Loy Krathong in Bangkok: where to float your krathong

Updated on October 1, 2026

In 2026, Loy Krathong falls on Tuesday 24 November, the full-moon night of the 12th month of the Thai lunar calendar; in 2027, it will be on Saturday 13 November. After dark, Bangkok residents set a krathong on the water, a small raft of banana trunk and folded leaves topped with flowers, a candle and incense sticks, along the Chao Phraya River, the canals and the park lakes. The gesture thanks Phra Mae Khongkha, the goddess of water, and asks her forgiveness for the water used and polluted during the year; people make a wish and let past bad luck drift away with the current. Loy Krathong is not a public holiday: shops, transport and government offices run as usual, and the festival is concentrated in the evening.

Highlights

The temples along the Chao Phraya

In 2025, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) held the Bangkok River Festival from 3 to 5 November at nine riverside venues, including Wat Arun, Wat Pho, Wat Rakhang, Wat Kalayanamit and Tha Maharaj: shows, street food and krathongs to float from the banks. The 2026 programme is announced a few weeks before the festival.

Asiatique and Iconsiam

[Asiatique The Riverfront](/fr/attractions/asiatique-the-riverfront) is one of the Bangkok River Festival venues, with krathong stalls, a funfair and shows. Across the river, [Iconsiam](/fr/attractions/iconsiam) holds its own evening on River Park, its waterfront esplanade: in 2025, a Nang Noppamas parade, ceremonies and eco-friendly krathongs gliding along channels of light to the river, collected right after the event.

Santichaiprakarn Park

This Banglamphu park, at the foot of Phra Sumen Fort and near the Rama VIII Bridge, sits right on the river. It is one of the city parks opened for Loy Krathong; the atmosphere is more local than at Asiatique or Iconsiam, and Khao San Road is a few minutes' walk away.

The lakes of Lumphini and Benjakitti parks

In 2025, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) opened 33 parks in 21 districts until midnight on Loy Krathong night. [Lumphini Park](/fr/attractions/parc-lumphini) and Benjakitti Park, with their large lakes, are the easiest to reach from Silom and Sukhumvit. Alcohol sales, sky lanterns, fireworks and firecrackers are banned there.

Dinner cruises on the river

Chao Phraya cruise companies run special dinners on Loy Krathong night, most of them from the Iconsiam, Asiatique or River City piers. You glide past the illuminated temples and the krathongs on the water, away from the crowds on the banks. These cruises are booked several weeks ahead and cost more that night than the rest of the year.

Eco-friendly krathongs

Choose a krathong made of banana trunk and banana leaves, sold on every street on the day of the festival. The BMA asks people to give up polystyrene krathongs, and also bread krathongs in the parks, because they rot in the enclosed lakes and spoil the water. It encourages one krathong per family, and also offers a virtual krathong to float on its Greener Bangkok website. Of the krathongs collected by the city in 2024, 98.39% were made of natural materials.

Infos pratiques

Tips

Do not release a sky lantern (khom loi): they are banned in city parks and in the air-safety zones around Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports, and elsewhere releasing one requires prior permission from the district. The huge lanterns rising by the thousand into the sky belong to Yi Peng, in Chiang Mai, not to Bangkok. On the banks, crowds pack the piers and floating pontoons: the BMA inspects them before the festival and each must display its maximum capacity, so avoid a pontoon that is already packed, hold children by the hand and do not lean over the water. On festival night, the regular boats and the free Asiatique and Iconsiam shuttles from Sathorn pier are overrun: allow extra time for the trip back. Information checked in October 2026.

How to get there

Asiatique and Iconsiam: BTS Saphan Taksin, then the free river shuttle from Sathorn pier; Iconsiam is also served by the BTS Gold Line, Charoen Nakhon station. Wat Arun: express boat to Tha Tien pier, then the cross-river ferry. Santichaiprakarn Park: Phra Athit Road, Phra Arthit express boat pier. Lumphini Park: MRT Silom or Lumphini, BTS Sala Daeng. Benjakitti Park: MRT Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre.