Loi Krathong festival (ประเพณีลอยกระทง) is celebrated throughout Thailand. It takes place on the evening of the full moon night of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar which is a great flood season; it usually falls in November (พฤศจิกายน).
The word ลอย /loi/ means ‘to float’ and Krathong กระทง /grà-tong/ is a small lotus-shaped floating receptacle.It could be made from anything; traditionally it is made of banana leaves and banana trunks. Today the banana trunk core is sometimes replaced by styrofoam, paper, ice-cream cones, bread (baked into the form of a traditional krathong or a cute floating turtle). The banana trunk and bread krathongs are obviously eco-friendly, so better choices for you and your family.
The raft is decorated with flowers, a candle and an incense stick. People often leave a one-Baht coin, a lock of the hair and nail clippings in the Krathong.