Loy Krathong to be proposed for addition to Unesco intangible cultural heritage list
Thailand’s Culture Ministry is preparing to register Loy Krathong festival in 2024 in the Unesco list of intangible cultural heritage to complement the government’s policy of promoting Thai culture and soft power at global level.
Loy Krathong is one of Thailand's most popular festivals, celebrated on the full moon of the 12th lunar month. It involves releasing “krathong” — lotus-shaped rafts decorated with candles, incense and flowers — onto lakes and rivers to honour the Buddha and the water goddess. Fireworks and traditional dance performances are also part of the celebration.
The ministry executives and private partners met on Wednesday to set a plan for organising Loy Krathong celebrations this year at various locations across the country. Ministry permanent secretary Yupha Taweewattanakitborvon chaired the session.
Yupha told the meeting that the ministry would adopt the policy set forth by the Thailand Creative Content Agency, which aims to promote Thai culture and tradition that highlights the country’s history, folk wisdom, and lifestyle to a global audience in a bid to boost tourism and the creative economy.
She said the Culture Ministry is surveying festival sites and would collect data regarding this year’s Loy Krathong festival to prepare for the registration of the Thai festival on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s list of intangible cultural heritage in 2024.
Yupha added that one of the most iconic Loy Krathong sites visited by several Thais and foreigners was the pier of Wat Arun Ratchawararam, also known as “Temple of Dawn”, on the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. The ministry will therefore host its central festival here on the night of November 24, in cooperation with private partners including Thai Beverage Plc.
Another interesting Loy Krathong site in Thailand is at Sukhothai Historical Park in Muang district of Sukhothai province, which is also listed as Unesco’s World Heritage Site.
Unlike in other provinces, Loy Krathong has been celebrated for several days in Sukhothai as the birthplace of the festival with decorated lanterns, cultural performance and firework shows leading up the actual krathong floating event on the last day.
