Loy Krathong

For those of you with a romantic interest in someone from Thailand, the chances are that, whether you know it or not, there are few more important dates in the year for you to remember than the full moon night of the twelfth lunar month, because that is the date on which the festival of Loy Krathong falls. If you, like me, are more at home with the Gregorian calendar, the actual date changes from year to year, although it generally falls sometime in November. To further complicate the issue, the celebrations tend to take place on slightly different dates throughout different parts of Thailand, often to best accommodate a local carnival held to celebrate the festival. However, I am reliably informed that this year the vast majority of the country, including Pattaya, is due to celebrate on the 5th of November. So make sure to mark it down in your diary. However, sometimes as is the case with most Thai holidays, you will find the local people celebrating one or two days after the holiday as well.

The importance to those of you with a Thai girlfriend, boyfriend, husband or wife is that it is widely believed that those couples who celebrate the festival and make a wish together will continue to have a strong relationship during the course of the following year. And this is a country where you ignore such beliefs at your peril because a lot of Thais are, to say the absolute least, highly superstitious. Therefore, to take the time to do the necessary will probably mean an awful lot to your other half, while a failure to do so will almost certainly hurt them more than they will let on. If you are overseas or otherwise unavoidably separated on the all important day, at the very least make sure that you call and say that you wish that you could be there with him or her.

You may well be asking what it is that you actually have to do. And the answer is, not a great deal and certainly nothing that costs much in terms of either time or money. In fact, it is widely considered to be one of Thailand's most charming and beautiful festivals and one that tends to be extremely popular amongst those people who have had the chance to experience it. So no down side, so don't worry.

Loy Krathong literally translates to "to float a Krathong", a Krathong being a lotus shaped vessel that can float on water and into which is typically placed food, betel nuts, flowers, joss sticks, candles and coins. On the night in question, the celebration involves a very simple ritual whereby one lights the candles and the joss sticks before making a wish or two and placing the Krathong on a river, canal or other body of water with a current so that it can then float off into the distance. Thais believe that the longer a Krathong floats and the candle sitting inside it burns, the better the chance of the individual's wishes coming true.

The festival is said to date back to the 13th century and to the ancient kingdom of Sukhothai, originating when a young lady named Nang Noppamas, who, dependent upon which version of the legend you believe, was possibly a Queen, wished to make an offering to the water spirits as part of the celebrations to mark the end of the rainy season. So the story goes, she made a beautiful small float in the shape of a lotus flower and, having filled it with candles and incense, offered it to King Ramkhamhaeng. The King happily accepted the delicate gift and, having lit the candles, set it afloat down the river on the night of the full moon.

Even with the passing of hundreds of years, water remains the life-blood of a high proportion of the Thai population, who make their livings from growing rice and other crops for which the water that flows through the rivers and klongs that criss-cross the countryside is essential. So there is just as much reason as there ever was to give thanks for the water that nature provides.

Although the floating of Kratongs is therefore still intended to honour the water spirits, and in particular Mae Khong Kha, the goddess of the waters, over the years Thais have apportioned a variety of other meanings to the ritual. As already mentioned one very important aspect of the festival is simply as a romantic evening for couples somewhat irrespective of any deeper meanings. However, if you are determined to get caught up in the actual significance of what you are doing, you should probably be aware that some Thais believe that a bright future for a couple is only assured if their Krathongs float in the same direction and stay adrift for the same amount of time. Moreover, it is said that students of Chulalongkorn University believe that couples who celebrate the festival together can expect to see the end of their relationship during the course of the following year, although I have no idea why they take such a contrary view. But such things cannot detract from what is on the most basic level a very sweet and charming evening for young couples to enjoy together.

Even though you won't have to worry about doing so yourself, as ready-made Krathongs can be easily bought very cheaply on the all important day, many Thai women expend a great deal of time and effort in making quite beautiful and intricate little receptacles into which to place their offerings. The tiny boat itself will traditionally be cut from the trunk of a banana tree and decorated with a variety of flowers and leaves, including orchids, African marigold and roses. And of course, given the importance of a Krathong remaining afloat for as long as possible, it must be well designed to ensure that it doesn't over-turn as soon as it is hit by even a small ripple in the water. For a while, Krathongs made from non-natural materials such as polystyrene became very common. However, given that Thais believe that another of the evening's raisons d'etre is to seek forgiveness for consuming and abusing the water supplied by nature, it seems rather odd to do so by polluting that very same resource with hundreds of thousands of pieces of non-bio-degradable garbage. I am glad to say that, with the growing awareness of environmental issues, such Krathongs have become far less popular and ones made of natural materials are again becoming much more fashionable. Of course, this is something that you really should bear in mind when buying a ready-made Krathong.

Other commonly held beliefs include that Loy Krathong gives one an opportunity to wash away one's sins from the previous year and that it is a way to honour and remember one's dead ancestors in line with the great respect typically afforded to the dead by Buddhists. When attempting to cleanse themselves of their sins, it is common for those floating Krathongs to place snips of hair and nail cuttings alongside the candles and other offerings to symbolize dead elements that should be set adrift. So if you see your girlfriend giving her nails a quick snip down by the river before letting her Krathong go, for once she may not simply be taking an opportunity for a quick manicure. However, if she has a go at your hair, my bet would be that she's been looking for an excuse to give you a fresh "do” for a while.

As tends to happen with most festivals, an awful lot of people either have no idea or simply don't care what it is all about and are just out to have a good time. And who's to say there is anything wrong with that. Not me, that's for sure. As someone who, for example, happily celebrates Christmas, but does not go to church, nor think too much, if at all, about the birth of Jesus I am quite content to simply enjoy the atmosphere that the time of year brings about. And when you consider that the current perception of Santa Claus was actually an advertising creation of the Coca-cola company in the early 20th century (hence the red and white colours) and the fact that the traditional date on which Christmas is celebrated actually relates back to a Pagan mid-winter festival rather than anything else, it is quite clear that there have always been plenty of people quite happy to do the same. But a festival is a festival is a festival and it means different things to different people. So if you are just out to have a good time for Loy Krathong, then you certainly won't be alone and, moreover, you will have plenty of opportunity to do so. Parties, dinners, fireworks, light shows, folk-dancing, floating lanterns and so on are all common-place. Light and colour are key elements in the celebration.

In Pattaya there is of course no major river to match, say, the Chao Phraya in Bangkok. However, we do have the sea instead. Unfortunately, although it is nevertheless utilized by plenty of people, it is less than ideal, in particular because of the choppy and tidal nature of sea-water that tends to over-turn Krathongs rather easily, while also preventing them from floating too far off into the distance. Therefore, various lakes, ponds, klongs and even hotel swimming pools are utilized for the evening. Beach Road will have a procession displaying Krathongs that will no doubt be accompanied by the usual stalls in Walking Street selling a wide variety of food and drink, while firework displays from the numerous nearby restaurants will light up the night sky, making for a most enjoyable evening. A great place to celebrate the event can be found at The Hill Beach Resort on the beach across from the Asia Hotel in Jomtien. Most hotels will be celebrating the event as well.

One thing that is particularly relevant about this time of year, here in Pattaya, is that along with the end of the rainy season comes the start of the high season. Cooler temperatures, a lack of humidity and dry, sunny days mean that it is a time of year that we should all look forward to. It is a time to get outside, into the countryside and maybe out on to the golf course. Tourist numbers rise again both giving local businesses a welcome boost and the town itself a fresh burst of vibrancy and energy. And if that isn't a reason to celebrate, then I don't know what is.