Loy Krathong
It’s Loy Krathong time here in Thailand. From the Wikipedia page:
Loy Krathong is a festival celebrated in Thailand. It is held on the third lunar moon in November.“Loi” means “to float”. “Krathong” is a lotus-shaped boat usually decorated with banana leaves, flowers, candles, coins, incense sticks etc.
The festival originated in Thailand to ask for the Mother of Water’s forgiveness for polluting the water.
The Thai tradition of Loy Kratong started off in Sukhothai, but is now celebrated throughout Thailand, with the festivities in Chiang Mai and Ayutthaya being particularly well known.
ThailandLife.com has more info, and you can see some more pics on Flickr.
I’ve witnesssed some folks carrying around krathongs, and I’ve heard firecrackers resounding throughout the city at night, but I haven’t seen anyone actually launching the vessels.
[Image: tom_p]