My good friend Peter (who is currently student-teaching at ICS) and I saw lights and heard loud music in our neighborhood one evening as we came home from dinner. It didn't take long for us to see what it was all about.
I later learned that typically during the full moon of the twelfth lunar month in November, hundreds of thousands of decorated
krathong or traditional banana leaf boats are set afloat in rivers and waterways throughout Thailand.
This ritual is called
Loi Krathong, a festival of lights. As we found out, it is much more than lights but involved a lot of music, eating and performing. The loud music and festivities lasted well into the night and, fortunately,
only for one night – for those of us who actually want to sleep!
A
krathong is typically an elaborately-folded banana leaf decorated with incense sticks, flowers, candle and sometimes a small coin. On the night of the full moon, Thais launch their
krathong as an offering to the water spirits in an effort to deal with (release) their sin.
