Loy Krathong this year falls on Thursday,
November 10. (Photo courtesy Nong Nooch Tropical Garden)
This year’s Loy Krathong Festival in Pattaya, the
most romantic night on the Thai calendar, falls on Thursday, November
10.
The entire Kingdom will be celebrating, with most
everyone going to the water’s edge to loy (float) their krathong.
Locally the city organized festivities will be
centered at Naklua Public Park. Scheduled events include a young Miss
Noppamas contest and a krathong making competition, which emphasizes
that only krathongs using all natural material that will easily
biodegrade, will be eligible to enter.
The krathong contest will begin at 1 p.m. and close
at 5 p.m. with judging at 6:30 p.m. It will be divided into 2
categories, one for beauty and the second for creativity, and 3
divisions, junior, senior and general population. Winners could win as
much as 10,000 baht.
Interested contestants can contact the Education
Institute Pattaya City, telephone number 038-253-100 ext. 3327, during
working hours for further information.
The official opening ceremony will begin around 8
p.m. on the main stage in Naklua, followed by a country music concert by
Sunaree Rachaseema and Jakjan Wanwisa.
Since it is such a revered holiday, and since half
the kingdom is now underwater, expect the currently large influx of
people currently flowing into the resort to get even bigger. This will
most likely cause a lot amount of traffic, so please plan ahead should
you choose to drive anywhere this coming week.
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.
This Thursday, invite your girlfriend, boyfriend,
family members and/or significant other to buy or create a krathong,
then visit the nearest seashore, lake or river and float away your
worries.
