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[SIAMPEDIA]

Thammasat University is the not so secret party ground in the North of Bangkok. Just a few miles after the Don Muang Elevated Expressway ends, it is on the western side of Phaholyothin Road. Buses and loads of Thai typical songtheauws (Jeepney-style transport opportunities on pickup-trucks) carried thousands of spectators there tonight. Loy Krathong is celebrated on a full moon night, and the nights are warm in November. Locals earn a little money and craft those colorful floats with candles and joss sticks. Orchids in all colors are used too, but the typical purple variety is dominant. 40 Baht are the fancier varieties, they also offer Loy Krathongs for half that price or even less. Spend one or two dollars for a bunch of orchids and participate, everyone is welcome and it is very peaceful nationwide. This festival is actually being held at every other body of water, whether it is a pond, river or even a swimming pool or coastline. And it is celebrated nationwide. The controlled events at campuses, parks or official event sites draw a rather regular crowd. No rowdie

[SIAMPEDIA]

The seconds before the raft is set to float are used for prayers, meditation or as a moment of concentration on the task ahead.



Whilst most floats are based on banana tree slices, some were made from actual bread. These are not only environment-friendly, they will be on tonight's menu for the fish population in this lake later.



The sheer amounts of floating candles light up this bay, it was fairly easy to access the water safely here.



The rafts formed clusters and followed the slow current, only the candles on the bread floats flickered a lot, the bottom was already being chewed on, I guess.



It was almost impossible to setup a tripod for the camera, so the full moon and other lights in below picture aren't as nicely pictured as they could have been with one.



There was no admission being charged here and all guests were allowed on campus. This Rangsit area is actually already a part of Pathum Thani, the province bordering Bangkok in the north. There are no known transport rip-offs for foreigners here, everybody pays the same prices. The songtheauw back to near our home was 8 baht per adult, the equivalent of a quarter $ or 0,20 ? cent. We made sure to float a nice SIAMPEDIA raft to include all of you in the well wishing spirit of this fantastic festival.

[Marine]

looks like everyone is enjoying themselves........

Fireworks still going off last night around my condo