Loy Krathong, the annual Thai festival of lights, is a week of celebrations during which thousands of flickering flames are released after sunset, igniting skies, rivers and lakes across Thailand.
An adaptation by Thai Buddhists of an ancient Brahmanical tradition, Loy Krathong sees people visiting Thailand from all over the world in mid-November. In rural and coastal areas, they release lanterns known as khom loy, while in cities, small, elaborately decorated baskets called krathongs are floated to pay respect to the goddess of water and carry away bad luck. Superstition dictates that if your basket floats away, it will bring good fortune for the coming year. However, if it drifts back, it's believed the opposite is true.
The festival's focus is the night of the full moon in the 12th month of the Thai lunar calendar, which usually falls in November (this year it's 14 November). Bangkok's lakes and riverfronts and Koh Samui's beaches are among the most picturesque places to experience the festivities, and hotel concierges are the best source for tips on how and where to take part.
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Luxury Collection Resort Vana Belle is a scenic retreat overlooking Koh Samui's Chaweng Noi beach. Guests are welcomed with an authentic rod nam blessing – a spiritual ritual in which sweet-scented water is poured into the palms to bring good luck, health and prosperity. The hotel's Thai/French name means "beautiful forest", and it's a fitting description for its verdant hillside setting, punctuated by 80 spacious pool suites and villas.
After a seafood beach barbecue at dusk, it's customary for guests to write a wish on a rice-paper lantern. Once the candle inside the lantern is lit, it's held close to the ground so the hot air from the flame inflates it and lifts it into the night sky. Once airborne, it's an enchanting sight.
To experience how Loy Krathong is marked by city-dwellers, Bangkok is just one hour's flight away, and the centrally located Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit provides expert guides for whistle-stop tours of the city. The hotel's lobby has a direct link with the Asok SkyTrain and Sukhumvit subway stations via a pedestrian bridge, but guests are encouraged to take a more scenic, traditional form of transport and sail down the Chao Phraya River in a long-tail boat.
In the old part of the capital, the bustling flower market on Chak Phet Road is even more animated during Loy Krathong, and, open 24/7, its kaleidoscopic stalls are usually busiest before dawn. Back at the Sukhumvit, guests can learn how to make their own krathongs by folding and pinning banana leaves around a base made from a slice of banana-tree trunk, before decorating it with flowers bought from the market and adding a candle and incense.
At sunset, many locals head to Lumpini Park to release their krathongs. A tranquil inner-city haven, it is one of the few green spaces that remains amid the urban sprawl. People of all ages gather around its vast lake to gaze on the candles that illuminate its surface like sparkling dragonflies. Whether or not you consider yourself spiritual, there's something powerfully reflective about symbolically letting go of negativity and looking to the future with a renewed sense of optimism.
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