The Thais have a in ground affinity with water, which is easy to understand during the hot summer months! They show this infinity several times a year with festivals such as Son Kran and Loy Gratong which are ways for them to show respect to the life giving water.
Loy Gratong happens on the night of full-moon in November (12 Thai lunar month) and is a beautiful event which see the Thai people going out on mass in the evening to float (loy means float in Thai) the kratongs in any and every source of water that they can find. Whether it’s the local canal, lake of sea, the Thais will go with friends and loved ones to share in the experience.
Kratongs are small floating offerings to the spirits, which are traditionally made from banana leaves, flowers and contain incense, candles and money as an offering. A Kratong can be shared between friends or lovers, and the Thais usually make a small prayer and wish before lighting the candles and incense and casting the katong out into the water.
Kratongs can be bought everywhere during the festival, with many Thais setting up stalls to sell their home made kratongs that can vastly vary in price, depending on the complexity and the contents of the floats.
Because this happens at night, the scenes can become quite spectacular with the sea, lakes and rivers filled with the glowing floats, and with the relaxed social gathering of people, the ambience can be quite special.
It is also a very romantic event, with couples sharing kratongs. This also marks the time for increased pregnancies as young people get carried away with the event, and with vulnerable young ladies wishing for love as they cast out they’re kratongs!
As with many things in Thailand, there are several bad sides to the precedings. The kratongs were traditionally made from organic materials like leaves and flowers, so they would not cause permanent damage to the water they were paying respect to, but in recent years, plastics and polystyrene have been used to construct the kratongs, which means that the event can become a minor environmental disaster if the water is not cleaned in the days following the festival!
It is also common to see some Thais who are not into the spirit of the event wading into the water to steal the money offerings from the kratongs. This can sometimes become competitive and violent, spoiling the ambience, beside the fact that many Thais who place their wishes on the kratongs will shortly see their kratong pilfered and cast aside by greedy hands! It is hard to cast complete judgment on this practice though, as many of the Thais have very little money, but it is equivalent to people stealing money from wishing wells in the west! But hey, This Is Thailand!
If you’ve seen all the beaches, and feel like a change, Phuket has several waterfalls...
Phuket has seen a similar explosion in the number of Muay Thai gyms setup primarily...
