Loy Kratong 2009

Loy Kratong comes along each November on the night of the full moon. The Thais make kratongs out of bread or sugar cane, and decorate them with flowers, incense, candles, and banana leaves. They then light the candles and incense and float the kratongs out on rivers and lakes. The idea behind it is that you are releasing all of the bad things of the prior year and starting out fresh. It also is a festival to worship the water goddess (don’t know who she is!) Here in Nichada, the kids make kratongs at school, then in the evening there is a big party at the pool/clubhouse. The kids can dress in traditional Thai clothes and enter a contest for best costume, there are traditional Thai dancers and music, everyone releases their kratongs out onto the lake, there are games and food, and there is a great fireworks display right over the lake in our community. Lots of fun! (Oh, and the gooey looking picture of blue stuff….that’s what happens when you don’t eat cotton candy fast enough in the humid weather here! Eww!)