
Making the basket for the Loy Krathong Festival
Like seemingly all the Thai festivals, Loy Kratong has a strong link to water: the main event being, as night falls, the setting adrift (loy) of flower-filled baskets (kratong) along waterways up and down the kingdom. This gesture gives thanks to the river spirits for providing them with fresh water all year. It’s also an occasion to symbolically send away all the bad things of the past year and pray for luck – and continuing water – for the coming dry months.

A girl selling Loy Krathong baskets
If you would like to see this traditional ceremony, or join in and float your own basket, head to the river bank in Krabi Town – there will be baskets for sale all along the roadside. If possible, check and choose a base made from a slice of biodegradable banana shoot or bread, rather than the increasingly common styrofoam, which will pollute the water.
Afterwards, you can head to the big Loy Krathong market, up on the hill next to City Hall for street food and bargain hunting.

Fire balloons are now common at Loy Kratong
Then some entrepreneurial types convinced them that it would have exactly the same mystical effect – with no bad karma – to light a fire balloon and watch it sail up into the sky. Now the balloons are being sold at 100 baht a pop and have all but replaced the traditional basket. [Update 2018: due to a series of fires and accidents, these fire balloons are now banned in Ao Nang].

Dancer on the stage at the Ao Nang celebrations
(The beach road will be completely closed to traffic from 5pm until midnight, so locals please note and move your car in time. Parking is expected to be difficult, so bring a motorbike, or be prepared to walk.)

A previous winner of ‘Nang Noppamas’ collects her prize
The beach road without traffic is very pleasant and it will be a nice evening to take a walk: do however be careful of young boys with fireworks who seemingly fire at random and at close range, as well as the odd fire balloon that drifts inland and sets fire to coconut trees or – as happened two years ago – to the wiring near the stage!