Loy
Krathong this year falls on Sunday, November 21.
(Photo courtesy Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens)
This year’s Loy Krathong Festival in Pattaya, the
most romantic night on the Thai calendar, falls on Sunday, November 21.
The entire Kingdom will be celebrating, and locally
the city organized festivities will be centered at Naklua Public Park.
Scheduled events include a krathong making competition, which emphasizes
that only krathongs using all natural material that will easily
biodegrade, will be eligible to enter.
One proven method uses cassava, which can be molded
using a technique from Belgium, which has been tested by Kasetsart
University. A krathong made in this way will biodegrade within six
hours, becoming food for marine life. Krathongs can also be made from
bread and banana leaves.
The contest will be divided into 2 categories, one
for beauty and the second for creativity. Winners could win as much as
20,000 baht and a certificate from Pattaya City. The categories will be
sub-divided into 3 other divisions, one each for primary and secondary
students and one for the general public. The contest starts at 1 p.m.,
with judging and prize giving at 6:30 p.m.
The official opening ceremony will begin at 8 p.m. on
the main stage in Naklua, followed by a country music concert by
Cataliya Marasri and David Inthee.
Since it is such a revered holiday, expect a large
influx of people into the resort. This will most likely cause a certain
amount of traffic, so please plan ahead should you choose to drive
anywhere this weekend.
A bit of history
According to the history written by King Mongkut in
1863, the Loy Krathong festival has its roots in ancient Brahmin
culture, going back some 700 years. The spirits of the river were given
offerings which were sailed in the river in small boats (krathongs) and
in this way the owner of the krathong would gain absolution. This was a
Brahmin belief.
The small boats fashioned by the beautiful and
talented Nang Noppamas, the daughter of a Brahmin priest and wife of
King Phra Ruang, were notable for their construction and beauty. It was
this king who then dedicated the krathong to the memory of the Buddha,
and decreed that the event would be called Loy Krathong and that it
should become an annual celebration to commemorate the skill and beauty
of his consort. In this way he lifted it out of Brahmin culture and
installed it into the accepted Buddhist way of life. This is the reason
that the krathongs now carry three incense sticks representing the
Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha.
During the Loy Krathong Festival, people decorate
their krathong with flowers, joss sticks and candles which will then
sail away, taking with them bad health, bad luck and unhappiness.
Lanterns are well-known symbols in the Loy Krathong
Festival, too, being used to decorate houses and temples in worship of
the guardian spirits. There are four kinds of lantern used in the
festival: the hand-held rabbit lantern, the hot air balloon lantern (kom
loy), the hanging lantern for religious worship, and the spin lantern
installed at the temples. The belief in lanterns is that the lights
inside compare with the wisdom the people will gain in the next life.
