Home » Thailand » Bangkok, Koh Samet, Pattaya, Sukothai, Loi Krathong Festival in Chiang Mai

Various times between September - December 2002; April - May 2003

Bangkok, Koh Samet, Pattaya, Sukothai, Loi Krathong Festival in Chiang Mai

Brett Voegele
2005-11-16 19:09:05

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the street, but the major event was to bundle flowers into a little 'raft', complete with candle and incense sticks. The candle was lit, and the bundle was set adrift on the river to float away one's sins. There were also homemade hot-air balloons. These were about 4' long by 2' in diameter, with a candle mounted on a cross-brace at the hoop end. Once there was enough hot air created by the candle, the balloon would gently, but certainly not quietly, lift off. I say not quietly, because firecrackers were invariably attached, so it was a noisy sendoff. The balloons reached great heights (planes had been warned to be aware of the balloons in the air space), and with their candles continuing to burn, the sky looked like it had many new constellations of flame-colored stars. Walking the streets soon became the best entertainment. It was elbow-to-elbow, but young Thai's would light firecrackers and throw them into a crowd. That certainly added a bit of excitement. At times you'd be ready to take a step and the ground in front of you would explode. It sounded like a war zone with the various firecrackers, and then you'd attempt to walk across an exposed bridge, only to have people on the banks aiming bottle rockets at you. Made you feel like you were part of one of those carnival shooting games.

I next took a bus up to the Thai border town of Chiang Khong and crossed into Laos.

April 2003 - Start of another trip

I flew from San Francisco to Bangkok, with a brief layover in the soon-to-be-serious-for-SARS region of Taiwan. As such, upon my arrival in Bangkok I had to run the gauntlet of white-clothed health workers at the airport who took my temperature, provided me with a mask, asked me questions regarding my health, and gave me contact information should I come down with symptoms of SARS.

I spent a week in Bangkok, readjusting to the heat and wandering around a bit, revisiting some of my favorite sites such as the Grand Palace and Wat Pho, and checking out some sites I'd been too lazy to see during previous visits. From Bangkok I made my way back to the island of Koh Samet, where I spent another week simply indulging in the lazy beach routine, and attempting to get some color.

Previous Trip

I'd also visited Thailand back in June of 1999. Unfortunately, I don't have access to my journal for those travels, and so they're not covered in this travelogue. On that trip I visited Koh Samui, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Mae Hong Son.