Respect Your River

So here's the scoop on Loy Krathong (pronounced "Loy Kra-tong") :

Thailand has 2 big Buddhist festivals a year-- Loy Krathong and Songkran. Songkran is the city-wide water fight for a few days in the Spring. Details on that one to come in a few months. :)

--Side Note: Buddhist/Buddhism must be the most difficult word to spell in the English language. I live in a 99% Buddhist country and still have to google how to spell it every time.

But anyways...

Loy = "float" and a krathong is one of these...

It is basically a little raft traditionally made of banana leaves and decorated with flowers and incense. In recent years, some of the more environmentally-conscious people have switched to using styrofoam krathongs, though. The people I was with purchased krathongs made from bread so the fish could eat them.

The symbolism in this act is to let go of your anger, grudges, etc. and start over. Some will even cut their finger nails and hair and put it on the raft as well for a heavier, more real symbolism. (thanks to wiki for that bit...)

But from my talking to the locals, most just believe it brings good luck and shows respect to the river/river spirit. So of course I had to ask, "So... you show respect to the river once a year by filling it full of styrofoam, fireworks, and trash?" Sorry, I don't mean to be disrespectful to someone's culture, but the irony was unescapable.








Local businesses and government agencies build large 'krathong's that are shown and judged in a river parade... kinda like New Year's Floats... but literal.

The floats are not really the noticable event of Loy Krathong. For 3 days (up till the full moon) people light and release these 'fire balloons' or 'fire lanterns' into the air. Thousands upon thousands are released every hour. It's really quite beautiful. Here's a few shots of Chiang Mai with a sky full of these hand-made hot air balloons...

Note: This night was pretty cloudy, so all lights in the sky are these lanterns... not stars...

Some people even put fireworks on the lanterns-- extra propulsion? nah... just extra fire hazard.

Yea, we have Starbucks... like 5 of 'em actually.

Did I mention the stupid fireworks? So once a year in the city fireworks are legal. And these guys go crazy... throwing firecrackers on the roads and sidewalks. It's quite frightening really. Every year there's several injuries from misuse of fireworks. Make for cool pictures, though...

Nawarat Bridge... the biggest bridge over the river where everybody likes to congregate, light fireworks, etc. Madness.

Here's a little video that puts you right in the middle of it all...

As for News of Nathan, I'm headed to Bali (Indonesia) Wednesday morning for a few days of R&R. It's a tough life, but somebody's gotta do it. I can't believe I just ended this blog in such a cliche.

:)

~Nathan