Loy Krathong in Bangkok
Bangkok: Sukhothai Loy Krathong Festival 2-Day Tour 1 Night
When and where is Loy Krathong in Bangkok?
Loy Krathong, the festival of lights, falls on 25 November 2026. Across Bangkok, people float small decorated krathong rafts of banana leaf, flowers and candles onto the Chao Phraya River and the city's canals after dark. The best spots are the riverside near Asiatique, Wat Arun, and the parks at Lumphini and Benjasiri. The Yi Peng sky-lantern release is a Chiang Mai tradition, not a Bangkok one.
Loy Krathong is Thailand’s festival of lights, a gentle, romantic counterpart to the boisterous water fights of Songkran. On the night, people float small candlelit rafts called krathong onto rivers, canals and lakes to give thanks to the water and let go of the past year’s misfortune. In Bangkok it falls on 25 November 2026, and the city’s riverside neighbourhoods glow with thousands of tiny flames drifting down the Chao Phraya. This guide covers the date, what a krathong is, the best places to watch and join in across the city, and one honest myth to bust about the sky lanterns.
What Loy Krathong is
Loy Krathong takes place on the full moon of the twelfth month in the Thai lunar calendar, which in 2026 falls on 25 November. The name roughly means “to float a basket”, and the act is simple and lovely: you float a small decorated raft onto the water after dark, often making a wish or giving thanks to Phra Mae Khongkha, the goddess of water, while symbolically letting go of grudges and bad luck from the past year. It is a calm, contemplative festival, family-friendly and welcoming to visitors, and it happens to land in one of the most comfortable weather windows of the year. For the wider Thai context, customs and regional variations, the broader Loy Krathong guide goes deeper than this Bangkok-focused page.
The date and the weather
The festival evening is 25 November 2026, with the action concentrated after sunset. The timing is a real bonus: late November is when the monsoon has usually broken and Bangkok enters its cool, dry season, so you can expect comfortable, rain-light evenings around 28 to 31C, ideal for being out by the river. This overlaps with what the best time to visit Bangkok guide flags as the year’s sweet spot, and the Bangkok weather month-by-month breakdown confirms why November is such a pleasant time to be outdoors after dark.
What a krathong is
A krathong is a small floating raft. Traditionally it is built on a slice of banana trunk, decorated with tightly folded banana leaves, fresh flowers, sticks of incense and a candle. On the night you light the candle, sometimes adding a coin, a lock of hair or a fingernail clipping to symbolise releasing the old self, then float it gently onto the water. You will see vendors selling ready-made krathong near every riverside, park and temple pond for roughly 30 to 100 THB, about 1 to 3 USD. In recent years there has been a strong push toward eco-friendly krathong made from bread, ice or natural materials rather than polystyrene foam, to reduce the pollution that thousands of floating rafts can cause, so choose a biodegradable one where you can.
The best places in Bangkok
The Chao Phraya River is the centre of gravity for Loy Krathong in Bangkok. The riverside along the Chao Phraya lights up, with crowds gathering at piers, riverside restaurants and spots near Asiatique. The stretch around Wat Arun is especially photogenic, the floodlit temple reflected in a river dotted with candle flames. Riverside hotels and rooftop bars with a view make for memorable vantage points, though they book out fast.
Away from the river, the big city parks hold organised events with floating on their lakes. Lumphini Park in the Lumphini area and Benjasiri Park in Sukhumvit are reliable choices with a more relaxed, local feel. Beyond the headline spots, countless canals and temple ponds across the city fill with krathong on the night, including in the old khlongs of Thonburi, so wherever you are staying, you are rarely far from a place to float one.
The dinner-cruise option
One of the most popular ways to experience Loy Krathong is from the water itself, on a dinner cruise that puts you in the middle of the floating lights. These sell out well in advance for the festival night, so book early if this appeals. The general Chao Phraya dinner cruise guide compares the operators, and a cruise on or around the night is a special way to see the riverside glow:
A Chao Phraya dinner cruise on the Loy Krathong evening places you right among the floating candles, though the festival night books out quickly, so reserve well ahead.
The sky-lantern myth, told honestly
You have almost certainly seen the breathtaking photos of thousands of glowing lanterns rising into the night sky and assumed that is Loy Krathong. It is not, at least not in Bangkok. That mass sky-lantern release is Yi Peng, a Lanna tradition from northern Thailand centred on Chiang Mai, and it coincides with Loy Krathong but is a separate, distinctly northern celebration. Bangkok’s festival is about floating krathong on water, not releasing lanterns into the air. Sky lanterns are also restricted in the capital for aviation safety, given the proximity to the airports. So if the lantern release is your dream, you need to be in Chiang Mai, not Bangkok. We would rather tell you that plainly now than have you arrive expecting a sky full of lanterns.
Combining Bangkok with the north
If both the floating krathong and the sky lanterns appeal, one practical option is a trip that pairs Bangkok with Sukhothai, the historic city whose Loy Krathong celebrations in the ancient ruins are among the most atmospheric in the country. Sukhothai is where the festival is said to have originated, and its illuminated temple grounds are a spectacular setting:
A Bangkok-to-Sukhothai Loy Krathong tour pairs the capital with the historic city’s celebrated festival in the old ruins, a strong choice if you want more than the riverside in Bangkok alone.
How the evening unfolds
Loy Krathong is an after-dark festival, so the day itself runs normally and the magic begins around sunset. As dusk falls, vendors set up along the riverbanks, piers and park lakesides selling krathong, and families and couples gather to float them once it is fully dark. There is no single fixed schedule, people drift down to the water through the evening, light their candles, make their wish and release the raft, so the riverside glow builds gradually rather than peaking in one moment. Temples often hold their own celebrations, and some districts stage cultural performances, beauty pageants in traditional Thai dress (the Nang Noppamas contests) and small fireworks. The mood is relaxed and unhurried, well suited to an early dinner followed by a slow wander to the water’s edge.
Choosing where to float yours
Your choice of spot shapes the experience. The Chao Phraya riverside gives you the grandest setting, the wide river carrying thousands of candle flames past floodlit landmarks, but the prime piers and restaurants get busy and the current can sweep krathong away quickly. The park lakes at Lumphini and Benjasiri are calmer, more contained and easier with children, the still water keeping the floating rafts close and the candles burning longer. Smaller neighbourhood canals and temple ponds, including in the Thonburi khlongs, offer the most local, low-key version, where you may be among more Thai families than tourists. None is wrong; it comes down to whether you want spectacle, calm or authenticity.
Being a responsible visitor
The flip side of thousands of floating rafts is the cleanup, and the pollution it can cause has become a real concern. City crews remove tens of thousands of krathong from the river the morning after, and foam ones in particular linger as waste. As a visitor, the kindest choice is a biodegradable krathong, bread, banana trunk, or natural materials rather than polystyrene, which most vendors now offer, often at the same 30 to 100 THB price. Some people also share a single krathong between a couple or family rather than floating one each, which is perfectly in keeping with the spirit of the festival. It is a small gesture, but with so many participants it adds up, and it lets you enjoy the tradition without adding to the burden on the river you have come to admire.
Planning around the festival
Loy Krathong is one of the gentlest and most rewarding festivals to time a Bangkok trip around, and the comfortable late-November weather is a bonus. Book riverside restaurants and dinner cruises well ahead, since the night sells out, and expect busy but good-natured crowds at the prime riverside spots. For a sense of how it sits among the rest of the year’s celebrations, see the Bangkok festivals calendar, and for the festival’s exuberant opposite, the Songkran in Bangkok guide covers April’s water fights. To build the festival into a wider trip, the Bangkok 5 days itinerary gives you a framework. As always, remember the tap water is not drinkable, so keep bottled water on hand during your evening by the river.
The legends behind the festival
Part of what makes Loy Krathong special is the layers of meaning beneath the pretty candles. The most common explanation is that the floating krathong gives thanks to Phra Mae Khongkha, the goddess of water, for the year’s water and apologises for polluting the rivers, a fittingly humble origin for a festival that now wrestles with its own waste. Another strand ties it to paying respect to the Buddha. The festival is widely believed to have taken shape in the old kingdom of Sukhothai some seven centuries ago, which is why that historic city’s celebration in its illuminated ruins is considered the most evocative in the country. In Bangkok you experience the living, modern version of this old tradition, candles on the Chao Phraya rather than the moats of an ancient capital, but the gesture and the wish are the same.
Combining Loy Krathong with sightseeing
Because the festival is an evening affair, it slots neatly onto the end of a normal sightseeing day, and late November’s comfortable, dry weather makes the daytime hours pleasant for the city’s headline sights. You might spend the day at the Grand Palace and Wat Pho, break for an early riverside dinner, then drift to the water as dusk falls to float your krathong, a near-perfect Bangkok day. The Wat Arun side of the river is especially rewarding on the night, the floodlit spire above a river of candle flames. If you are building a longer trip, the festival is a natural centrepiece for the Bangkok for couples itinerary, given how romantic the floating-lights tradition is, and the things to do in Bangkok guide helps fill the daytime hours around it.
Frequently asked questions about Loy Krathong in Bangkok
What is the date of Loy Krathong 2026?
What is a krathong and what do you do with it?
Where are the best places to see Loy Krathong in Bangkok?
Are there sky lanterns at Loy Krathong in Bangkok?
Is Loy Krathong a good time to visit Bangkok?
Can tourists join Loy Krathong?
How is Loy Krathong different from Songkran?
Top experiences
Bookable activities with verified prices and instant confirmation on GetYourGuide.
