The young boy in the photograph is placing a krathong, or "leaf cup," into the water to celebrate "Loy Krathong," a festival on the night of the full moon in November, the traditional celebration described in the text as a custom of long standing in Thailand (formerly called Siam). As the author describes, it is an agricultural festival related to water, rice cultivation, and the cycles of the seasons, but it probably also has ancient roots in India, and may be related to Buddhism as well. As the author describes, the custom has changed with the country's modernization and urbanization. Nowadays Loy Krathong is more than just a quaint celebration for villagers and families. It is now a tourist event in Bangkok, complete with parades, fireworks, and beauty pageants. Ironically, the placement of thousands of krathongs on the rivers and canals has become a pollution problem in itself, especially after the natural materials like banana leaves and flowers were replaced with white styrofoam bases. As an environmentally more responsible solution, therefore, merchants have begun selling krathongs made of bread in fanciful shapes and colors. The bread breaks up in the water and becomes food for fish and other river creatures. Authorities also warn parents to watch their children, since there have been increased incidents of drownings as the children swim out to find coins floating in the krathongs.
The boy in the photograph is a resident of Father Ray Children's Home, an orphanage at Pattaya, Thailand. The text describing the custom is from the 1968 book by Phya Anuman Rajadhon (1888-1969) Essays on Thai Folklore. The author is a prolific and well regarded literary figure and university professor. Although he did not receive formal academic training in anthropology, his writings have constituted a major source for anthropologists and others on customs from Siam, the traditional name for Thailand.