- Children in Thailand made digital rafts and sent them floating down virtual rivers.
- Bangkok’s canals and rivers come alive with the ‘floating basket’ festival at night.
- In the Thai capital, monks are gathering and turning actual krathongs into animal feed.
In a green take on an old tradition, children in Thailand made digital rafts and sent them floating down virtual rivers.
To honor water spirits and make wishes, people have been sending “krathongs,” which are little baskets made of plants filled with flowers, candles, and bamboo, down streams for centuries.
Floating basket
Bangkok’s canals and rivers come alive with the romantic ‘floating basket’ or Loy Krathong festival at night. However, the following morning, organizers frequently have to work quickly to clear the canals that are clogged with hundreds of thousands of wet boats.
This year, participants drew roughly 3,000 images of “krathongs” and scanned them into computers throughout the celebration in an attempt to reduce the amount of cleanup. After that, a vibrant depiction of the water’s surface was projected with the designs.
Because it lessens the need to cut down trees, it is beneficial. Things fall into the water when you float (the real baskets). As she displayed her design by a canal in Bangkok on Monday night, 11-year-old Jirayada Surapant said, “This will help reduce waste.”
In the Thai capital, monks are gathering and turning actual krathongs into animal feed. They threaten to fill river mouths with trash that ends up in the sea. According to monk Mathee Vatchara Prachatorn, everyone has to help and all villages must contribute to the effort to reduce trash.
