Since we first arrived a few weeks ago, signs of Loy Krathong and Yi Ping were evident. The odd bang of fireworks could be heard and a lost looking lantern or two, seen in the evening skies.
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| The old city moat...yes, that's a big pink rabbit. |
Last night the fireworks increased to an almost celebratory level, a few more lanterns appeared in the sky and decorative street lights were turned on around the city.
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| Tha Pae Gate |
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| Hundreds of lanterns held captive |
The evening wouldn't be complete without sitting on a giant panda...also a lantern!
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| Don't even think about doing the bunny ears Mr Panda |
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...and I'm sure not everyone will quite make it home. This morning - it's 9.30 am right now and the fire crackers are already getting a run for their money.
""Loi" means "to float" and a "Krathong" is a raft, about a hand span in diameter, traditionally made from a section of banana tree trunk...AND Loi Krathong coincides with the Lanna (northern Thai) festival known as "Yi Peng" (Thai: ยี่เป็ง). Due to a difference between the old Lanna calendar and the Thai calendar, Yi Peng is held on a full moon of the 2nd month of the Lanna calendar ("Yi" meaning "2nd" and "Peng" meaning "month" in the Lanna language). A multitude of Lanna-style sky lanterns (khom loi (Thai: โคมลอย), literally: "floating lanterns") are launched into the air" ...thank you Wiki.
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5 comments:
Great Stuff, although the bangers are driving my dog crazy. There is a beautiful English version of the Loy Kratong song available on one of the other Thai blog sites http://monrakplengthai.blogspot.com/2010/11/loy-krathong.html
Paul, I've been wondering about the poor dogs...and babies/small children. We know of a couple here with a baby, who have moved further out of town until it all blows over. I have new earplugs.
I couldn't get the song to play directly on the blog site, so I clicked the link to download it...but don't know what an .rar file is...or if I can play one :(...or is it a compressed file? So many questions, sorry!
Hi Snap, a .rar file is a compessed and you need a tool to open it. I use IZArc. I'm surprised it won't play on the website - it did for me earlier.
Happy Loy Krathong! (I miss it)
@ Paul...finally downloaded and unzipped. Very groovy, I must say. If I had to choose, I'd pick Chanthana's version!
@ Philip, thanks for the well wishes and for dropping by. This is my first Loy Krathong and I'm really looking forward to seeing tonight's festivities. (I didn't realise you'd spent time in Thailand)
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