More people celebrate Thailand's Loy Krathong Festival this year

BANGKOK, November 7 (TNA) - More people throughout Thailand turned out to celebrate this year's Loy Krathong Festival on Thursday night, thanks to the peaceful situation in the country generally. In Bangkok, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) reported that its workers began collecting krathongs from canals and the Chao Phraya River in the capital at about 8pm on Thursday and finished their tasks at about 6am on Friday. According to the BMA report, a total of 982,064 krathongs were collected, 885,995 of which were made from banana leaves or natural materials, while the rest were made from foam. The BMA report said the amount of krathongs collected this year in Bangkok was 116,649 more than last year’s. Like those in some neighbouring countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), people in Thailand celebrate the annual Loy Krathong Festival by floating their small vessels decorated with flowers, joss sticks and candles, called "krathongs", in rivers, canals or other local waterways to ask for forgiveness and blessing from the River Goddess. In the northern resort Chiang Mai Province, workers were also busily cleaning and collecting krathongs throughout the city, saying they believed the amount of krathongs and garbage would be about 50 tonnes, more than the same event last year. Several kinds of fish were, however, seen dead in a canal at Tha Pae Gate in the heart of Chiang Mai due to the lack of oxygen, while many birds also died, probably due to shocks from the sound of fireworks and firecrackers during last night’s celebrations. In nearby Lampang Province, local officials of the provincial airport collected the waste of hot-air lanterns which apparently fell near the runway, reporting that only about 20 lanterns were collected this year, much less than some 100 falling into the airport last year. In the southern resort Surat Thani Province, many bar and restaurant owners at the Rin Beach on Koh Pha-ngan in the Gulf of Thailand admitted, however, that they were disappointed with their sales on Loy Krathong Festival, which falls on full moon, because not too many partygoers were there. The local entrepreneurs believed the lack of partygoers was due to a murder of two British tourists on Koh Tao, near Koh Pha-ngan, on September 15 and the maintained martial law imposed by the Thai army-led National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). (TNA)