Loy Kratong

Loy Kratong is a Thai celebration that takes place in November each year. Before we left for the beautiful mountains of Mae Hong Son, we were able to partake in some of the festivities.

The festival is meant to honor the spirits of the river, Mae Ping, which is the central river running through Chiang Mai. As few as ten year ago the river was a hot spot of activity for city residents to bath, wash clothes and transport goods. To thank the river spirits and apologize for all of the pollution caused by humans, small floats, made out of banana tree cores and decorated with banana leaves, flowers, incense and candles, are put into the river as an offering. Our Thai Ajaans helped us make floats at school and explained the traditions.

In addition to releasing a float on the river, many people release lit lanterns into the sky. On the first night of Loy Kratong I stood on the roof top of our apartment complex and watched thousands of lanterns float above the city. It was gorgeous. I released a lantern with some of my Thai friends. We wrote our wishes on the lantern before we set it up. They said that if the lantern caught on fire, or didn't take off properly, you'd have bad luck and your wish wouldn't come true.

After setting off our lanterns, we went down to the riverside to put our floats in the river. It was absolute chaos. Fireworks were going off everywhere--big and small. Some large ones went off so close to the ground it was terrifying. I bought some small fire crackers with my friends. As the whole city going nuts with fireworks, my friend Adam said, "it's like every 10 year old boy's dream come true." At one point, something exploded in the middle of the river. I shrieked. With whizzing fire crackers and explosions everywhere it felt like I was in the middle of a war zone.

It was exhilarating. From one moment to the next I never felt the same--brimming with glee and fearful for my life.