First-time for a Loi Krathong Festival

I never expected that as soon as we touched down at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport we would be witnessing the Loi Krathong, which is the festival of lights. It literally means “to float a basket”. During this day, Thais, and even foreigners, release their krathong, a decorated banana trunk with candle and incense, to the river to send off bad luck.

How ironic because my first trip to Thailand was the Songkran Festival, which we enjoyed all the way up north in Chiang Mai, Udon Thani and Nong Khai, up to Vientiane, Laos.

We were brought to Supattra River House for dinner. But before that, we stopped at a market before we crossed the river and got our respective krathongs. It was a great opportunity to meet my fellow finalists, some of them I had some interaction on Twitter and in the Lonely Planet blogsherpa program.

The sun was still up when we got on our boat to the River House. The restaurant was an old house converted into a dining establishment. We took our places at the upper floor with a terrace that provided a great view of the river. The palace was discernible from afar.

As evening came, our food were placed on the table one by one. And as customary for bloggers, we each took out our respective cameras and let our gadget had its fill, of photos, that is.

In the dark night, with the moon illuminating the sky, well-lit boats with various designs paraded on the river. It was a glorious sight to behold. Incidentally, Loi Krathong is based in the traditional Thai calendar and is celebrated on the evening during the full moon of the 12th month. Also, it coincides with the Yi Peng Festival that is celebrated by the Lanna culture in the northern Thailand. For this festival, sky lanterns are released into the air.

Later on, as we were done with dinner, we got on our boat which led us right in front of Wat Arum. We released our krathongs as we let our blessings float on Chao Phraya River, a symbolic gesture that was solemn and invigorating.

I silently said my own prayer and wished for good things to come. Our adventure was about to begin and great things did come for the rest of the trip.