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LOY KRATHONG FESTIVAL
SCHEDULE:
7 November - 9 November, 2003

	Fri 7th - Sun 9th . . Activities Place 9 am–11 pm Demonstration of Yi Peng Decorations . 9 am–10 pm Lanna Rite Lok Mo Lee Temple 10 am–12 pm Cultural Performances, Local Night Market and Walking Street Tha Pae Gate Fri 7th Activities Place 1–4 pm Raft Races, Basin Rowing Ping River 5–9 pm Handmade Krathong Contest Municipality Office 6-7 pm Yee Peng Opening Ceremony Tha Pae Gate 7–12 pm Lantern Parade and Contest Changklan Road 7–12 pm Children’s Beauty Contest Municipality Office 7-12 pm 10,000 Krathongs Release Ping River 8-12 pm Light & Sound Performances Ping Riverfront 8-12 pm Fireworks & Hot Air Balloons Ping Riverfront 8-12 pm Lanna Cultural Performances Municipality Office Sat 8th Activities Place 7–8 am Rites Honouring River Spirits and White Chedi Municipality Office 9–12 am Giant Hot Air Balloon Contest Municipality Office 1-4 pm Raft Races, Basin Rowing Ping RiverLong Diving Contests Ping River 6–12 pm Front Door Decoration of Temples and Houses and Temples Contest Temples and Communities 6–12 pm Small Krathong Procession from Tha Pae Gate to Municipality Office 7-12 pm 10,000 Krathongs Release Ping River 7-12 pm Beauty Queen Contest Tha Pae Gate 8-12 pm Light & Sound Performances Ping Riverfront 8-12 pm Fireworks & Hot Air Balloons Ping Riverfront 8-12 pm Lanna Cultural Performances Municipality Office Sun 9th Activities Place 6–12 pm Giant Krathong Procession Tha Pae Gate to Municipality Office 7–12 am Beauty Queen Contest Tha Pae Gate 7-12 pm 20,000 Krathongs Release Ping River 8–12 pm Light & Sound Performances Ping Riverfront 8–12 pm Fireworks & Hot Air Balloons Ping Riverfront 8–12 pm Lanna Cultural Performances Municipality Office

According to the legends, this festival was actually called Loy Kamod. Now, kamod is a kind of ghost that seeks its food in the middle of the night, a bit like the phi krasue of Central Thailand. The connection here is that when we launch our krathongs, the lights in them look like the kamod ghost out hunting.

This festival takes place on the full moon night of second month of the lunar calendar - duen yee in the local dialect. This works out to be round the middle of November most years, international style. And since a full moon night in the North is called peng, Lanna knows this festival as yee peng. The religious-cultural origins of the festival are Buddhist and Hindu, so the beliefs associated with Loy Krathong are these and the original beliefs of the area, predating the last two.

This means that the first thing we do at Loy Krathong is pay respect to Phra Buddhabhat, the Buddha footprint located on the bed of the Namma Nathee River (location unknown).

The second activity comes from the beliefs of the Mon people of Haripunchai, present day Lamphun. The Mons are among the earlier people known to inhabit Southeast Asia, and are scattered through many parts of the region. Those of Lamphun recognise their relationship with the people in Hongsawadee, Burma, and believed that they could send presents down river to them. Maybe the geography has changed a little since those days.

The third belief is that by floating krathongs, we get rid of the past year’s bad karma. Note that it’s good to make sure your vessel actually floats away, neither coming back nor turning over.

The fourth strand of beliefs concerns the Hindu god Narai, who lives on the bosom of the Ocean of Milk, kasien samuth, the floating of the krathong symbolising the paying of respect to him.

The final reason for the ritual is to pay respects to Phra Maha Uppakut, a rather remarkable monk who lives and meditates in the middle of whatever large body of water is nearby - in our case the Ping River. We shouldn’t ignore the fact either, that he is related obscurely to the foundation spirit of the region, Phya Nak, the Great Serpent who provides all kinds of boons when he thinks he’s being really respected, but can turn very nasty indeed when neglected or insulted.

So much for the krathong floating, but there are other aspects to the festival. Look around town and you’ll see houses and other buildings elaborately decorated with banana leaves and nipa palm. I can remember when I was young my father would cut banana trees to make an archway in front of our house called the pratu ba (forest gate), while other relatives decorated our house with the lanterns and pratheep, candles in small earthen cups, placed around the house and along the walls of the garden. These would be lit at night, and in combination with those of our neighbours, turned our village into a kind of fairyland for us children - and perhaps for the adults too. You’ll see the same things around the suburbs and temples of Chiang Mai city right at the present day. These forest gate decorations are connected with the celebration of one of Chiang Mai’s most important festivals, the Mahachat, or Great Life - the penultimate life of the Buddha, which is performed as a recitation by the monks in many temples, one of them Wat Lok Molee, on the Maneenorparat Road. The two festivals occur at nearly the same time, so they kind of overlap happily. And the last characteristic of the festival is the floating of giant balloons, with firecrackers hanging from them banging and spluttering away as they rise into the night sky. Quite a pretty sight, all told.

Oh, but wait a minute. I’m forgetting one of the most important parts of the festival, the parade of the floats through the city and down to their launching place on the river. These floats are constructed at schools, government buildings and businesses. You can see them on the roads outside waiting to join the procession the two most important days of the festival, (Sat. 8th and Sun. 9th this year). They really are fantastically beautiful, and enormous amounts of effort, time and money go into their construction. I have to say that I’m not being chauvinist in claiming that there’s not another city in the world that puts on a show as good as this. (Rio, eat your heart out). No seriously, when they’re being drawn through the town in the evening, beautifully lit and with a stunning Nang Noppamat in the seat of honour, smiling and waving - if you don’t lose your heart to one or more of the Miss Noppamats and Chiang Mai itself, then you just don’t have a heart.

It’s only fair to warn you though, that the festival has some less attractive aspects. I’ve mentioned the firecrackers hanging and banging away from the balloons as they ascend into the night sky. Unfortunately, kids and some older gentry who ought to know better, think it might be fun to toss firecrackers in the direction of or at other people. This year I hope the police and authorities in general are going to be strict about this, arresting anyone endangering other people this way. Yee Peng is a very special festival, and used to be noted for its quietness and beauty. Let’s hope that fire-cracker throwing, drunkenness and drunk-driving are going to be less in evidence. Actually, in the last couple of years, some Chiang Mai groups have been getting together to help conserve the old traditions. Good luck to them, I say.

Last year, I went to Thapae Gate with my friends to wait for the big krathong procession and take photos. There was a lovely candlelit market in traditional Lanna style there, with local food in banana leaf cups and other local products on sale. There were also demonstrations of kom pad-making, old style Northern lanterns, nam ton, earthen jugs and pan fai, cotton spinning (my grandma still does this to make her own cotton thread to tie on to her children’s wrists to bring them luck and protection on special occasions). Also last year there was a stage for Thai boxing near the market. This type of boxing is still popular in Thailand, particularly among gamblers. But it’s also a good basis for fighters who want to change to and succeed in Western style boxing, as many winners of World Championships, beginning with Pone Kingpetch in the early 1960s have proved. And next to the boxing ring, guess what! No, not a First Aid station, but a stage for the Beauty Contest. This is one of the important features of any Thai festival, and the winner will be the Chiang Mai Nang Noppamat. (Nang Noppamat, I should add, is the lady who’s credited with having started the festival in the reign of King Ruang of Sukhothai, way back when). You can well imagine - and you’ll be right! - that pretty well everywhere downtown on the two big days is going to be crowded. But the crowds round Pratu Tha Pae are especially thick. And a word of warning. Usually there’s no serious trouble on these occasions, but you can be sure that where there’re a lot of people, there’ll be pickpockets. My advice: leave your valuables under lock and key. Carry only essentials.

Chiang Mai Municipality also puts on activities, lots of them. See the schedule for that, but usually the firework display over the Ping River is especially spectacular.

And another bit of advice. If it’s the less crowded and quieter situations you’re hankering for, try going to the temples. Last year after launching my krathong, I went to Chedi Luang Temple on Phrapokklao Road to pray and light candles. There was a very special atmosphere. The candlelit circumambulation of the big reliquary (Chedi) - wiengtien - under the full moon and cooled by the breeze will give you a really peaceful and happy feeling.

This is a special time in Thailand. Many provinces hold their own special activities, such as krathong sai, krathong chain in Tak, and a very superior firework display in Sukhothai. But excuse me if as a local girl I claim that nobody does it better than Chiang Mai.

So have fun everyone, and sawadee yee peng.

Mim Saisin