The traditional reason for celebrating this festival is to thank the Goddess of the Waters, Mae Khong Kha, asking for forgiveness for dirtying and polluting the waters, also asking for plenty of water for crops to produce a bountiful of harvests.
Others use it as a time for some spiritual cleansing, to send away bad luck and start the year afresh. You can read more at the above link on my post from 2007 and also see pictures of some large Kratongs.
Last year we ventured to the riverside and can see pictures here. This year we went to the local university again, we have every year. The university is always busy, usually entertaining to boot.
Each faculty have to raise funds in a competition, there are games and many kratongs to buy. These young Thai students were kratong makers.
It is hard to keep saying, ‘no thank you,’ to the bubbly smiling faces.
There are small stages like such set up here and then with shows to entice people to watch, buy something or make a donation.
This is very popular, dunk a student into some cool water.
A student offering a prayer for some good luck I would say, not being dunked.
Maybe this worked, as the guy next to him was dunked. It wasn’t long before the praying man joined him.
Here people are floating their kratongs on the water of the small lake, a small prayer is offered as the push their kratong away. Each year I get pissed off to see kratong sellers around the lake raiding kratongs that had been released for flowers, candles and also money put onto them. They should be beaten up for this.
Below are pictures of the large Kratongs that the university
This is just a small part of the 2009 Loy Kratong Festival in Isaan Thailand.
Brunty
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