Thailand’s festival honouring rivers also pollutes them

Paying tribute to the divinity is increasingly proving to be ecologically hazardous

Bangkok: Thais flocked to rivers and lakes to release small floats adorned with flowers and candles in an annual festival honouring the goddess of water, with many of the hundreds of thousands of floats ending up clogging and polluting the country’s waterways.

Within hours, workers began trawling the rivers to fish out the offerings, as paying tribute to the divinity is increasingly proving to be ecologically hazardous. The Loy Krathong festival allows believers to symbolically float their misfortunes away on “krathongs” and start another year of life with a clean slate. The festival is celebrated on the night of the full moon of the 12th lunar month, which traditionally marks the end of the rainy season.

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Thon Thamrongnawasawat, a leading Thai marine biologist, said getting people to stop using harmful materials such as polystyrene foam — Styrofoam — for their floats remains the priority because they cause the most damage to the water and aquatic life. The number of endangered sea creatures found dead ashore, which he believes stems from the problem of ocean trash in Thailand, doubled from 2017 to 2020.

Activists have noted a change in people’s behaviour over decades, pointing to rising awareness of the damage krathongs cause. The total number of krathongs collected in Bangkok has fallen from over 9,00,000 in 2012 to just over 490,000 last year, and there has been an even sharper reduction in the number of floats made of Styrofoam, from 1,31,000 to under 18,000 over the same period.

Even so, some conservationists advocate a more radical solution. “We need to revolutionise the practice, allowing the ecosystem of the waterways to be restored,” said Tara Buakamsri, Thailand country director for the environmental group Greenpeace. “We should not release any floats, because even if they are made from natural materials, the amount of them exceeds what rivers can naturally deal with.” “We depend on clean water for our livelihood and the aim of Loy Krathong should be to protect and rejuvenate our rivers without putting anything in them.” Sales of materials for krathongs have been slow this year due to the pandemic, said Nopparat Tangtonwong, a vendour at Pak Klong market, famous for selling flowers.