Thailand Travel on ReviewTrip.com

The blood on the pavement has barely had a chance to dry and the Thai’s are celebrating again.

October (the ninth lunar month on the Chinese calender) saw the annual Vegetarian Festival and its madness pay homage to the nine Emperor gods with abstinence and volunteered mutilation. November (the 12^th month of the traditional Thai calender) has just seen the Thai culture evince serenity and gratitude to the goddess of water, during the Loy Krathong Festival and December – although not spiritual, is still HUGE reason to celebrate. It’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s birthday.

Every year since it’s inauguration 22 years ago – to celebrate the King’s 60^th birthday – Phuket (and more specifically Kata Beach) hosts the annual King’s Cup Regatta – which is THE most prestigious regatta event in Asia. The celebrations begin the week before his birthday and continue through until his actual birthday, on December 5.

Then there are the full moon parties.

And the half moon parties.

And the two quarter moon parties.

And the black moon parties.

Basically – whether you see the moon, or not – Koh Phangan is religiously delivering salutation and praise to ’she who sheds her light at night’.

And seeing as though the 12^th month of the traditional Thai calender has just rolled through town – I suspect a traditional Thai new year gracing us with it’s presence rather soon.

It seems every month there is an excuse to celebrate something – and why not – life SHOULD be a celebration.

November’s flavour – the Loy Krathong Festival – is a celebration I’ve been looking forward to since I arrived in Thailand. And I’m super stoked I got to experience it because I almost missed it. I didn’t have a clue what the festivals name was. All I knew was that there is a point in the year when the Thai people send all these lanterns off into the sky. And that I REALLY wanted to be there when the time came.

I didn’t even know it was happening until the night of November 2, when my partner in crime, Russell (he’s been upgraded from activity partner) hollered at me on Skype and asked whether I was going to Patong for Loy Krathong or not.

SAY WHAT?

One of the Thai teachers at school invited me to go with her on Monday night and I couldn’t make head or tail of what she was saying – I just assumed it was the language barrier – but – after learning it’s name it dawned on me that she – as clear as day, had invited me to accompany her to Loy Krathong. And I had shot her down. IDIOT! This is how you lose friends and alienate people….

Regardless…. I hopped on the scooter with Russell and we headed in the direction of Patong Beach. As we got closer, the tiny orange glints we noticed grew, and eventually – when we got to the beach, hundreds – even thousands, of lanterns were floating through the air gracefully as they were swept along by the warm sea breeze. It was divine, to say the least. It’s beauty touched my soul. There were families kneeling and praying with banana leaves filled with flowers and incense arrangements, giving thanks for their blessings before sending the banana leaf gifts off on the water surface to Phra Mae Khongkha – the water goddess, to honor and thank her.

It is believed that Loy (meaning float) Krathong (a hand sized raft made from intricately folded banana leaves) is a custom that derived from the Indian tradition of Deepavali to thank the river goddess for giving life throughout the year. Thai buddhists take the opportunity to honour the original Buddha, Siddhartha Guatama.

Apart from lavishing Buddha with light, the floating flames are symbolic of letting go of grudges and anger and starting over. Those taking part in the festival have also been known to cut their hair and nails and add the clippings to the floating arrangements to signify that they are letting go of bad parts of themselves. They also believe it creates good luck.

The khom fai (floating sky lanterns) are believed to represent jellyfish floating in flocks, gracefully through the skies to help rid the locals of their troubles and strife.

Also included in the festivities and traditions are fireworks displays, live bands and beauty pageants. It’s a must see for those in Thailand at this time of year as it’s a custom celebrated throughout the country, and if for no other reason – to set your own troubles free and watch them drift away into the tranquil abyss.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 at 1:45 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.