Sunday night there was a Thai festival called Loy Krathong, an annual celebration that takes place on many bodies of water here in Thailand. The festival is all about ridding yourself of negativity and bringing in good luck and happiness. We went to a lake first and then walked to the ocean where the celebration was continuing.
About 12 of us were driven to the festival in the back of a pickup truck. Only in Thailand.
People everywhere were lighting Khom Fai lanterns, which have a small hot wax ring at the base. When the ring catches fire, the lantern slowly fills with hot air until you can release it into the air, casting away with it all of your bad luck and bad feelings.
Eventually, the sky was lit up with lanterns over the ocean. It was pretty amazing to see all of the Thai people coming together and feeling so joyful...we really have nothing comparable in America.
One of our Thai friends explained to me that you must light the candles and incense, forgive the river that you are about to drop it into, and finally make a wish before dropping your krathong into the water. It was pretty windy and my candle kept blowing out so I had to forgive the river many times and make several wishes...
It was getting quite windy by the end of the night, and then began to rain, making it pretty difficult for people to send off their lanterns. And a few trees and tents were almost burned down...hopefully no one was hurt. But all in all, a really uplifting event, and it just made me thankful to be healthy and happy in this moment.
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