"Did you Loy your Krathong?"

20 Nov 2002

Did you “Loy your Krathong?” was frequently heard yesterday.

Thai-glish for “did you put your flower float on the river?” Ok, that doesn’t sound much better....

Held on the full moon of the 12th Lunar month, 19 November this year, Loy Krathong is celebrated all over the country. The ‘history,’ of course, varies depending on where and from whom you learn it.

I. The Burmese variation (Thailand and Burma have had a long and acrimonious history):

The Thais re-took their capitol, Ayutthaya, from the Burmese. Thai King Rama something or other captured a Burmese princess and made her his wife. The princess, tho living in the palace, wasn’t free. In her hours of boredom she dreamed of home and made little boats of flowers (called napaMA). The she put them on the river in her “yearning’ for home. So when you float the krathong, you yearn for home.

The Thai person I mentioned it to never heard of this version....

II. The general Thai story:
You put your Krathong on the river to wash away the sins of the past year, and bring good karma for the coming year. Put coins on the floats for good luck and your wishes* come true.

The reality: The kids standing along the river use sticks to pull the floats in and collect all the money, so it’s good luck for someone.

Last year Loy Krathong was the day I arrived, jet-lagged, I chose bed instead of floating my krathong. Maybe that explains the karma I had last year???? Made sure to float one this year, now I’m sure to have good karma for the next 12 months.

*I wished to stop being bitten by mosquitoes all day, but given that I've already gotten about 25 bites and it's not yet noon, I think THAT wish isn't coming true. Maybe I should have put out 10 Bhat instead of 5 bhat (~12 cents)?

III. The popular story: It’s an evening for lovers: Couples place their krathongs on the river together. If they float away together, then the couple will have a long and happy life together. If the krathongs drift apart, the couple is doomed.

*Alas, my krathong had to float on its own, so it just crashed into all the coupled krathongs.....


Somewhere I have pictures, but can't find them. So I'll leave with a semi-official story of Loy Krathong