Loy Krathong Festivities

Last night was Loy Krathong... one of only 2 holidays I really celebrate anymore (along with July 4th... which is just a reason to have a party).

I rented Took this beautiful dress, and she went to the salon and had her hair styled and filled with flowers, and her makeup done. She had never actually dressed in traditional Thai fashion before, and the whole thing made her a little uptight to start off with. "I don't like this makeup!" "I'm too fat for this dress!" However, by the end of the evening, she had a grin on her face a mile wide, and she had a great time... as did I.

I myself dressed up in traditional Thai garb as well... a matching blue full-button silk blazer with a nehru collar with gold trim, some gold-colored extra-baggy knickerbockers, white over-the-knee socks, and black shoes.

Actually, it was I who made the difference: Thousands of Thai girls got all dressed up for Loy Krathong and Took blended right in, but very few farangs bothered to make the effort to get dressed up. Our matching ensemble was appreciated by everyone out on the town...

...and that was hundreds of thousands of people, all told. By the end of the evening, Took was proud to be out and be appreciated, which was at least as enjoyable for me as it was for her.

First, we went to the beach, where we met up with Mike, Reeza, Mike's friend Richard, his wife, and their little boy. We watched all the fireworks, and the thousands of aerial krathongs floating candles in the sky. Took and I bought a krathong, took it down to the seaside, lit the candles and incense, made our wishes, and then had a local boy wade out into the water and set it afloat.

After that, it was out to dinner. We were going to go to Vientienne restaurant, one of Pattaya's largest Asian restaurants, but I was suprised to discover that it had been torn down. (I later found it has moved to Walking Street.) We wound up having dinner at the Pig & Whistle, a British pub on Soi 7.

After dinner, we went to Walking Street, which was packed to the rafters. To add to the crowded feeling, lots of vendors had set up restaurants in the middle of the street, and the whole place was like a huge, long outdoor café. (I snapped this picture in a fairly uncrowded part of the street... damn camera phone.) It was actually almost too crowded to walk.

We met up with Dr. Dave and Ahm at Beavers, and then went over to TQ2, where we met up with Bob, his wife, and baby Jeanna. We had drinks and then made our way home at midnight.

Midnight was just the right time because Go was just getting ready to float her krathong in the pool. (Midnight is the "proper" time to float a krathong actually.) I'm not sure how long it took Go to make her krathong, but it was certainly beautiful, and we sat on the deck, and watched the krathong float, glow, and talked about what a great evening we had had.