Loy Kratong

This year the festival, a time to say Thank You to the Goddess of Water, the giver of life to a nation so dependent on the harvesting of rice, will be celebrated on 17th November. All over the Kingdom millions of krathongs, boats made out of banana leaves, varying in style from the simple to the ornate will be floated on water.

Krathong means a folded banana leaf vessel and Loi means to float, so the simplistic translation of the name is to float your krathong.

Any water will do, some family if not close to flowing water may opt to float them in the household fishpond or even a plastic paddling pool. The swimming pool of most hotels becomes for the night, the place to float them. The hotel staff having to work through the night to ensure that it’s back to its pristine condition by morning for guest to take their early morning dip. But ideally the water should be flowing, so that the troubles loaded onto the krathong can be taken away.

Thais have set offerings adrift on streams for centuries in thanks to the Hindu goddess of water, Mae Khongkha, for providing life-sustaining water throughout the year and in asking forgiveness for polluting the water. There is little wonder that Loi Krathong has grown so big during the industrialization of the country. Roads are jammed for hours in the direction of any waterway. Despite urbanization they are still in touch with their urban roots.

Some may choose to personalize their krathong with a lock of hair and a nail clipping to purge their body of bad luck. Knowing that each krathong may well be carrying a few baht coins, young boys will often dive into the water to retrieve the change – in a sense a form of wealth redistribution.

Too often these days for convenience sake Styrofoam has replaced the slice of bamboo tree to form the base of the Krathong. But for those who would like to make their own krathong it is relatively simple. Go to a daytime market and buy a slab of yuak gluay (banana tree), sheafs of tang maprao (coconut leaves) and bai tong (banana leaf) and some flowers to decorate such as bua (lotus buds) dao reuang (yellow chrysanthemum), dok kulab (rose) and the purple baan mai rue roy (globe amarantus).

Watch how others fold the leaves; if you don’t have a Thai friend on hand, I am sure that the vendor will be more than willing to demonstrate the technique. Remember to keep pinning your weaving with bamboo pins so that the repeatedly curled-out braids don’t spring undone. Where the curved leaves form a point, why no insert the tiny white, necked bud dok phud to emphasis that authentic jeeb krathong (leaf twisting) look.

A lot of work and care goes into the moment that is soon over. Too often after the krathong is released the candle goes out and the vessel sinks. If it does happen, just smile, after all you have performed the act of showing respect and its not meant to last forever.