 |
| Thai women release traditional banana leaf rafts decorated with candles, jasmine, rose, and incense sticks in a body of water in Dubai on Wednesday. |
Dubai: The Thai community in the UAE on Wednesday night celebrated the Loy Krathong festival or the Festival of Lights in remembrance of their families and friends who have been affected by the floods back home.
Celebrated annually on the full moon of the twelfth lunar month usually in November, the Loy Krathong festival is one of the oldest and well-preserved traditions in the Thai culture.
Loy in Thai means "to float" and krathong refers to the traditional banana leaf rafts decorated with candles, jasmine, rose, and incense sticks.
They are set adrift in rivers and bodies of water when the moon is at its brightest, the tide at its highest, and the waters are well illuminated.
"This is the time when we ask for pardon from the river, to float something bad from us and to pray for good things for our lives for the next year," Thai Ambassador to the UAE Somchai Charanasomboon told Gulf News.
Dubai: The Thai community in the UAE on Wednesday night celebrated the Loy Krathong festival or the Festival of Lights in remembrance of their families and friends who have been affected by the floods back home.
Celebrated annually on the full moon of the twelfth lunar month usually in November, the Loy Krathong festival is one of the oldest and well-preserved traditions in the Thai culture.
Loy in Thai means "to float" and krathong refers to the traditional banana leaf rafts decorated with candles, jasmine, rose, and incense sticks. They are set adrift in rivers and bodies of water when the moon is at its brightest, the tide at its highest, and the waters are well illuminated.
"This is the time when we ask for pardon from the river, to float something bad from us and to pray for good things for our lives for the next year," Thai Ambassador to the UAE Somchai Charanasomboon told Gulf News.
The practice comes with a number of beliefs among them being a ritual to pay homage to the spirits of the water within which they get their source of livelihood.
"After that, the people would enjoy their local life thinking of and meeting each other and having fun within the community," the ambassador added.
But the flood water currently affecting Central Thailand makes it an even greater reason to participate in the tradition, Thai officials said.
"We have some relatives who have been affected by the flood but they have high spirits, they know that this happens once in our lives and will not happen again," said Charanasomboon.
"This time as you know we have excessive flood in Bangkok, so it's also time to float our thoughts and our support to our friends, our brothers, and family in Thailand who are suffering because of the flood.
It signifies that we let our sorrow and everything float away," Thai Consul-General to the UAE Chalotorn Phaovibul told Gulf News.
The nearly four months of flooding in Thailand, which has claimed more than 500 lives, is considered the worst flood crisis in the country's recent history.
Currently, around 5,500 Thais live and work in the UAE.
No comments:
Post a Comment