The Loi Krathong Festival

During the last four or five days have been the biggest festival of the year in Tak. It is called the Loi Krathong Festival. It is like the mid-state fair Thai style. All kinds of amazing food with Thai dancing and other events. There festival is all about thanking, praising and asking for forgiveness from the river for any harm that may have been done to it during the past year. Twelve local communities compete (not sure how they decide which ones get to compete) for a prize of 1.5 million baht for the best show. Three communities release a thousand candles made out of coconut shells into the river with music and dancing. This is all happening on this giant floating stage in the river. Really beautiful. Also, individuals buy these candles, which are called Loi Krathong or maybe just Krathongs and release them into the water. This is a way for individuals to thank the river as well as letting go of a past sin or something that have been bothering them. So the river is filled with these candles and the sky has hundreds of paper lanterns. You can buy these white paper lanterns that will float like a hot air balloon. I love the lanterns. The lanterns symbolize the same thing as the candles. Internet is not very reliable so I will put pictures up when I can.