Loy Krathong Festival

Each year, during the 12th lunar month when the full moon lights up the sky, the people of Thailand celebrate the end of the rainy season with the festival called Loy Krathong. The people release thousands of lanterns into the night sky or float boats on the water with an offering to the gods to ward off bad luck. This practice first began as a temple ritual to worship Buddha and the goddess of the river to give thanks for a good farming season and to beg forgiveness for polluting the water. The words Loy Krathong mean to float a circular boat typically made of banana leaves. The boats, known as krathongs, are believed to bring good luck if the light stays lit until it is out of sight and are a way of floating away your dark side. The lanterns represent the same concept and are often used as a means for people to celebrate the festival when they do not live by a source of water. The festival is believed to have begun in the city of Sukhothai in the south of Thailand more than one thousand years ago. Since its

The festival here lasts for three days unlike most of the country who celebrate the festival for one to two days. Similar to Sukhothai, some of the activities may even spread out over five to six days. During the festival, the local people usually decorate their houses, gardens, and temples with intricately shaped paper lanterns. Their festival consists of things such as craft fairs, beauty contests, lantern contests, krathong decorating contests, traditional dancing and music, and fireworks.
Due to the increase in numbers attending the festivals including the large number of tourists, Thailand has had to create restrictions for the festival of Loy Krathong. While the traditional krathongs have no environmental impact other than scattered leaves and blooms, the use of styrofoam in the arrangements which is not biodegradable has created problems in