Loy Krathong Festival
If your lucky enough to be on holiday in Thailand between November 8th-12th 2008, you should make sure your hotel is somewhere near a river or beach or at least some body of water for this is the time of Thailand’s most beautiful festival, Loy Krathong. Almost every river, canal, beach front and night-sky will all be glowing with the water offerings and paper lanterns released during these few days, but the main event will occur on the 12th.
Loy Krathong began in the northern province of Sukhothai during the reign of Thai King Rama IV in 1863, and is now one of the most popular Thai celebrations and is celebrated throughout Thailand every year. The raft is decorated with elaborately folded banana leaves (a Krathong-small raft made of banana tree leaves), flowers, candles, and incense sticks. The incense and candles are lit and the Kratong is pushed out onto the water in a symbolic act of letting go of one’s bad luck. The term Loi, or Loy, means “float” and this is what is happening to your bad luck, it floats away.
Each province in Thailand celebrates their own versions of Loy Krathong and the Government offices hold big events to celebrate the full moon buring this time. Chiang Mai’s skyline lights up as the capital of the north celebrates with Yi Peng Lantern balloons released. These lanterns float into the night’s sky fuelled by only a small candle inside. Ayutthaya, just north of Bangkok, holds Krathong contests and puts on a re-enactment of an ancient Loy Krathong festival, and in contrast to these cultural performances they hold a Miss Noppamas beauty contest. As can be imagined the best place to watch the celebrations of Loy Krathong would probably be Bangkok were all the waterways, including the great Chao Praya River, have small and large Krathongs reflecting of the waters surface as the night-sky’s are filled with fireworks.
| Hotel | Name/Location | Class | Price |
 |
The Imperial Mae Ping Hotel Chiang Mai |  |
26 GBP |
 |
Ambassador Hotel Bangkok | |
26 GBP |
 |
Deevana Patong Resort & Spa Phuket | |
19 GBP |
The actual act of these rafts floating also has some other important means to people, besides letting go of your bad luck. For many Thais the Krathong is a way to thank the goddess of water, Phra Mae Kongka, for allowing them to use the water from rivers and canals all year long. For romantic couples the Krathong is floated out and should stay upright until it has left their sight, this is a symbol their love will last forever.
The biggest advantage for anyone on holiday in Thailand during this time is that this festival is one in which both Thais and tourists can participate. In fact local Thai people actively get tourists to purchase and float their own Krathong. This is a wonderful time to get to know many new Thai friends and is a great way to break the ice. Start asking about what Loy Krathong means to them and many Thais will be happy to share their thoughts about this wonderful festival.
Thailand Travel Situation
With the main tourist season about to start in Thailand I thought it about time I addressed the political situation, well the effect it has on tourist anyway, in Bangkok. The first thing to note is that the troubles you see on the news are only limited to Bangkok and other parts of Thailand remain unaffected.
These protests are against the government and have nothing to do with tourists, and are unlikely to spill into the main tourist areas in Bangkok. But all this is not going to stop the media from painting a bleak picture of the current situation in Thailand.
If you want to travel to Thailand I would say do so but if you plan to go to Bangkok get the updated information. As for travelling in Thailand I have heard no reports of a disturbed transport systems and that nothing in Phuket, Krabi or any of the other southern tourist destinations are affected.
The keep you informed of changes within Thailand the TAT or Tourism Authority of Thailand are publishing updates on their website of what is actually happening in Thailand, here is the latest from them.
TOURISM AUTHORITY OF THAILAND FACT SHEET AS OF OCTOBER 8, 2008
- The current political situation in Thailand — change of government and political demonstrations — should be seen as part of the Kingdom’s evolving political development under a democratic system of governance.
- The protests are directed at Members of Parliament and other political figures. These incidents are limited to the administrative centre of Bangkok. The rest of the city is unaffected.
- The PAD anti-government rally is restricted to the designated protest site and the immediate areas. Tourists and expats in Bangkok are advised to avoid travelling to areas near the demonstration site namely — Government House, the Parliament Building and its immediate vicinity.
- For visitors planning trips to various sites around Rattanakosin Island (Koh Rattanakosin), shuttle boats and river taxis that serve the various public piers along the Chao Phraya River provides fast and convenient transportation to several of these sites.
- All other key tourist sites in Bangkok, and nationwide, are completely unaffected.
- Life in the capital and the rest of the Kingdom continues as usual. Foreign nationals are unaffected.
- Hotel and other travel-related infrastructure and services, including all airports, operate as normal. Train services throughout the country have resumed full operations. Roadways are open, with only certain roads in Bangkok around the Government House compound remaining closed.
- Public utilities and communication services operate uninterrupted, contrary to reports of possible disruptions.
- The Kingdom’s various tourist attractions and shopping districts are unaffected, safe and open for business as usual. Tourists can continue to enjoy the amazing variety of sites, foods and experiences at even more amazing prices that make Thailand such a special travel destination.
- To ease any concern that foreign visitors may have in travelling to Thailand, the Thai authorities concerned have stepped up measures to ensure their safety and to facilitate their travel, both to and within the country.
- The latest updates will also be made available on the websites of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at www.mfa.go.th and of the Tourism Authority of Thailand at www.tourismthailand.org and www.tatnews.org.
The choice whether or not to travel to Thailand is yours obviously but I would say that you should not let the current political climate affect your decision. Get the facts before you book your holiday to Thailand. If your worried about the situation in Bangkok then avoid it and fly direct to Phuket, Krabi, Chaing Mai or Koh Samui.
The one thing you should avoid doing is not going to Thailand! The tourist industry has had a lot of bad lucky for the past years with Tsunami, SARS, Bird Flu and the Bali bombings all having an adverse effect on the country.
Book your holiday, go have fun, come back and let everyone else know that Thailand is still a great place to have a holiday in.
New Scuba Diving Holidays to Thailand
Scuba diving holidays to Thailand will never be the same from the end of 2008, that’s the dream anyway. The Thai Dive Association (TDA) is ready to start phase 2 in what has been called project ‘Coral Reef Squadron’ after a bit of a hiccup with phase 1. The company that transported the 10 decommissioned military aircraft, that the TDA had purchased in 2007, has finally received payment and released the aircraft after a 4 month battle. When the aircraft were delivered to Phuket from Lopburi on April 2008 the weather delayed the project but it would seem that the weather was only one part of the delay.
The four Douglas C-47 Dakota Skytrain’s and six Sikorsky S-58T helicopters are to be sunk 1km from Bang Tao bay on the north west shore of Phuket island. The aircraft will be secured to the sandy bottom by large concrete blocks and 
the aim will be to arrange the aircraft in a circular pattern. At a depth of around 20meters and not far off the shore these artificial coral reefs will be an ideal training ground and a new attraction for the visiting divers. It is hoped that the new dive area will help reduce the number of divers visiting the natural coral reefs in the area and help the natural environment recover from years of diver traffic.
The creation of artificial coral reefs to help protect the natural environment in over dived areas is not a new one. In 2006-2007 an artificial reef was built in Egypt after scientists at the Ben Gurion University, Eilat, reported some 50% reduction in the natural coral reef, caused mainly by diver traffic. Although the damage to natural coral reefs in Thailand are not that sever these new dive sites will most definitely help those that are under some pressure.
The work to get the aircraft in place is due to start on 12 November and be completed early December, just in time for the peak holiday season in Thailand. Obviously divers to the wrecks will not see much coral life, but with open swim-through and crystal clear waters at 20 meters you should get a visually stunning and extremely fun dive anyway. Unfortunately I can’t take anymore holidays to Thailand this year so looks like I won’t be diving these aircraft until early 2009. I just hope they last that long or at least longer than the King Cruiser Wreck. This passanger ferry sunk only 10 years ago, about 2 hours boat ride from Krabi, but already has deteriorated and collapsed in many places making swim through dangerous.
If anyone gets a chance to dive this ‘Coral Reef Squadron’ could you please contact me with your experiences or leave a comment below about your dives, thanks.
