It’s Loi Kratong in Thailand again. Loi Kratong is the Thai festival in November where the people of Thailand celebrate the full moon and get rid of all their sins by floating them away. They do this by either floating kratongs, which are sort of like flower arrangements that float on the river, or by lighting kum fais, or lanterns and letting them go into the sky.
The fireworks have been exploding constantly for days. I try to concentrate and focus my mind on my homework but it is impossible to do with all the terrible karaoke music that is blaring throughout the entire village. People are chatting and having parties across the street. It is slightly smoky outside because of the cigarettes and firecrackers. I go out and join in the festivities. Some brown mush that is apparently food gets set on the table, and though I have no idea what it is I eat it anyway. It’s amazing! Most of the things I eat here in the village neither my parents nor I know what’s in it but most of the time it tastes great. Almost anything Thai’s make is, “aroy maak”, or very tasty.
I look up at the sky and at first glance I see a full moon surrounded by thousands of stars, but then I realize they are not stars but lanterns. There are a few real stars out but it is hard to tell the stars and lanterns apart because they look very similar, but I know that the lanterns are a more orange or red colour, and stars are generally white. Sometimes you see lines of twenty or more lanterns all being let off from the same point. It’s like that scene from the movie Tangled when all the lanterns are being let off for the princess, only much better because it’s in real life.
The lanterns are made from a very thin paper. They have a wax ring underneath where you light it. When you light it you have to hold the lantern close to the ground so the paper can fill up with hot air like a balloon and float away. Squatting on the ground while holding a flaming thing gets hot after a few minutes, but it’s worth it when you let it go. Sometimes we attach firecrackers to the end so that when it is in the sky they will go off and be even better.
We let off some fireworks and lanterns of our own which is insanely fun. We take hundreds of photos hoping that a few will turn out nice.
After the fireworks and lanterns we go down to the canal just outside the village and see beautiful kratongs drifting down the river. Each kratong has a candle, flowers, a few sticks of incense, and sometimes even some coins inside. Then we go back home and it’s time to sleep because we have school the next day.
Lying in bed I hear the BOOM of firecrackers and I feel the base from the party music shaking the floor. Everyone is having a great time and making the most of it knowing that tomorrow it will be over.
The next day you can see all of the lanterns that have gone out and fallen to the ground. They are everywhere. They’re in the trees, on the road, and on roofs of houses. Nobody cleans them up though because the Thai people don’t seem very concerned about littering and pollution.
Loi Kratong is a fantastic part of the Thai year. It is loads of fun being able to participate in a special holiday event that my home country has probably never even heard of. The food is delicious, the fireworks are colourful, the music is loud. The whole thing is just crazy, but fun.