Well, i for one, won't be sending floating lanterns into the sky as that is an offense punishable by execution. So says Wikipedia.

I'll buy a few bottles of Leo and have a good time watching the sky, and in honor of Thanksgiving, holding a delicious turkey leg up high.

How many people in the street of chiang mai tonight ?

Few hundred thousands ?

A lovely photo from last year

2500 baht to celebrate LK must be some sort of tourist trap , good luck with that.

For those of us who cannot figure out what Loy Kratong is all about

For those there is Wikipedia.

so where's your secret place to go, Winnie? pm will do

Oh, right; it's here.

https://www.google.co.th/maps/@18.7416955,98.9836265,3a,75y,140.1h,77.33t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s_3JcVhrzy9k4OWkfGvIbkw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Cross the narrow bridge, not too far South of the Middle Ring.

2500 baht to celebrate LK must be some sort of tourist trap , good luck with that.

If the price is clearly stated and you are free to go or not, where is the trap?

A lovely photo from last year

The free or the pay to play event? Any photos from (if) there was a free event this year?

We've been going in to CM to watch the parades for over ten years (although we missed it all last year) and it has always been great fun, last night we returned and we found it almost nightmarish.

Previously it was a case of (easily) finding a suitable viewpoint and watching the floats go by, attendees generally respected the path taken by the parade and there was a clear separation of the parade and the crowd. Now, purely because of the huge number of people coming to watch the parade the crowd has become a part of it and in places there's no separation of the two. From a spectator standpoint the crowds are pretty horrific, certainly the worst we've ever seen and it all detracts from what used to be a very pleasant evening, it's all shoulder to shoulder and jam packed like sardines.

I'm almost afraid to say it but I don't see how the Loy Kratong festivities in CM can go on much longer if this is the direction and some form of crowd control measures need to be put in place otherwise the whole thing will become even more of a melee and the focus of the evening completely lost, kinda sad actually.

Watching from the 15th floor window overlooking the city, it was easy to see that the 'one-day-only' release of Khum Loi made an incredibly beautiful display on the night sky! It seemed to be three times more lanterns in the air as everyone released their balloons on the same night and the visible result was nothing short of fantastic. This was the first year that I didn't go down town to enjoy the festivities, but the fireworks going off all over town combined with the dancing lights in the sky more than made up for it. A wonderful sight to see!

2500 baht to celebrate LK must be some sort of tourist trap , good luck with that.

You must be really gullible. My Kratong cost 20 baht.

We've been going in to CM to watch the parades for over ten years (although we missed it all last year) and it has always been great fun, last night we returned and we found it almost nightmarish.

Previously it was a case of (easily) finding a suitable viewpoint and watching the floats go by, attendees generally respected the path taken by the parade and there was a clear separation of the parade and the crowd. Now, purely because of the huge number of people coming to watch the parade the crowd has become a part of it and in places there's no separation of the two. From a spectator standpoint the crowds are pretty horrific, certainly the worst we've ever seen and it all detracts from what used to be a very pleasant evening, it's all shoulder to shoulder and jam packed like sardines.

I'm almost afraid to say it but I don't see how the Loy Kratong festivities in CM can go on much longer if this is the direction and some form of crowd control measures need to be put in place otherwise the whole thing will become even more of a melee and the focus of the evening completely lost, kinda sad actually.

According to the schedule tonight Nov.26 is the Grand Krathong Procession from Tha Pae Gate to the Chiang Mai Municipality starts at 7:00.

Watching from the 15th floor window overlooking the city, it was easy to see that the 'one-day-only' release of Khum Loi made an incredibly beautiful display on the night sky! It seemed to be three times more lanterns in the air as everyone released their balloons on the same night and the visible result was nothing short of fantastic. This was the first year that I didn't go down town to enjoy the festivities, but the fireworks going off all over town combined with the dancing lights in the sky more than made up for it. A wonderful sight to see!

Down at ground level, near Rimping Condo, it wasn't quite the same. Compared to previous years, the number of Kom Loi was markedly down. I even saw a BiB extinguishing lit lanterns being prepared by people on the bridge next to Rimping. Very few fireworks, & the official ones seemed to be let off one at a time with long intervals between. Lots of Kom Loi in the air to the south of where I was. The alcohol ban only seemed to apply to public space, not the riverside restaurants, even the shacks to south of Rimping Condo bridge. On the right bank, crowds were enormous. We left around 20.30.

We've been going in to CM to watch the parades for over ten years (although we missed it all last year) and it has always been great fun, last night we returned and we found it almost nightmarish.

Previously it was a case of (easily) finding a suitable viewpoint and watching the floats go by, attendees generally respected the path taken by the parade and there was a clear separation of the parade and the crowd. Now, purely because of the huge number of people coming to watch the parade the crowd has become a part of it and in places there's no separation of the two. From a spectator standpoint the crowds are pretty horrific, certainly the worst we've ever seen and it all detracts from what used to be a very pleasant evening, it's all shoulder to shoulder and jam packed like sardines.

I'm almost afraid to say it but I don't see how the Loy Kratong festivities in CM can go on much longer if this is the direction and some form of crowd control measures need to be put in place otherwise the whole thing will become even more of a melee and the focus of the evening completely lost, kinda sad actually.

According to the schedule tonight Nov.26 is the Grand Krathong Procession from Tha Pae Gate to the Chiang Mai Municipality starts at 7:00.

And? There are parades for at least three days and I believe last night was the first.

We've been going in to CM to watch the parades for over ten years (although we missed it all last year) and it has always been great fun, last night we returned and we found it almost nightmarish.

Previously it was a case of (easily) finding a suitable viewpoint and watching the floats go by, attendees generally respected the path taken by the parade and there was a clear separation of the parade and the crowd. Now, purely because of the huge number of people coming to watch the parade the crowd has become a part of it and in places there's no separation of the two. From a spectator standpoint the crowds are pretty horrific, certainly the worst we've ever seen and it all detracts from what used to be a very pleasant evening, it's all shoulder to shoulder and jam packed like sardines.

I'm almost afraid to say it but I don't see how the Loy Kratong festivities in CM can go on much longer if this is the direction and some form of crowd control measures need to be put in place otherwise the whole thing will become even more of a melee and the focus of the evening completely lost, kinda sad actually.

According to the schedule tonight Nov.26 is the Grand Krathong Procession from Tha Pae Gate to the Chiang Mai Municipality starts at 7:00.

And? There are parades for at least three days and I believe last night was the first.

Tonight is the last night.

Edited November 26, 201510 yr by mesquite

OK, two nights. I was just trying to understand the point of the previous quote and message by HelloDolly Northern John.

Everywhere beer in hands of farang. I thiught the atmosphere was quite relax with plenty of space to walk more than on sunday market by example

Some said it was 80% foreigner including chinese . Less impressive than the flower festival floats but still some boudhist ferveur

This little lovely has sat on this float since 6 30 and its now pizzin down

Dave2

so where's your secret place to go, Winnie? pm will do

Oh, right; it's here.

https://www.google.co.th/maps/@18.7416955,98.9836265,3a,75y,140.1h,77.33t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s_3JcVhrzy9k4OWkfGvIbkw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Cross the narrow bridge, not too far South of the Middle Ring.

558815_10152182473071664_1277551665_n.jpg

So.... I went there to Loy Krathong myself tonight.. Hmmm.. First of all it started raining, and secondly there was some kind of construction going on, turning it all a bit muddy..

So then I drove up to Pa Daed / Aom Muang and Loyed one Krathong there.. however.. due to the drought the water level was quite low so hard to reach the water, plus there was no current to speak of.. So the Krathongs mostly just sat there. It's nice having water gates but it would be even nicer to have a bit of a flow during the festival as to not turn the entire river into a lake.

So then we were at plan C; the little stream near Varee school and the Mae Jam Pa noodle & khao soi place. Finally! Could reach the water AND quite a strong current. SUCCESS!

For reference, that's here: https://www.google.co.th/maps/@18.756664,99.0169336,3a,75y,260.72h,87.77t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1snjPPm5d34333EtNpGZzqVQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

so where's your secret place to go, Winnie? pm will do

Oh, right; it's here.

https://www.google.co.th/maps/@18.7416955,98.9836265,3a,75y,140.1h,77.33t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s_3JcVhrzy9k4OWkfGvIbkw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Cross the narrow bridge, not too far South of the Middle Ring.

558815_10152182473071664_1277551665_n.jpg

So.... I went there to Loy Krathong myself tonight.. Hmmm.. First of all it started raining, and secondly there was some kind of construction going on, turning it all a bit muddy..

So then I drove up to Pa Daed / Aom Muang and Loyed one Krathong there.. however.. due to the drought the water level was quite low so hard to reach the water, plus there was no current to speak of.. So the Krathongs mostly just sat there. It's nice having water gates but it would be even nicer to have a bit of a flow during the festival as to not turn the entire river into a lake.

So then we were at plan C; the little stream near Varee school and the Mae Jam Pa noodle & khao soi place. Finally! Could reach the water AND quite a strong current. SUCCESS!

For reference, that's here: https://www.google.co.th/maps/@18.756664,99.0169336,3a,75y,260.72h,87.77t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1snjPPm5d34333EtNpGZzqVQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Had the same problem near Rimping Condo last night. Had to drop the kratongs into the river, & they didn't move much.

So.... I went there to Loy Krathong myself tonight.. Hmmm.. First of all it started raining, and secondly there was some kind of construction going on, turning it all a bit muddy..

So then I drove up to Pa Daed / Aom Muang and Loyed one Krathong there.. however.. due to the drought the water level was quite low so hard to reach the water, plus there was no current to speak of.. So the Krathongs mostly just sat there. It's nice having water gates but it would be even nicer to have a bit of a flow during the festival as to not turn the entire river into a lake.

So then we were at plan C; the little stream near Varee school and the Mae Jam Pa noodle & khao soi place. Finally! Could reach the water AND quite a strong current. SUCCESS!

For reference, that's here: https://www.google.co.th/maps/@18.756664,99.0169336,3a,75y,260.72h,87.77t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1snjPPm5d34333EtNpGZzqVQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Had the same problem near Rimping Condo last night. Had to drop the kratongs into the river, & they didn't move much.

I guess it wouldn't be traditional to attach little rubber-band powered paddle-wheel motors to 'em, would it...

Edited November 27, 201510 yr by FolkGuitar

So.... I went there to Loy Krathong myself tonight.. Hmmm.. First of all it started raining, and secondly there was some kind of construction going on, turning it all a bit muddy..

So then I drove up to Pa Daed / Aom Muang and Loyed one Krathong there.. however.. due to the drought the water level was quite low so hard to reach the water, plus there was no current to speak of.. So the Krathongs mostly just sat there. It's nice having water gates but it would be even nicer to have a bit of a flow during the festival as to not turn the entire river into a lake.

So then we were at plan C; the little stream near Varee school and the Mae Jam Pa noodle & khao soi place. Finally! Could reach the water AND quite a strong current. SUCCESS!

For reference, that's here: https://www.google.co.th/maps/@18.756664,99.0169336,3a,75y,260.72h,87.77t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1snjPPm5d34333EtNpGZzqVQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Had the same problem near Rimping Condo last night. Had to drop the kratongs into the river, & they didn't move much.

I guess it wouldn't be traditional to attach little rubber-band powered paddle-wheel motors to 'em, would it...

They should've emptied the dams upstream after closing the flood control gates south of the city. Then at 19.00 opened the flood gates south of the city