(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)

Above: Mahakan Fort and the Golden Mount

LOY KRATHONG 2003


Crowds thronging the ferries along the Chao Phraya River.

Kratongs

Krathongs are lowered into the Chao Phraya River along the promenade near Santichaiprakarn Park

The new bread krathongs designed for fish to eat.

A foreign fire juggler asks for 20 baht donations.

More krathongs

Krathongs floating behind Mahakan Fort.

Beached krathongs at Santichaiprakarn Park.

Crowds in front of Prasumen Fort at 9:15pm.

An example of how the same scene looks with and without flash. Without flash.

With flash

Boys in the Chao Phraya River salvaging krathongs.

Loy Krathong - November 8, 2003
There are few sights in Thailand as sublime as watching krathongs floating by in the rivers and klongs. All hotel rooms are booked by trysting young people and the traffic is terrible.
It is interesting to review the news of the past decade or so on Loy Krathong firecrackers. In past years, kneeling by a crowded waterway, putting your kratong on the water, you would be at risk at having a firecracker going off in your face, but in the last couple of years authorities have cracked down. The quiet compromise governments of the past vowed to take action each year, but things always ended up the same. This is a contrast to the current government that vowed to shut down fireworks sellers and then there was actually a change with shops closed and those seen setting off fireworks arrested--and it all lasted more than a year.

Also: Myth or fact, Lady of Loy Krathong still inspires - The Nation, November 8, 2003
For generations, Thais have grown up believing that she was a court lady serving Phra Luang, a king of Sukhothai some 700 years ago. She was credited with inventing the krathong, a lotus-shaped vessel made from banana leaves, and floating it into a river as part of the full-moon festival in the twelfth month of the Thai calendar.
Info needed - November 8, 2003
We are looking for sources concerning the following: Before the 1980's Loy Kratong was a regional festival held mainly in the Sukothai area. At some point national tourism authorities decided to promote it as a national festival, causing annoyance from Sukothai officials who felt their festival was being 'stolen.' We remember articles about his from the early 1990s...


(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)