Focus

Festival of lights

The myths and legends of Loy Krathong

By Suwitcha Chaiyong and Matt Leppard
Photographs courtesy of AFP/Bangkok Post

Did You Know : In 2003, almost 1.7 million krathongs were left in the Chao Phraya River and other water sources, up more than 50 percent from the previous year.

A large krathong, 22 metres in diameter and nearly 10 metres tall and decorated with 2,000 lights, is floated in the Chao Phraya River in front of the Arts and Craft Centre in Bang Sai district, Ayutthaya province.

There are many stories about how the Loy Krathong festival started in Thailand, and they all centre on the releasing of beautifully decorated krathongs as a gesture of both thanksgiving and respect to the gods.

The releasing of krathongs into a river is mainly a sign of respect to Mae Kong Ka, the river goddess, thanking her for her generosity in providing water for cultivation and life.

According to legend, a lady named Nang Noparmart was the first person to make the krathongs we know today to pay homage to Phra Buddhabath (a Buddha �footprint�) during the Sukhothai period. She made a lotus-shaped krathong using banana leaves and presented it to the king of Sukhothai. The king then decreed that krathongs in the form of lotus flowers should be released into rivers on the full moon night in November � this is when the tide is high, so it�s a natural time to release the floats.

FACT OR FANTASY?

A Thai woman sprays water on a krathong made of banana leaves.

Most provinces in Thailand celebrate Loy Krathong, although some celebrate it a little differently from others. In Chiang Mai, for example, yi peng Loy Krathong lanterns are released into the air in homage to Buddha, while in Tak province, people make Loi Krathong Sai using coconut shells. These krathongs are lit with candles and are threaded together so they appear as a string of floating lights on the Ping River.

However, not all floats are released to pay homage to the gods or to Buddha. If a couple releases a krathong together, this shows their dedication to each other. The release of krathongs is also thought to mark the release of bad luck and omens from the previous year. It�s not unknown, in fact, for students to decorate their krathongs with Es or Fs when they get bad grades to get rid of the bad luck surrounding their failures. Superstition or fact? You decide...

Foam floats or banana boats?

Garbage collectors in the Thewet area sweep debris from Phadung Krungkasem Canal after the Loy Krathong festival in 2003.

As reported in Student Weekly recently, Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin has requested that city dwellers use environmentally friendly krathongs made from natural materials such as banana wood. However, his predecessor, Samak Sundaravej, was a staunch supporter of Styrofoam krathongs. Why such different attitudes?

Last year, Samak said that people should use foam floats because �they do not sink and are easy to collect when the festival is over.� However, this led to a clean-up operation involving 124,650 Styrofoam floats, 35 percent of the total number. Let�s look at how foam floats and natural floats compare.

Foam

- Float at the surface, so easy to collect

- Hard to collect if they break up

- Look unsightly if left uncollected and can harm wildlife

- Non-biodegradable � take 500 years to break down in the environment (source: Thai Environmental Community Development Association)

Natural 

- Can sink, clogging waterways  

-  Hard to collect if they start rotting

- Look more natural than foam if  uncollected

- Biodegradable, but if they sink, the rotting wood and natural material  may lead to �natural� pollution as gases are released into the water 

Discussion

Which type of krathong will you be using this year and why? What could persuade  you to change to the other type?

Vocabulary

gesture (n): something that you do or say to show a particular feeling or intention
cultivation (n): the preparation and use of land for growing plants or crops
decree (v): to decide, judge or order something officially
tide (n): the flow of water that happens as the sea rises and falls
homage (n): something that is said or done to show respect  for somebody
thread (v): to pass something long and thin, especially thread, through a narrow opening or hole
omen (n): a sign of what is going to happen in the future
staunch (adj): strong and loyal in your opinions and attitude
clog (v): to block something or to become blocked
biodegradable (adj): a substance or chemical that is biodegradable can be changed back to a harmless natural state by the action of bacteria and will therefore not damage the environment