Loi Krathong is one of the biggest holidays/festivals in Thailand, and probably the most beautiful. I've heard it compared to having Christmas and the Fourth of July rolled into one. It's essentially a festival of lights. People take little baskets with a candle and incense stick, and sometimes other stuff, down to the water's edge and release them into the river or canal or other body of water. They also line the walls or edges of their yard with little candles, and often hang bigger paper lanterns around their house. It's quite something to see. In Chiang Mai it's especially beautiful, since they also release a lot of paper lanterns into the air. If you stand on one of the main bridges in Chiang Mai, you are surrounded by lights, both in the water below and the air above. People also send off firecrackers continuously, adding a lot of sound to the mix.
This year I went down to a bridge outside of town. There were a lot of people releasing krathongs into the river, and a lot of firecrackers, but not many lanterns.
You can read more about Loi Krathong on Wikipedia or in this article.
This year I went down to a bridge outside of town. There were a lot of people releasing krathongs into the river, and a lot of firecrackers, but not many lanterns.
You can read more about Loi Krathong on Wikipedia or in this article.
