By Linda
Khoo
BANGKOK: As the sun
goes down, Jatarat Promwaeng, 35, and her six-year-old son Thitipong Promwiang
join villagers to float the krathong at a nearby river at Somdet District in
Kalasin Province in northeast of Thailand.
It was the first time for Thitipong to celebrate Loy Krathong, a centuries-old Siamese festival to pay respects to the goddess of water.
But it was an environment-friendly start for the young Thitipong.
Armed with a krathong made from banana trunk, banana leaves and vegetables, the mother and son knelt down and prayed for forgiveness, before releasing their colourful krathong.
They hoped the krathong would bring good fortune to the family.
Jatarat and Thitipong were among thousands of locals and tourists who flocked to rivers and lakes in the kingdom to release krathong — a lotus-shaped raft decorated with flowers, a candle and incense — in conjunction with the Loy Krathong Festival.
The candle carries with it a prayer or wish. The locals believe the waters will carry away their misfortunes.
Known as Festival of Lights, the Loy Krathong Festival is an auspicious occasion celebrated on the full moon of the 12th lunar month of Thai calendar (usually in November). This year it fell on Nov 11.
It is one of the most beautiful festivals in Thailand when thousands of krathong float on waterways to light up the night on the special day.
In Bangkok, thousands of locals and tourists thronged Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River, canals and lakes in parks in the capital to celebrate Loy Krathong. Many were clad in traditional Thai costume to release their krathong.
In the past, krathong were made solely from Styrofoam. Heeding the call for eco-friendly krathong, some vendors have switched to banana trunks and leaves, bread, ice cream cones, dried corn husks as well as fish food.
Besides the conventional lotus leaf-shaped krathong, peacock- or Barbie-shaped krathong also can be found.
This year, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) collected 502,024 of the traditional floats from Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River, canals, lakes and parks in the city.
The number has dropped more than 40 per cent compared to last year where BMA workers and volunteers collected more than 841,000 krathong.
However, this year 96.3 per cent or 483,264 of the krathong were made from natural materials. A total of 18,760 krathong were made of Styrofoam.
“Most of the collected floats were made of biodegradable material. The use of Styrofoam has reduced from 5.3 per cent last year to 3.7 per cent this year,” said Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang.
However, environmentalists have raised concerns that the age-old tradition is contributing to water pollution and causing waterways to be clogged with krathong.
Some have suggested that the practice of releasing krathong be discontinued to protect the environment and prevent water pollution.
A Facebook page, Little Princess of Andaman, encourages people not to use krathong to pay respects to the goddess of water while some netizens suggest that people release ‘virtual krathong’ to reduce waste and pollution.
However, many locals said the tradition should continue.
“We must preserve the Loy Krathong tradition and at the same time we must reduce water pollution and waste.
“Biodegradable krathong and one family, one krathong will reduce the water pollution,” Jatarat told Bernama.
For sure, the debate over preservation of tradition and environmental conservation will remain a heated topic. – Bernama
