Lanterns to fly, planes to stay away
You can't fight tradition, it seems, even when it presents a clear public danger.
The Loy Krathong festival means the floating of beautiful Yipeng lanterns, especially in the North, and while authorities have had some success in controlling the tradition, they admit they can't stop it.
Thus, airlines have cancelled a total of 74 scheduled flights to and from Chiang Mai during the three-day Loy Krathong festival next week to prevent any accidents involving the sky lanterns.
Of the cancelled flights, 62 are domestic services and 12 are international.
Chiang Mai international airport director, Capt Wisoot Chantana, said the airport usually handles about 180 flights each day, for a total of 20,000 passengers. Passenger numbers usually rise to about 25,000 over the festival period.
For next week's Loy Krathong festival, Chiang Mai province has announced set times for releasing sky lanterns in five districts – Muang, Hang Dong, Saraphi, Mae Rim and San Sai. People in these districts can celebrate Loy Krathong the next day on Nov 26, with smoke lanterns from 10am until noon and sky lanterns after 9pm.