This Friday November 23rd 2018 is actually the full moon night of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar, which is when Loy Krathong festival is celebrated in Bangkok and beyond. The romantic and superstitious event happens on a different day each year, so make sure you check the local calendars before heading out with your cameras.
Loy literally translates to ‘float’ while krathong is the actual ‘vessel’ that you make and put offerings on put place in a body of water as part of the celebration. The whole country takes part and they are very welcoming of foreigners to join in their tradition. Make sure you place some small clipping of their hair, fingernail and some coins onto the krathong before sending it away to get rid of your bad karma.

There are a few standout places in Bangkok for photographing the annual special event:

If you’re into photographing people, there’s also the Nang Noppamas beauty contest, where young ladies dress up in traditional Thai costume and compete to see who can win the crowd’s applause. It is said the the first person to ever float a krathong was Princess Srijuralak, a beautiful consort of the king of Sukhothai. It was King Ramkhamhaeng that made the ritual into an annual tradition.

If you are feeling adventurous and don’t mind being in a rather crowded open field, in Northern Thailand city of Chiang Mai, they celebrate Loy Krathong a little differently. They call it the Yi Peng festival and is actually a separate event, but held simultaneously. People also call this the lantern festival and is ripe for beautiful photographs.