Loy Krathong is probably the most visually evocative of all Festivals held in the Kingdom of Thailand.

It would take a very mean spirited individual not to be moved by the sight of a November full moon with thousands of candles and incense sticks flickering and burning on floating Krathongs.

The Hindu origins of Loy Krathong date back centuries to the Sukhothai period of Thai history where it commemorated both the ending of the rainy season and the all important rice harvest.

In the ancient kingdom of Sukhothai some 700 years ago in the royal court there was a lady with great artistic skills named Narng Noppamas.

She loved to make little lotus-shaped “Krathong” (pronounced gra-tong) with banana leaves and float them on the water with a candle, incense, and other decorations as homage to the Buddha. Even this legend mentions that the local people already celebrated a lantern

festival by floating decorated lanterns on the river. When the king came to judge the best lanterns, he awarded Narng Noppamart the first prize.

He further decreed that once a year, on the night of the full moon, a Buddhist holiday, people should celebrate by floating lotus-shaped banana leaf boats.

There are several other legends about the origin of Loy Krathong, however, most are all similar in one aspect: they all suggest a leisure-time festival that was adopted into Buddhism a time long after the religion had originated.

Koh Samui’s Loy Krathong festival is on Thursday November 10th and the best place to enjoy this marvelous festival is at Chaweng lake view.