The date of the full moon in the twelfth lunar month of the year brings to Thailand the Annual Loy Krathong Festival This is one of the most beautiful and enjoyable events in the calendar, and is nowadays enjoyed by Thais and foreigners alike. Its origins are clouded in the myths of time but most reports suggest that it was first recognised in the ancient Thai kingdom of Sukhothai around 700 years ago, when Nang Noparmart, a Thai lady member of the Royal Court made lotus shaped little boats or to give them their Thai name - Krathongs - from banana leaves and having decorated them with flowers, candles and incense sticks, then floated them (Thai word, Loy) on the water, the purpose being that the water spirits would bless the launcher by removing from them all cares and problems, i. that these float away along with the Krathong. Nowadays. although there is still a religious element in the festival, it is mainly a family celebration enjoyed by all but most especially the young. The traditional method of constructing Krathongs continues and after a modern flirtation with Styrofoam versions caused environmental problems due to difficulties of disposal, the trend has reverted to the original biodegradable type. This year the actual full moon fell on Saturday November 8th, but Pattaya City organised a 3 day festival on the beach road running from the 7th till the 9th of the month. We visited this beach road event on the evening of the 7th and then on the 8th went for a more traditional village celebration on the main reservoir some little way out of town. For the first time the foreign population of Pattaya were invited to participate in the beach road event, and several booths were placed at their disposal to display their products or alternately traditional culture from their home country. For their part, the Thai participants had displays of handicrafts and products from various communities as well as displays of traditional music and dancing. At the far end of the festival arena, a huge stage was constructed on which various events ranging from magic shows to beauty parades were held together with of course several bands playing music to dance to. And this being Thailand, no such festival would be complete without a multitude of booths offering all forms of food and drink. We stayed there for several hours, spending some time with our friends who were manning the Lions Club booth, and greatly enjoyed the whole ambience of the event. A selection of photos from the beach festival follows, as usual in thumbnail format, and to view any of these in full size, just click on the appropriate image   Traditional Dance Display Traditional Images of Loy Krathong Plenty of food on offer Sellers dressed in traditional costume Children’s paintings of Loy Krathong The public try traditional dancing Craft work from local villages And again.... Luxury Toilet Bus for those in need Moving on to the evening of Loy Krathong itself and we arrived at a huge fair that had been set up in a field at the side of the reservoir just opposite the local temple (we actually parked in the temple grounds). After paying a minimal admission charge, we first proceeded to a stall selling Krathongs and each chose a suitably decorated one to launch. From there we moved to the waterside where a small pier was being used to launch the Krathongs on the water, complete with torches for us to light the candles and incense sticks on our vessels. Placing a small coin on the Krathong (part of the tradition) we then floated them on the waters of the reservoir and made waves to make them float away. Of course being still water, they did not go very far but apparently this does not matter, it’s the launching that counts. Nor did it matter that several small boys in the water proceeded to catch the Krathongs and pocket the coins - this is apparently also quite acceptable. Our duty done, we then adjourned to the party that was in full swing all around, visiting several of the stalls offering games of chance such as bursting balloons with darts and fishing for balls containing prizes. Another vast multitude of food stalls were also displayed all around plus of course the Singha beer tent where we eventually all met up. A few libations were enjoyed, pausing only to visit the local abbot who seated on his chair proceeded to bless us all. Beside him was one pot for offerings and another full of water, I was told that for a 20 Baht offering you would be sprinkled with a little water, but the greater the offering, the larger the amount of water he would pour over you. I offered 100 Baht and was duly soaked, the abbot displaying a wicked grin. Returning to the beer tent we found that an open air cinema was now in operation, with a huge concave screen set up at the far end of the field onto which the picture was being displayed complete with a very loud sound system - the film being a traditional Thai one, i.e. loud and incomprehensible. The noise of this did not deter a band which started up near us and competed valiantly. Giving up the unequal battle to make ourselves heard, we then headed for the far side of the field where another token admission charge gave us entry to an inner enclosure within which on a huge stage specially erected for the occasion, a modern Thai pop concert was in full swing, complete with musicians, singers and dancers. Along with a very large and enthusiastic audience we watched this for some time before retiring for a final beer and thence home. The two evenings both accompanied by perfect weather provided us with an most enjoyable Loy Krathong festival for 2003. A further selection of photos from this second event follow, as before just click on the appropriate thumbnail to view it in full size. Krathongs for sale Launching your Krathong Krathongs floating on the reservoir Mobile Krathongs? Otter gets blessed - and soaked Open air cinema projector Concert Party Working up a storm Back to Top of Page