(Wan Pen Duan Sipsong)

On the twelfth full moon

(Nam Koh Nong Tem Taling)
As the water fills to the banks

(Rao Tang Lai Shai Ying)
We, all men and women, old and young

(Sanuk Gan Jing Wan Loy Krathong)
All are happy on Loy Krathong Day

(x2)
(Loy Loy Krathong)
Float your Krathongs

(Loy Krathong Gan Laew)
After we float the Krathongs

(Koh Shern Nong Kaew Ook Ma Ramwong)

Let us all dance together

(x2)
(Ramwong Wan Loy Krathong)
Lets celebrate Loy Krathong Day

(x2)
(Boon Ja Song Hai Rao Suk Jai)
Making merit shall make us prosper

Map: (See above)

Flag: (See cover page)
Capital: Bangkok
Official Language: Thai
Location: Southeast Asia
Government: 1) Unitary Parliamentary Democracy
2) Constitutional Monarchy
Current King: HM Bhumibol Adulyadej
Current Queen: HM Sirikit Kitiyakara
Anthem: Phleng Chat Thai
Area: 513,120 km2
Population: Approx. 70 million people
Main Holidays: Songkran Festival, Loy Krathong Day etc.

The Songkran Festival ( -Wan Songkran) is the most widely

known water festival in Thailand, as its when the wildest celebration of
the year takes place. The Songkran Festival is held on April 13 th to April
15th, and was supposedly a New Years celebration according to the
ancient calendar most of Southeast Asia used before the Gregorian
calendar. The traditional ritual of Songkran is the pouring of water from
the sacred silver bowl. The elders perform it to the young first, and vice
versa. The belief of this act was that the water from a sacred bowl would
cleanse you for a fresh beginning of the New Year. It was also a show of
blessing and good wishes. Then, the elders get rid of old or outdated
possessions in the house- another ritual that was widely followed,
because old or outdated possessions from the past year is said to bring
the owner bad luck in the New Year. (This ritual explains why Thai people
rarely have family heirlooms.) So basically the purpose for this tradition
is to get new for the New Year. Most of the traditional Songkran rituals
are derived from the Buddhist culture, the national religion of Thailand.
But nowadays, the traditional rituals arent followed as commonly as
before. Instead, they were replaced with a more modern, boisterous
celebration. Songkran is not called the Water Festival for nothing- during
the festival, the streets of Thailand are full of people having water fights,
soaking each other with water balloons, water guns, and buckets of
water filled to the brim, and (occasionally) dousing passers-by and cars
with water hoses. The Songkran Festival is now a time of wet fun and wet
games! (Tourists that are visiting Thailand during April are strongly
advised to bring lots of extra clothes in case of surprise water attacks.)
The fun celebration is what made the Songkran Festival the most famous
holiday in Thailand.

Loy Krathong ( -Wan Loy Krathong) is one of the most

famous festivals in Thailand, celebrated in a variety of ways depending
on which part of Thailand you are in. It is celebrated on the Full Moon of
the 12th Thai Lunar Month, which is the Full Moon of November according
to the Gregorian calendar. The most popular ritual known is the float
(Loy) of the krathong, which is traditionally made from a section of a
banana tree trunk, decorated with banana leaves and flowers and
incense sticks and candles. At nightfall of the November full moon day,
locals take their krathongs down to near rivers, canals, or seas to light
and float them. Nowadays, krathongs are no longer made from banana
tree trunks as commonly as before, but are usually made from bread or
Styrofoam (although Styrofoam is frowned on, since it pollutes) and
people usually buy them rather than handmake them. The purpose of this
widely-followed ritual is to pay respects and apologize to the ancient
water spirits for polluting or misusing the water. Another ritual widely
known for being popularly performed in the northern regions of Thailand
is the Yi Peng ritual, where people float sky lanterns in the evening of Loy
Krathong Day. The purpose of this ritual is to make wishes- the belief is
that you send your wishes into the sky with the lanterns so the gods can
grant them. Best of all, the Yi Peng ritual creates a very beautiful scene
in the night sky. But no matter what ritual a person follows, all the rituals
have something in common: the Loy Krathong Song. The Loy Krathong
Song can be heard throughout the country on Loy Krathong Day, which
has the meaning to honor the water gods and the float of the krathongs.
(See next page)

A traditional Krathong

A traditional Songkran

A modern Songkran

The Yi Peng Ritual