Eco-friendly bread krathongs spark fish massacre at Bangkok Loy Krathong
While promoted as an eco-friendly alternative, krathongs made of bread killed off large numbers of fish during this Loy Krathong festival, says a Bangkok official.
Pornphrom Vikitsreth, adviser to the Bangkok governor, on Friday posted photos of piles of dead fish on Facebook, saying that they died as a result of salted bread krathongs floated on a pond in Bangkok’s Santiphap Park.
Pornphrom said that 4,000 of the 6,810 krathongs collected at the park after Monday’s Loy Krathong were made of bread.
He explained that the bread krathong sank and polluted the water, leading to the death of “almost all the fish in the pond”.
After receiving complaints from visitors about the poor water quality, park authorities collected the dead fish and replaced the water in the pond.
Pornphrom said the incident was proof that bread krathongs are not eco-friendly, but instead pose a threat to nature.
About half of the krathongs collected after Bangkok Loy Krathong festivals this year were made of bread, according to Pornphrom.
At Benchakitti Park, 2,500 out of 5,790 krathongs were made of bread while the figure at Nong Chok Park was 800 out of 1,544.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) reported on Tuesday that 639,828 krathongs had been collected from city waterways after Monday’s festival, a rise of 11% from last year.
Almost all (618,951) were made of natural materials, while 20,877 were made of plastic foam.
