Loi Krathong in Chiang Mai

Hi,
I'll be in Chiang Mai from Nov. 27th to Nov. 29th. I've been told that Loi Krathong is on Nov. 28th.

However, I've read that in Chiang Mai, Loi Krathong lasts about three days.
Does anyone know were to find the schedule?

I just wanna be at the right place at the right time. :party

Thanks in advance for any advice.
GayJin

[fedssocr]

Googling around a bit should provide answers for you.

For example I came across this site that has some info. Lots of Thai Visa posts as well. Probably a good source of info.
http://chiangmaibest.com/thai-holidays- ... -yee-peng/ (http://chiangmaibest.com/thai-holidays-festivals/loy-krathong-yee-peng/)

[Khor tose]

Actually it is usually a minimum of three days and this year there may be four days of parades. Here is a post from "Bob" on another forum where the subject was Loi Krathong in another place.

"Every year I get a little confused about when they are doing the night parades. Typically, there are three of them...the opening night parade, the second night parade (the smallest and least interesting), and the big night parade on the third night. I saw a billboard down by the Governor's house the other day that listed Chiangmai's dates for celebration from November 25th to the 29th. Seeing that (the actual Loy Krathong holiday this year is the 28th), I have no clue at the moment exactly night parades will be start or end. But I'm sure I'll be down there for at least the first night and the night of the big parade.

While there are lighted krathongs going up almost everywhere, the vast bulk of them are being released near the river with the Narawat Bridge being the central location. If you haven't seen it before, rather amazing to see thousands of tthe floating lanterns all over the sky. Last year, it was perfectly safe to go onto the bridge as I understand that the cops have put an end to the fireworks war occurring there (in prior years, you'd have a rocket going by your ears and scare the beejeebees out of you).

The big night parade (as well as the smaller ones) goes from Taepae Gate down to Narawat Bridge (or to a point near the bridge) and is a very beautiful event. If you've never seen it before, you ought to go. Beautiful floats all lit up, some beautiful Thai ladies/girls dressed in traditional costumes, and, of course, an abundance of handsome dudes participating in the parades."

Hope this helps

[BonTong]

The main festival of Loy Khratong, or Yee Peng as it's known in Chiang Mai is 27th-29th November, with 28th being the full moon night.

The official program is on the: Chiang Mai Municipality website (http://www.cmcity.go.th/index2008.php) you can download (http://www.cmcity.go.th/upfiles/activity/doc/783.xls) the calendar as an excel spreadsheet but sadly it's in Thai.

The main events are the big parades which usually pass along from the river up Thapae Road and a section of the moat. The main activity is down by Narawat Bridge where people go to float Kratongs on the river. However, it's like a war zone with people throwing fireworks everywhere.

Here's the article about last year's Loy Kratong on our website : http://www.gayinchiangmai.com/News/2011/loy-khratong-2554/ or you can read all the articles about it here: (http://www.gayinchiangmai.com/News/tag/loy-kratong/)

I'm not sure of the date but the mass fire lantern launch which is often shown in pictures of Loy Khratong takes place a few days before hand and the venue is some way outside the city.

Thanks to everyone for your answers.
Of course I googled for Loi Krathong first, but since I did not find any reliable information, I wondered if someone living in Chiang Mai has some better information. :lam:

After googling more and more I found the following page, which is in Japanese, so I needed to translate it:
http://translate.google.co.jp/translate ... 26page%3D4 (http://translate.google.co.jp/translate?sl=ja&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=ja&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thailandtravel.or.jp%2Fdetail%2 Fevent%2F%3Fno%3D736%26tags%3D%26page%3D4)

Or go to http://www.ajisai.sakura.ne.jp/~tabi/rink/06loik-e.htm and click on 'Chiang Mai Yii Peng Festival'.

It seems that on three days (from 27th to 29th) there is kind of a parade starting at the Tha Pae gate at 7:00pm.

Thanks to everyone :wave:
GayJin

[BonTong]

For those who will be here in Chiang Mai for Loi Krathong here is an update which includes a bit more info about event schedules: http://www.gayinchiangmai.com/News/2012/loy-krathong-yeepeng-festival/