Loy Krathong weekend

[bao-bao]

WIshing you all a festive and meaningful Loy Krathong weekend. I wish I could be there to join in the fun again.

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z56/khunbaobao/W-LoyKrathongBangkok.jpg

[DamienZ]

Same to you!
My all time favorite Thai Holiday. Missed it this year as well....but, there's Christmas!
:hello1:
DZ

[cdnmatt]

I'm confused, because you're right, it is Loy Kratong this weekend. So what was that 3 - 4 weeks ago then? Sure seemed like Loy Kratong to me. I was at the temple helping Kim and his friends make the kratongs, went to the festival area with the kids several nights, put the kratongs out on the water, shot the other ones up in the air, there were monks all over the place with tables setup in the public park selling kratongs, Issan concerts every night, etc.

Then they didn't even bother taking the festival area down, because just after that was some week long Chinese festival, with the large dancing dragons running through the streets, and the whole bit. Now it's Loy Kratong again??? So what was that 3 - 4 weeks ago then? Just a practice festival for the real one? Or maybe the nice people of Khon Kaen decided they would like two Loy Kratong festivals this year? Or is it just some 4 week festival, and this weekend is the finale maybe?

I don't know, I'm confused...

[krobbie]

cdmatt,
I think you are referring to the end of the Buddhist Lent (this year October 23) when the monks come out again after a 3 month rain retreat.

Octopber 24:
Thot Kathin is the event of this time where the monks are offered new robes. The ceremonies happen everywhere in Thailand. Thai people choose poor remote Buddhist temples and bring there clothes, food for the monks. "THOT KATHIN" ceremonies last one month.

[Smiles]

" ... I'm confused, because you're right, it is Loy Kratong this weekend. So what was that 3 - 4 weeks ago then? Sure seemed like Loy Kratong to me. ... I don't know, I'm confused... "
Bookmarks.

Loy Kratong is celebrated (only) on the full moon day/night of November, whatever date that may be.
Krobbie may well be correct about B. Lent on the "3 weeks before" ... but whatever it was, it wasn't Loy Kratong.

We hit it lucky this year, getting to join some friends in Surin for the Elephant Festival on Thurs Fri and Saturday and ending it on Sunday for kratong floating on the little lake in Prasart.
On stage (the night before) was a full bevy of 30 Katoy's (ladyboys) dressed tucked and stuffed to the nines up on stage in front of Surin's Governor and assorted Hi So's. Miss Ladyboy Kratong was crowned and the losers sat down in the crowd and cried and screamed and hiked up their gowns and threw off their high heels and got down and dirty dancing the night away.
A very special evening in the boonies.

[Alaan]

but whatever it was, it wasn't Loy Kratong.
Sorry but cdnamtt is perfectly correct. It was indeed Loy Kratong which was celebrated. Think of it much in the same way as Song Kran where there is ONE official day, but sometimes different dates are celebrated around the country for whatever reason.

In my bfs village 70km from Khon Kaen they celebrated their Loy Kratong i think about 2 weeks ago, and it WAS definitely Loy Kratong just as cdnmatt witnessed. I didn't ask or get absolutely detailed info why they had their celebration then other than.....the local offical/village headman? along with monks? decided that whatever day they celebrated was a more ideal day and more specific to Loy Kratong than the 'official' date, which was for whatever reason, deemed not as lucky, based on many things 'coming together' stars/moons/days? on that day rather than the offical date.To be honest i was a bit surprised when he announced they were making their kratongs so early, but as they also celebrated Song Kran rather early i just accepted it, thinking it was only their village.

Yes and they celebrated the official date too and now there is a week long festival with a different 'superstar' appearing every night. Their village is only 2km from the closest main town of Kra Nuan which itself is certainly not a big town, but they still have Carabao appearing on one of the nights.

They also celebrated THEIR song kran 2 days before the official dates through to i think about 17th April as it was deemed to be (again by the powers that be) the correct day for starting the celebration.

But I will try to get an accurate and detailed response as to the reason for the early loy kratong celebration, from bf tomorrow.

[krobbie]

Not to say you are wrong Alaan but having a more auspicious day to celebrate Loy Kratong seems a little weird since it has to do with the moon on a calendar month. I am sure the full moon didn't happen 2 weeks earlier just for the sake of it, in a small village in Thailand.

This from the Thai Buddhist Calendar:

Loi Krathong is a religious event which happens every year on the full moon of the 12th lunar month (first full moon day of November). All Thai people buy or make a "KRATHONG".

I'm only saying, it seems ... um odd.

The end of Buddhist Lent October 23 is all Rama V day and is a National Holiday.

[gra46]

Not to say you are wrong Alaan but having a more auspicious day to celebrate Loy Kratong seems a little weird since it has to do with the moon on a calendar month. I am sure the full moon didn't happen 2 weeks earlier just for the sake of it, in a small village in Thailand.

This from the Thai Buddhist Calendar:

Loi Krathong is a religious event which happens every year on the full moon of the 12th lunar month (first full moon day of November). All Thai people buy or make a "KRATHONG".

I'm only saying, it seems ... um odd.

The end of Buddhist Lent October 23 is all Rama V day and is a National Holiday.

Yes i tottaly agree my BF celebreted it on the 21st November and he is so far north of Thailand .
If you type November 21 Thailand in google this is what it states:

Loi Krathong Festival in Thailand is another amazing attraction in Thailand. You can see the night of full moon. Many people go to the rivers and canals to float Kratongs. You also can see the beatiful firework. When Loi Krathong Festival will be held? This year the event Loi Krathong Festival will be on November, 21 2010.

[Smiles]

" ... Sorry but cdnamtt is perfectly correct. It was indeed Loy Kratong which was celebrated. Think of it much in the same way as Song Kran where there is ONE official day, but sometimes different dates are celebrated around the country for whatever reason ... "
You can be as sorry as you want, but you are absolutely wrong. Loy Kratong is celebrated on the night of the November full moon. The dates of Loy Kratong move because the full moon date moves ... but it always the November full moon, and it is always celebrated on that one evening.
Cndmatt may well have been at a party on some date in November other than the evening of the full moon, but it wasn't Loy Kratong.

You can read about it at these websites (picked out at random ... there are lots more):
http://www.thailand.com/travel/festival ... ratong.htm (http://www.thailand.com/travel/festival/festivals_loykratong.htm)
http://www.swp.in.th/loykrathong.html
http://www.learningthai.com/loy_krathong/

Mr Suphot is pretty adamant on this point, and he should know ... certainly more than myself, or you.

[Bob]

What it was several weeks ago (near the end of October) was Awk Pansa, the celebration of the time that the monks and monkettes exit the temple after their three months of whatever it is they do while cloistered away. There's always a celebration of that event.

Loy Krathong actually happens on the 12th full moon of the traditional Thai lunar year - and that normally happens in the month we call November. This year, that twelth full moon (of the traditional Thai lunar year - not the westerner's calendar year) occurred on November 21st. It theoretically can happen some year on the last day or two of October (depending on the lunar cycles, of course).

Some may have seen the phrase "Yee Peng" up here in Chiangmai and that happens to stand for the second (yee) full moon (peng) of the old Lanna calendar.....which just so happens to coincide with the 12th full moon of the traditional Thai lunar calendar. So we're somewhat celebrating two holidays up here.

[cdnmatt]

What it was several weeks ago (near the end of October) was Awk Pansa, the celebration of the time that the monks and monkettes exit the temple after their three months of whatever it is they do while cloistered away. There's always a celebration of that event.

Ahhh, you're right. Just confirmed with Kim, and Awk Pansa is exactly what it was. I guess Awk Pansa is more important up here in Issan than in the South, or so Kim says. Then yeah, Loy Kratong was just a couple days ago.

There we go, mystery solved! I was just celebrating Awk Pansa, when I thought I was celebrating Loy Kratong. Go figure. :-)