Loykratong 2010

[Nakrob]

We're planning to be in Chiang Mai for Loy Kratong this year and know that the festival is 19-21 November but are struggling to find more information. We don't want to miss the lantern festival (yi-peng) but can't find whereabouts it actually takes place and on which night (if not all?). Any suggestions? Where else is a good place to stay in Chiang Mai at this time of year to be closest to the festivities?

[garyh]

Just go to the river thats where it all happens.

[gotlost]

Just go to the river thats where it all happens.

Narawat Bridge to be exact.

[uptheos]

Loi Kratong is a beautiful festival, which a lot of idiots in Chiang Mai do their best to ruin.

Go to Sukothai.

[gotlost]

Loi Kratong is a beautiful festival, which a lot of idiots in Chiang Mai do their best to ruin.

Go to Sukothai.

Dueling fire rockets at 5 paces.

[sarahsbloke]

The 1,000 lantern release is at 7pm on Saturday October 20th, at the Dhamma Centre behind MaeJo Universtiy

Thats about 20km outside Chiangmai up the 1001 road

(Drive past the University entrance, do a Uey, turn left before going back past the University, police waving at the road you need to take)

Loy Kratong

Taken on my phone, 2009

Edited September 12, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[CMSteve]

The celebrations will be all over town. Tai Pae Gate, Narawat bridge etc.. You do not have to be in any specific location to see or be a part of it. Personally, i try to stay away from Narawat bridge because of the masses of people and road closures, not to mention that you may become a target for fireworks from some young thai boys.... Another suggestion, try to stay in a high floor of one of the hotels.

[uptheos]

Loi Kratong is a beautiful festival, which a lot of idiots in Chiang Mai do their best to ruin.

Go to Sukothai.

Dueling fire rockets at 5 paces.

Exactly

Take a look at the hospital statistics after Loy Kratong. I don't understand why Thai holidays in Chiang Mai are turned into events where lots of people can get seriously maimed?

Go to Sukothai.

[gotlost]

The celebrations will be all over town. Tai Pae Gate, Narawat bridge etc.. You do not have to be in any specific location to see or be a part of it. Personally, i try to stay away from Narawat bridge because of the masses of people and road closures, not to mention that you may become a target for fireworks from some young thai boys.... Another suggestion, try to stay in a high floor of one of the hotels.

The worst offenders of this dueling fire works are the farangs which BTW I have witnessed and is why I do not go in to town for this occasion.

[uptheos]

The celebrations will be all over town. Tai Pae Gate, Narawat bridge etc.. You do not have to be in any specific location to see or be a part of it. Personally, i try to stay away from Narawat bridge because of the masses of people and road closures, not to mention that you may become a target for fireworks from some young thai boys.... Another suggestion, try to stay in a high floor of one of the hotels.

The worst offenders of this dueling fire works are the farangs which BTW I have witnessed and is why I do not go in to town for this occasion.

You're right and a lot of stupid farangs get caught up in the whole firework thing.....maybe fellow Brits still have the November 5th Guy Fawkes day syndrome. However, along the river, (personally) I have found that Thai lads are in the majority. They like to hold the rockets in their hand and aim it.....I just wouldn't want one to hit me, a Thai hand on the end of a rocket, smacking into my face wouldn't be pleasant.

Go to Sukothai

Edited September 12, 2010 by uptheos

[gotlost]

SB has an excellent suggestion on Maejo and we go to the lake on the back side of Doi Saket for the festival.

[sarahsbloke]

A lot of posters on this forum are well past their sell-by dte, hence all the 'humbug' posts.

Sometimes I think Thailand is not really the place for them.

Last year the 'Thai lads' taught me to throw and hand launch rockets without too much damage to my hands.

I am now as competent as anyone for

Hand launching small rockets by pinching the head between 2 fingers

Hand launching massive rockets with 1 finger on the top, tail on the road

Whirling 'whippy rockets' around and releasing into the air when they flame.

They even showed me the shops where I can buy gunpowder and fuse to make my own.

Great fun and everyone very friendly .... and I retained all my fingers.

[gotlost]

A lot of posters on this forum are well past their sell-by dte, hence all the 'humbug' posts.

Sometimes I think Thailand is not really the place for them.

Last year the 'Thai lads' taught me to throw and hand launch rockets without too much damage to my hands.

I am now as competent as anyone for

Hand launching small rockets by pinching the head between 2 fingers

Hand launching massive rockets with 1 finger on the top, tail on the road

Whirling 'whippy rockets' around and releasing into the air when they flame.

They even showed me the shops where I can buy gunpowder and fuse to make my own.

Great fun and everyone very friendly .... and I retained all my fingers.

Just make sure you are waring one of these.

[CMX]

Nakrob,

Depends which part of the occasion you wish to witness, which is why we may differ in our advice.

For example, instead of joining the center of festivities - which are crowded and do have firecrackers all about - near the river and just east of downtown, we at first observed "the" launch from the room of my residential hotel. It really doesn't matter which - if it faces west, it will do, and many places will have west facing balconies. It was almost awe inspiring, certainly a sight to behold - but it can be done from many points of town if you can see the sky to the west. Better yet, you might follow the directions of sarahsbloke to the actual launching site, though it is busy there!

Last year, I went from watching hundreds go up, down alongside the moat (not the river). On the west side of the moat, it was busy but not a zoo. Thai people were having picnics on the banks. Others launched the leaves and candles (most bought right there from families making them, however). Food shops were booming. Still, there were for some of those there less of a sense of carnival and perhaps a bit of reverence.

Which is where uptheos has the right of it, from what I've seen (and comparing to a dozen years ago); here, it is more jumping and commercial; certainly the traditional with fewer fireworks would be more "authentic." Depends what you and yours want to extract. For some it is beer, to be sure. Wats are illuminated and beautiful

Edited September 12, 2010 by CMX

[PoorSucker]

Went last year near the Narawat bridge.

Totally crazy.

This year we go to Chiang Dao.

[gotlost]

The max time of year that the electrical company just hates. What goes up must come down and wright on the power lines of maximum outages.

[IanForbes]

It's a fun festival that I always take part in, but I learned NOT to ride my motorbike anywhere in the central part of the city. Two years ago I got hit on the helmet by one of the rockets. It almost knocked me off the bike. Now I park my bike on the outskirts of the city and just walk around. Lots of action on Loi Kroh road and Tai Pae gate. The river is a good place because of the reflection of lights off the water. Then there are all the pretty girls dressed up in their silk costumes. If you like parades there is a good one in the late afternoon with many colourful floats. Just park outside the route so you don't get stuck in traffic.

[uptheos]

A lot of posters on this forum are well past their sell-by dte, hence all the 'humbug' posts.

Sometimes I think Thailand is not really the place for them.

Last year the 'Thai lads' taught me to throw and hand launch rockets without too much damage to my hands.

I am now as competent as anyone for

Hand launching small rockets by pinching the head between 2 fingers

Hand launching massive rockets with 1 finger on the top, tail on the road

Whirling 'whippy rockets' around and releasing into the air when they flame.

They even showed me the shops where I can buy gunpowder and fuse to make my own.

Great fun and everyone very friendly .... and I retained all my fingers.

Just make sure you are waring one of these.

:cheesy:

It's fun by the river, watching the Thai's float kratong's with money in and the kids in the river popping up and taking it out. :jap:

[Mapguy]

A lot of posters on this forum are well past their sell-by dte, hence all the 'humbug' posts.

Sometimes I think Thailand is not really the place for them.

Last year the 'Thai lads' taught me to throw and hand launch rockets without too much damage to my hands.

I am now as competent as anyone for

Hand launching small rockets by pinching the head between 2 fingers

Hand launching massive rockets with 1 finger on the top, tail on the road

Whirling 'whippy rockets' around and releasing into the air when they flame.

They even showed me the shops where I can buy gunpowder and fuse to make my own.

Great fun and everyone very friendly .... and I retained all my fingers.


(_*_)

[Firelily]

Lamphun is a nice place to escape to as well, at least for one of the three days. Less than 30 kms from Chiang Mai, easy to get to by songthaew or bus (not sure about getting back at night though....) The parade is not so colourful and sophisticated, but it is a lovely drive along the river as well to get there, and a more traditional feel. I would stay in Chiang Mai for the parade on the third night because that one is the best every year.

[cardholder]

The 1,000 lantern release is at 7pm on Saturday October 20th, at the Dhamma Centre behind MaeJo Universtiy

I think you mean 20th November.

[elektrified]

The 1,000 lantern release is at 7pm on Saturday October 20th, at the Dhamma Centre behind MaeJo Universtiy

I think you mean 20th November.

It is usually at least 2 weeks before Loy Krathong so he/she may well be correct.

[garyh]

Lamphun is a nice place to escape to as well, at least for one of the three days. Less than 30 kms from Chiang Mai, easy to get to by songthaew or bus (not sure about getting back at night though....) The parade is not so colourful and sophisticated, but it is a lovely drive along the river as well to get there, and a more traditional feel. I would stay in Chiang Mai for the parade on the third night because that one is the best every year.

Shhh, don't tell everyone

[cardholder]

The 1,000 lantern release is at 7pm on Saturday October 20th, at the Dhamma Centre behind MaeJo Universtiy

I think you mean 20th November.

It is usually at least 2 weeks before Loy Krathong so he/she may well be correct.

Another clue is that a glance at the calendar will tell you that the 20th October falls on a Wednesday:jap:

[sarahsbloke]

In Chiang Mai Loy Krathong takes place from Saturday 20th to Sunday 21st November 2010 (full moon night).

In Mae Jo แม่โจ้ (about 20km North from Chiang Mai) the ceremony is usually hold at the Lanna Dhutanka temple (behind Mae Jo University) on Saturday night of the weekend before, so this year it was planned for Saturday 13th. But there are reports on tripadvisor.com, that there has been some political pressure and the date has been changed to Saturday 20th (read more). Thousands of hot air ballons, called "Khom Loy", are launched at the same time. See this video from 2009 by chipoisonphoto. The celebraton starts around 16.30 and the ballons are launched at 21.00.

From the link I posted ........

Yes, November , finger/brain problems (DOH!)

Yes, 1000 lanterns is usually the week before but not this year (maybe)

Hi Everyone,

I went to Wat Tudong Temple and talked with the abbot. What I learned was they had scheduled it for the 13th but they received so much pressure from the Chiang Mai Governors office and the Tourism Authority of Thailand they had to change it to the 20th.

He is very worried about where to park all the vehicles and how to accommodate all the people as many Thais come from Bangkok for Loi Krathong which will make this year more crowded than ever. Having the festival at the temple the weekend before helped keep the number of visitors down as most from Bangkok would not come until the weekend of Loi Krathong.

He said all the fields around the temple has been rented and enough for about 700 vehicles. Now tour companies from Bangkok with large tour buses are telephoning the temple asking where they can park and there is no place for them. They are looking at an area for parking about 3 kilometers away and using songteaws to bring them to the temple.

All in all although TAT and the Governors office will help with extra funds he says it is a big headache. He says he is afraid most of the locals will stay home as this is turning into a tourist venue not a religious experience for the locals it was meant to be.

This year we will be going to the Mae Jo Golf Club not far from the temple which has a wonderful view of the Khom Loi release from their veranda. We will have dinner and wine in comfort while others are fighting traffic.

Khun Neung, the secretary at the temple, will email the schedule of activities in English hopefully some time today.

Have fun,

Randy

Last year (2009) there were all sorts of rumours on the day, that the event had been cancelled. There does seem to be some sort of game being played to limit the numbers attending, so I will be doing a drive by on the 13th, just in case ..........

Edited September 13, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[elektrified]

Last year (2009) there were all sorts of rumours on the day, that the event had been cancelled. There does seem to be some sort of game being played to limit the numbers attending, so I will be doing a drive by on the 13th, just in case ..........

Last year, because of that and the uncertainty if the event was on or not, most sellers lost the 1500 Baht they had to pay to rent the space for their stall and didn't sell anything all night. It was sad to see their faces as we walked out of the event.

[rickthailand]

last year me and some friends booked a table at the batcave on top oif the pornping hotel the view of chiang mai was amazing with al the balloons flying around the food not great but at a reasonable price i recommend this to everyone

[HTWoodson]

The celebration on the river can get a little crazy, especially with all the fireworks. I highly recommend the yearly event up at Maejo University though, it's wonderful. Here are some short videos I made in 2008 there. The volume of lanterns going into the sky was amazing, and my camera couldn't really capture it. The best part was the energy of the crowd, so much fun.

[garyh]

The celebration on the river can get a little crazy, especially with all the fireworks. I highly recommend the yearly event up at Maejo University though, it's wonderful. Here are some short videos I made in 2008 there. The volume of lanterns going into the sky was amazing, and my camera couldn't really capture it. The best part was the energy of the crowd, so much fun.

Thank you for sharing very nice.