BANGKOK, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- People are celebrating an annual traditional Thai festival, called Loy Krathong (float a basket), along canals and rivers throughout the country from Friday's early evening until midnight.
The Thais bring Krathong, or baskets, made of greenish banana leaves and laden with fresh flowers and a candle, to the bank of a canal or river, light the candle, make a wish and gently drop it on the water and let it float down the canal or river.
Some flower-filled baskets might float on a long way down the canal or river. Others might capsize a few minutes after they have been put down on the water.
Many come in couples like boyfriend and girlfriend or husband and wife. Most buy Krathong for a wide range of prices from 30 baht (about 0.88 U.S. dollar) to 500 baht (about 14.7 U.S. dollars) each, from vendors in the neighborhood of the canal or river. Only few would make their own Krathong at home.
The fun-filled festival may get started as early as about 06:00 p.m. and would not end until midnight or late into the wee hours of the next day.
Nevertheless, the authorities are strictly prohibiting the playing with noisy firecrackers and other fireworks during the annual festival unless given prior permission from district chiefs nationwide.
Those allegedly found to have violated the ban will be faced with a maximum of three years in prison or a maximum of 60,000 baht (about 1,764 U.S. dollars) in fine or both, police said.
In Bangkok, Loy Krathong revelers flock along the banks of Chao Phraya River, the country's largest, where dozens of piers have been specifically prepared for the festival.
The Marine Department has a fleet of 10 boats and nearly 200 officials on stand-by in the river between Rama VII Bridge and Rama IX Bridge to see to it that no pontoons will be overloaded with people impatiently waiting to float their baskets.
No passenger boats or cargo vessels are allowed to ply the river from 06:00 p.m. until midnight for fear that they would otherwise make waves and sink the baskets, said an official of the department.
At ritzy hotels in the inner part of the Thai capital, swimming pools may become a makeshift venue for their guests, mostly foreign, to float their flower-filled baskets which are literally going nowhere.
