What do you get when you place a sacred Buddha image on a boat, add a million lotus flowers, lots of food, a little alcohol, endless other colourful boats and thousands of onlookers who frantically throw flowers from the side of a canal? It’s the Lotus Throwing Festival, or Rab Bua, held annually on Awk Pansa day near Bangkok. The exact dates depend on the moon but usually fall in September or October.