Loy Krathong: The Most Beautiful Festival in Thailand

In just a few weeks there will be celebrated a festival in Thailand called Loy Krathong on the evening of the full moon of the 12th lunar month, which is typically mid-end of November (24-25th for 2026). Loy Krathong is sometimes called the Festival of Lights and is easily one of the most beautiful times you could visit Thailand.

Folks who are familiar with Thailand’s more famous Songkran Festival (a country-wide watergun war which is a lot of fun!) Will note that Loy Krathong tends to be much quieter and more spiritual for Thai people. For both festivals, Thai people are very welcoming to outsiders for participation, just remember to be a good guest (after all, you might not be thrilled about a Thai person coming and ruining your Christmas dinner for their vlog, right?)

The celebration of Loy Krathong is primarily focused around Thai people giving thanks to Phra Ma Khongkha, the Goddess of Water, for sustaining life and for another year of good fortune. Beyond gratitude, Thai people also take this time to reflect on their treatment of the rivers that sustain them and spend time with family. Riversides in Thai cities swell into color and sound as people gather to celebrate.

The most common form of celebrating Loy Krathong is to make or purchase a “Krathong,” a small floating basket offering to the river, usually made of leaves and shaped into beautifully elaborate designs and topped with candles and decorations, and meet your friends and families at the river to float the Krathong away downstream, which represents letting go of the misfortunes, sins, and negative emotions from the year and letting the River Goddess clean it all away.

While visiting Thailand during Loy Krathong, there will almost certainly be big city markets next to the river with all kinds of entertainment - live music, street food, and a general atmosphere of good cheer amongst the locals. People sit and watch the river as twinkling candles drift past slowly in the dark, laughing with their friends and family while the kids shake with excitement to float their Krathong.

Different areas of Thailand celebrate the holiday differently but pretty much the entire country will have friendly Krathong sellers lining roadways where you can browse for your own Krathong to release, some as simple as a chunk of coconut-shell bowl with a candle, others, enormous leaf-folded dragons and flowers. The range is really quite striking and so is the price range - from 20 baht for a basic Krathong to hundreds of baht for a big one.

One of the most popular places for tourists to celebrate these days is in Chiang Mai, where the floating Krathong are accompanied by flame-lit lanterns floating in the night sky in the hundreds. I haven’t been to this one yet but it looks pretty amazing from the photos - just be prepared for a REALLY packed crowd. The lanterns come from Yi Peng Festival, which is a Lanna (old Northern-Thai kingdom) tradition. The symbolism is pretty much the same as the Krathong and the two festivals surely align beautifully for a night-lit spectacle to remember.

Sukhothai is one of the best places to celebrate Loy Krathong as it is known as the spiritual home of the festival from the old Thai Kingdom. The entire old city explodes into life as Thais bring their families to experience the floating Krathong in the shadows of the thousand-year-old stupas where their modern culture began. Fireworks light up the trees of the old city as a troop of 20 or 30 actors in costume reenacts the famous Ramakien performance (Khon), a popular reenactment of scenes of the Ramayana during which there is fighting, dancing, singing, religious chanting, and some mild acrobatics in glittering and elaborate costumes of traditional Thai style. (Note: You can watch these performances all over Thailand throughout the year and, even though you won’t understand a word of the story, it’s worth checking out!)

There are celebrations in Bangkok along the Chao Phraya River, in the islands in the south, and everywhere else in the country. You won’t miss out on the Loy Krathong experience if you’re in Thailand, don’t worry. My personal advice is to skip Chiang Mai, Bangkok, or tourist cities in the south and try to find a smaller and less touristed city to celebrate Loy Krathong for a more meaningful cultural visit… but to each his own.

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I had the thought at one time that there’s a bit of a comtradiction in celebrating thankfulness for the river by floating a bunch of small floats and candles down the river, causing more pollution. Just since I’ve been visiting Thailand (2017-today) there has been a huge movement to use biodegradable materials for Krathongs so that, these days, most people are floating krathongs without causing more pollution - which is really great.

There are a lot of fun little superstitions you may find around Loy Krathong time in Thailand, many of them involving the concept of “letting go” - like Thai people cutting their hair and nails as a form of cleansing and letting go. Some a Thai people may put their hair and nails on their Krathong and send them down the river, though this seems to be an old custom that isn’t so common these days. Some folks even include coins on their Krathong - in some places there may be eager Thai folks checking the floating Krathongs for coins as they float by. There’s even a catchy song that you’ll hear on the radio everywhere during the holidays- Loy Loyyy Krathongggg (Spotify link below). Loy krathong kan laew kho chern nong kaew ook ma ram wong = after loy krathong let’s do a thai dance (ram wong).

For my own experience, Loy Krathong was one of the very first cultural and religious festivals I got to experience in Thailand and there is no doubt that it is one of the big things that made me fall in love with the country. Today, I have taken part in Loy Krathong celebrations in Chachoengsao, Lamphun, Lamphang, Kamphaeng Phet, Sukhothai, Tak, among others. All different experiences and all wonderful memories.

The holiday is celebrated not only on the full moon night but for about a week or so leading up to that night as well so I really encourage you to hop around to some different towns and experience the different vibes for Loy Krathong in different areas - you will not be disappointed.

If you’re planning on visiting Thailand for Loy Krathong this year and have any questions about when or how to celebrate, don’t hesitate to comment here and ask, I’ll be glad to offer whatever advice I’ve got!

Food, laughter, fireworks, and a cleanse of the spirit. Loy Krathong is, without a doubt, the most beautiful festival in Thailand.