. "Yi Peng" festival attracts many tourists both foreigners and Thai people from other parts of Thailand to join and see "Kom Loy" goes up in the air.

Thousands of Khom Fai in Mae Jo

Loy Kratong coincides with the Lanna (northern Thai) festival known as "Yi Peng". Due to a difference between the old Lanna calendar and the Thai calendar, "Yi Peng" is held on a full moon of the 2nd month of the Lanna calendar. A multitude of Lanna-style sky lanterns (khom fai or khom loy) are launched into the air where they resemble large flocks of giant fluorescent jellyfish gracefully floating by through the sky. The most elaborate Yi Peng celebrations can be seen in Chiang Mai, the ancient capital of the former Lanna kingdom. The tradition has also spread to certain parts of Laos during the 16th century.

Kelantan also has the same celebration, especially in the Tumpat area. The ministry in charge of tourism in Malaysia recognises it as an attraction for tourists. Many people visit the celebration each year.

The Ghost Festival

Phi Ta Khon is a type of masked procession celebrated on the first day of a three-day Buddist merit-making holiday know in Thai as "Boon Pra Wate". The annual festival takes place in May, June or July at a small town of Dan Sai in the northeastern province of Loei.

Participants of the festival dress up like ghosts and monsters wearing huge masks made from carved coconut-tree trunks, topped with a wicker-work sticky-rice steamer. The Procession is marked by a lot of music and dancing 

The precise origin of the Phi Ta Khon is unclear. However, it can be traced back to a traditional Buddhist folklore. In the Buddha's next to last life, he was the beloved Prince Vessandorn. The prince was said to go on a long trip for such a long time that his subjects forgot him and even thought that he was already dead. When he suddenly returned, his people were overjoyed. They welcomed him back with a celebration so loud that it even awoke the dead who then joined in all the fun.

From that time onward the faithful came to commemorate the event with ceremonies, celebrations and the donning of ghostly spirit masks. The reasons behind all the events is probably due to the fact that it was held to evoke the annual rains from the heavens by farmers and to bless crops. 

On the second day, the villagers dance their way to the temple and fire off the usual bamboo rockets to signal the end of the procession. The festival organisers also hold contests for the best masks, costumers and dancers, and brass plaques are awarded to the winners in each age group. The most popular is the dancing contest.

Then comes the last day of the event, the villagers then gather at the local temple, Wat Ponchai, to listen to the message of the thirteen sermons of the Lord Buddha recited by the local monks.

Then it is time for the revellers to put away their ghostly masks and costumes for another year. From now on, they must again return to the paddy fields to eke out their living through rice farming as their forefathers did.

This story comes from "Essays on Thailand" by Thanapol Chadchaidee. It is used here with his permission. The book contains 60 essays about Thailand written in Thai and English.

Loy Krathong

Loy Krathong is held on the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. In the western calendar this usually falls in November.

"Loy" means "to float". "Krathong" is a raft, about a hand span in diameter, traditionally made from a section of banana tree trunk. A raft has been developed to be made of bread or sometimes made of styrofoam. 

The reason for using bread is to protect the environment,since having many rafts in the river can create a huge water pollution problem. Bread will eventually become food for fish and other animals in the river. Even though banana leaves are biodegradable, it takes longer to be degraded than a bread. Therefore, bread is the most environmental friendly choice to make a raft whereas foam is not recommended at all. A raft is decorated with elaborately-folded banana leaves, flowers, candles, incense sticks etc.

During the night of the full moon, many people will float a small rafts (Krathong) on a river or other body of water, such as canals, lakes and seas. Some people even float a raft (Krathong) in a basin in their own yard. Thai people believe that floating a raft on the river is to honor and pay respect to the goddess of water. Also, floating a raft in the river is to apologize to the Goddess of the Water for the bad things we have done to the river during the past year. That is why Loy Krathong festival is held at the end of the year. Governmental offices, corporations and other organizations usually create big decorated rafts. There are also local and officially organised raft (Krathong) competitions, regarding its beauty and craftmanship. In addition, there are also fireworks and beauty contests during the celebration of the festival.

According to the writings of H.M. King Rama IV in 1863, the originally Brahmanical festival was adapted by Buddhists in Thailand as a ceremony to honour the original Buddha, Siddhartha Guatama. Apart from venerating the Buddha with light (the candle on the raft (Krathong)), the act of floating away the candle raft is symbolic of letting go of all one's grudges, anger and defilements, so that one can start life afresh on a better foot. People will also cut their fingernails and hair and add them to the raft as a symbol of letting go of the bad parts of oneself. Many Thai believe that floating a raft (krathong) will bring good luck, and they do it to honor and thank the Goddess of Water, Phra Mae Khongkha (พระแม่คงคา).

The beauty contests that accompany the festival are known as "Noppamas Queen Contests". According to legend, Noppamas was a consort of the Sukothai king Loethai (14th century) and she was the first to float a decorated raft (krathong).

Letting a Khom Fai float in to the air at the Loy Kratong festival in Mae Jo

The Thai tradition of Loy Kratong started off in Sukhothai, but is now celebrated throughout Thailand, with the festival in Chiang Mai and Ayutthaya being particularly well known; apart of course from its original city. In the northern part of Thailand, in addition to creating "krathong" people also celebrate the festival with "Kom Loy". People usually create "Kom Loy" from a thin fabric and let the air get inside so that "Kom Loy" can go up in the air like a balloon. This tradition is called "Yi Peng" meaning to celebrate goodness (tam-boon) in the 12th month in Thai lunar calendar. "Yi Peng" festival attracts many tourists both foreigners and Thai people from other parts of Thailand to join and see "Kom Loy" goes up in the air.

Thousands of Khom Fai in Mae Jo

Loy Kratong coincides with the Lanna (northern Thai) festival known as "Yi Peng". Due to a difference between the old Lanna calendar and the Thai calendar, "Yi Peng" is held on a full moon of the 2nd month of the Lanna calendar. A multitude of Lanna-style sky lanterns (khom fai or khom loy) are launched into the air where they resemble large flocks of giant fluorescent jellyfish gracefully floating by through the sky. The most elaborate Yi Peng celebrations can be seen in Chiang Mai, the ancient capital of the former Lanna kingdom. The tradition has also spread to certain parts of Laos during the 16th century.

Kelantan also has the same celebration, especially in the Tumpat area. The ministry in charge of tourism in Malaysia recognises it as an attraction for tourists. Many people visit the celebration each year.

Songkran Festival

The Songkran Festival is one of the most important feasts that has been performed not o¬nly in Thailand but also in other countries (Laos, Cambodia, etc.) for a long time. It is also known as Thai Traditional New Year Day which falls on April 13 – 15 in a year. It is the great opportunity for merit-making and a special time for Thai people to have fun, traditional music, dance, games, and other activities in the pastime.

The Meaning Of Songkran Festival

The term Songkran means The festival celebrated on the day of passage of the sun to Aries, the first sign of the Zodiac1. It means that on Songkran Day the sun enter the sign of Aires. Its full name is called Maha Songkran which means the great Songkran.

The Origins Of Songkran Festival

There was an interesting Thai folk story connected with the Songkran Day. It tells now there once lived in a certain village a extraordinary boy by the name of Dhanapala. He was born into a very rich family, and was extremely intelligent and kindhearted. He even knew the languages of animals and could understand the humming of bees and the songs of the birds. People had great respect for him and his fame spread far and wide until it finally reached the ears of a rather strange but powerful God. This was Kapila Brahma, the god with the four faces, who could see four directions all at once. Kapila was a conceited god. He could not bear to think that there was anyone so intelligent and kind as to command the respect of so many people. He felt that people had begun to place more faith in Dhanapala than in himself. This he did not like and would not tolerate. o¬ne day he came down from heaven and challenged Dhanapala to answer three questions: “ Where is the person’s glow in the morning ? Where is it at midday ? Where is it in the evening ? ” The stakes were high: if the boy could answer the questions, Kapila would offer his own head to him; if he could not, then he would have to give his head to Kapila as a trophy for his triumph. Dhanapala accepted the challenge and promised to find the answers in seven days. Six days passed by and Dhanapala could find on answers, but he was helped by some sympathetic deities, who transformed themselves into eagles and discussed the answers to the riddles within earshot of Dhanapala. By listening to their conversation, Dhanapala discovered the answers to Kapila’s riddles. The answer is that in the morning a person’s glow is in the face, because people always wash their faces in the morning to greet a day. During the day, when the weather is hot, people bathe themselves, splashing water over the chest, so at midday the glow is in the chest. In the evening, coming home from work, the wash their feet before going up into the house. Thus in the evening the glow is in the feet. In a more abstract but meaningful interpretation, in the morning we must put on a cheerful face, beginning the day on the right foot; during the day we must wear a brave heart to deal with the business of the day; in the evening when we come home from work we must be able to wash our feet, that is, let go off the day’s activities and great our family with a cheerful demeanor.

Kapila lost the bet and was therefore compelled to cut off his head according to their agreement. Before fulfilling his promised, however, the unfortunate Brahma proclaimed:“ I am a very powerful god. If my head is dropped o¬n the ground, the whole world will burst into flames. If my head is thrown into the ocean, the ocean will dry up immediately. And if it is thrown up into the air, there will be no rain for seven years.” To avoid this catastrophe, the god Kapila ordered his seven draughts to take turns carrying his head in a big golden bowl, each for a period of one year. So the Songkran day marked the occasion when kapila’s head changes hands – and the year changed too!2

The Activities On Songkran Festival

In the morning, people go to the temple to make merits by offering food to monks and novices, observing the precepts, Five or Eight precepts and listening to the Dhamma talk. In the afternoon, they perform the bathing ceremony of the Buddha images and monks and novices who live in a temple. During this time, the younger people ask blessings from the elders. This is known as Water Splashing Feast. It might be said that the Songkran festival is the Respected festival to the elders or the Family Day.