Loy Krathong Festival is a yearly event in Thailand on the full moon night of the twelfth lunar month, usually in November. This festival has a long history dating back to the Sukhothai era and continuously maintains its popularity in the present. It is a local ritual in honor of the goddess of water to get rid of misfortunes for a better future. During the festival, people gather by a river or canal float krathong, a basket made of banana trunk and leaves in the shape of a blooming lotus. This performance is more of a prayer that the krathong will take their hardships and bad luck far away. Traditionally, families make at least one krathong as beautiful as they can, decorated with various flowers, candles, and joss sticks. Strands of hair, nails, clothes, and money are sometimes placed in the krathong, too. Before floating it, people light the candle and joss sticks and make a wish, asking for forgiveness from the goddess of water for any deeds that may have disappointed her, and ask her to take their bad luck away. This ritualistic performance is practiced throughout Thailand, though each location has its own way of performing it. There are also some fun activities during the festival such as the Best Krathong Competition to honor the most beautiful and creative krathong, Noppamas beauty pageant to crown a beautiful and smart girl (named after Noppamas, a beautiful consort of the King Lethai’s grandson during the Sukhothai era), fireworks display, traditional costume display, and many other traditional entertainment and performances. Looking into how the festival has been carried out over the last decade, people have come up with more resourceful and impressive ways to participate in the festival. Some have used foam or plastic and artificial decorations to make a lighter krathong that can float well on water. In response to global warming, people have also become more vigilant in using eco-friendly materials in creating Krathong. For example, a krathong-shaped bread has already been created for the festival; it didn’t leave waste on the water, and it also served as a fish food. Commonly, banana trunks and leaves have also been used to create krathong. Photo : Loy krathong ⓒ Department of Cultural Promotion

Loy kratong is one of the representative festivals held throughout Thailand. An event is held every year on the day of the full moon in December of the lunar calendar, and a ceremony is held to honor the river (and water) goddess, Ganga. The origin of the loy Kratong Festival is unclear, but it is most likely that it began during the Sukhothai Kingdom in the 14th century. Through the festival, people ask for forgiveness for using water to dirty the river, make a lotus-shaped basket made of banana leaves, place the basket on their forehead, pray, and float it on the river to make a wish. In northern Thailand, a festival is held under the name Yi Peng, which means “flying lantern,” hoping that the lantern will fly in the sky to blow away diseases and bad luck. All of the school affiliated with the temple and local community members work together to prepare for the festival, and through the preparation of the event, community members, especially the younger generation, actively participate in the safeguarding and transmission of traditional culture. In addition, the loy Kratong events held throughout Thailand include the production of Kratong and competitions, which are effective in continuing public interest in handicraft traditions and delivering traditional Thai culture. This loy kratong festival video is one of the 10 ICH Video Documentary Series. which is the result of the collaborative project between ICHCAP and Thammasat University in Thailand. Both organizations aim to raise visibility and strengthen the public’s access to ICH in Thailand through this project. Please refer to the brochure for more information on the Thai ICH video documentary. photo 1 : © ICHCAP photo 2 : After the massive launch of Khom Loys the sky is filled with the lanterns at the YeePeng Festival in Sansai Thailand © John-Shedrick, CC-BY-2.0 photo 3 : Thai people setting their candle-lit krathongs in the Ping river at night during Loy Krathong © John Shedrick, CC BY 2.0, Changed: Size photo 4 : © ICHCAP photo 5 : Thai couple and child ready to set their candle lit krathong into the river during Loy Krathong © John Shedrick, CC-BY-2.0, Changed : size photo 6 : © ICHCAP photo 7 : © ICHCAP photo 8 : © ICHCAP photo 9 : © ICHCAP