Loi Krathong Festival, Thailand: Upcoming Trip

All my bags are packed and I am ready to go…

I am just a few hours away from catching the flight to Thailand, one of my favorite countries. I absolutely dig their food, their culture and of course the magical nature of this amazing South East Asian nation. This time around, I have been invited by the Thailand tourism board to come and experience one of their famous festivals called Loi Krathong, their festival of lights.



Do not confuse this festival of lights with our Deepavali festival. Instead, it is similar to Karthik Poornima, a festival that is celebrated with lamps all over the country and especially more so in the South. In Tamil Nadu, where I originate from, the Karthikai month (lunar month after Deepavali) is celebrated with lamps and lots of light all through the festival. Similarly, Loi Krathong is celebrated with lights. In certain parts of Thailand, they celebrate it with the floating lanterns (which you might have experienced at Chiang Mai during New Year’s Eve). While this is more popular in the northern part of Thailand and these floating lanterns are called Khom Loi, the festival is celebrated in a slightly different way in the South, where I am headed. In northern Thailand, this festival is called Yi Peng and in the South, it is referred to as Loi Krathong. ‘Loi Krathong’, loosely translates into ‘to float a basket’.



Here, people take floating devices and decorate it with plantain leaves, flowers, incense sticks and a small lamp. A small piece of hair from the body is kept in this decorated floating device and is let to float in the river. These small floating beacons of light are believed to wipe away all negative energies or sins. This event happens on the night of full moon, which coincides with India’s Karthik Poornima and is believed to be an offering to the river spirits. And like all festivals of Thailand, Loi Krathong too comes with its glamour and fanfare. There are lots of traditions to see, colourful clothes, tasty food and in overall lots of happiness.



I celebrated this festival with the people of Bangkok three years back and absolutely loved the delicious food, the fun and frolic and the opportunity to understand and experience the Thai culture at depth. 3 years later, I am again super excited to be a part of this festival. This time to Sampran Riverside, Nakhon Pathom, Amphawa and Bangkok. As always, I can’t wait to treat myself to some delicious festival Thai food, while soaking in this rich festival.

If you wish to know more about this festival, follow my updates on my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram channels where I will be sharing live updates. More on the blog once I return to Bangalore from Thailand, which should be in a week’s time.

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Loi Krathong: Thailand’s Festival of Lights

There is a tradition in India where lamps are lit outside the home during the ‘Karthik’ month of the lunar calendar (Nov – Dec). This is typically known as ‘Karthika Deepam’ in the southern part of India. A similar tradition can be found in Thailand, especially around Sukhothai, Chiang Mai and Bangkok.


This festival is called Loi Krathong and is Thailand’s festival of lights. This annual festival is celebrated with a lot of fervor by the locals. During this festival, buoyant decorations are made and then floated on a river.


While the buoyant decorations are made, one puts some money, a piece of their hair and a small piece of nail from their body into the buoyant decoration and then takes it the river and lets it float.


Apparently, it is believed that this takes away all bad luck from them and into the river.


This buoyant decoration is made with plantain leaves, a lotus flower and exotic flowers surrounding it. A candle and some incense sticks are then added to it to complete the floating device. The candle and incense are lit before allowing it to float on the river.


This event takes place after sunset and everyone heads to the river side with their decorated floating devices. The entire atmosphere is festive with bright lights, decorated boats on the river, fireworks, live music bands, colorful markets and the works.


On this same day, in northern Thailand, Yi Peng festival is celebrated. On this night, sky lanterns are launched into the air where they resemble large flocks of giant fluorescent jellyfish gracefully floating by through the sky.


Though this can be seen mainly in and around Chiang Mai, one can see this in some parts of Bangkok too, especially around the monasteries.


During the Loi Krathong evenings, the locals head to the monasteries to offer their prayers and such visits can generate huge crowds and a whole bunch of markets come up to cater to this crowd. It is quite an experience to be a part of such crowds and soak in the festival market culture live and up-front.


So next time you are in Thailand around the Loi Krathong festival, do try and see this festival from the river side. You are bound to be spell bound.

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