Loy Krathong 2009

Today is Loy Krathong Day in Thailand. So, all over the whole country people are gathering to bless and thank the water. They do this by praying and reflecting on their lives and their bad deeds, then asking the river goddess to take away their punishment. That's one version I've heard, but there are many different stories related to Loy Krathong so you can google it and pick out which ever story you like the most. Some Christians however, use it as a chance to reflect on their lives as well and turn to Christ who takes away our sin. So, that is the background of the festival.

In our apartment "neighborhood" there is a big avenue called the Champ Elysee, that runs between many of the buildings and ends in the Arch de Triumph of Thailand. Lots of people come here for photo shoots and movie filming. Anyway, whenever there is a big holiday this avenue turns into a carnival. La and I went this evening to eat and see the festivities. We ate papaya salad and BBQ chicken. We watched traditional Thai dancing and we saw the huge pool where people could cast their Krathong's into the water. It was pretty interesting. La even had me take a picture of the people so I could see how Thai culture works. Many children were running around. There was tons of delicious looking and smelling food, and people were selling a bunch of things too. After a quick stroll around we had seen enough so we called it a night. They are still going strong though, and I imagine if the fireworks continue I won't sleep much tonight. Fun, fun.