LOY KRATHONG FESTIVAL LIGHTS UP ECER TOURISM

TUMPAT (Malaysia), Nov 5 (Bernama) -- Kelantan, a East Coast state in
Peninsular Malaysia, expects to draw some 15,000 to 20,000 local and foreign
tourists to the annual Loy Krathong festival, a cultural and heritage event for
the East Coast Economic Region (ECER), which it is hosting on Nov
10-12.

Kelantan Tourism Action Council (KTAC) general manager Sulaiman Ismail
said
Wednesday that the festival, originating from Thailand and celebrated by the
Siamese community in Kelantan, had attracted tens of thousands of visitors since
2004 and had been listed in the popular online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia.


He told reporters that various events had been drawn up for the
celebration,
including a car parade, decorated floats, beauty contest, exhibition and
cultural performances on the heritage and legacy of the Siamese descendants in
Kelantan.

The Loy Krathong festival, jointly organised by the Kelantan Siamese
Association, KTAC, Department of Culture, Arts and Heritage Kelantan and Tourism
Malaysia Kelantan, will be held at Wat Phukulthong Vararam in Kampung Terbak,
here.

Tumpat is a town and a district in Kelantan, Malaysia. Tumpat is situated
at the end of the East Coast Line train line operated by Malayan Railways (KTMB)
which links Kelantan to the western part of Peninsular Malaysia.

The word 'Loy' means to float while 'Krathong' means lotus shaped
vessel
made of banana leaves. The Krathong usually contains a candle, joss stick, some
flowers and coins.

According to Siamese tradition, floating a candle raft is symbolic of
releasing sins and bad luck, to start the coming year with fresh hope and good
luck.

-- BERNAMA