Bangkok offers digital Krathong floating near Chinatown to reduce waste (video)

Photo via Twitter/ @chadchart_team

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is inviting locals and foreigners to celebrate the Loy Krathong Festival with an eco-friendly concept that allows visitors to float their digital Krathong into the Ong Ang Canal near Bangkok’s Chinatown.

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt and the BMA team announced on Twitter (X) today, November 27, that this is the first year that Bangkok will offer the digital floating Krathong, which is eco-friendly and anyone with a smartphone can participate.

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The BMA installed a giant screen on the surface of the Ong Ang Canal. Each visitor’s Krathong, or banana basket, would appear on the screen using projection mapping technology.

Chadchart clarified that people could access the digital Kratong through two channels. People can float Krathong from home via the Traffy Fondue LINE account by scanning the QR code to access it. Apart from floating Krathong, people are also allowed to submit complaints to the BMA along with the Krathong.

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The second channel is for those who want to design their own Krathong. Visitors can come to the Loy Krathong Festival along the Ong Ang Canal and contact staff to paint the Krathong before it is floated using the projection mapping technique.

The Loy Krathong event at Ong Ang Canal will run from 6pm until midnight today. Visitors can easily get to the event by getting off at Sam Yod MRT Station and walking to the event from Exit 1.

Environmental care

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The Digital Krathong Float aims to reduce the amount of garbage that could affect the water quality of individual rivers and canals, as well as aquatic animals and plants. This would keep the uniqueness of Thai culture and festivals under the awareness of environmental issues.

Apart from floating Krathong online with the BMA, several websites allow netizens to float Krathong online, including MThai, Sanook, Ministry of Culture, ReadAWrite, The Old Siam shopping mall, and Longdo Map.

The Sun Thon Phu Sub-district Office in the eastern province of Rayong recently faced criticism from the public after launching the Loy Krathong Festival at Mae Pim Beach. The event allows visitors to float their Krathong into the sea, which is believed to increase the risk of impacting marine life.

The authorities later clarified that they had prepared measures to deal with the waste after the event. There will be a buoy to prevent the Krathong from floating outside the designated area, and the authorities will collect all the Krathong the following day.

The authorities said they had tried to stop people floating Krathong into the sea every year but failed. People continued to float their Krathong into the sea without any control, so this year the officials would take strict control.

People interested in participating in the Loy Krathong Festival can visit nearby public parks, temples, universities and shopping malls such as ICONSIAM and Siam Square.

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Petch Petpailin

Petpailin, or Petch, is a Thai translator and writer for The Thaiger who focuses on translating breakingThai news stories into English. With a background in field journalism, Petch brings several years of experience to the English News desk at The Thaiger. Before joining The Thaiger, Petch worked as a content writer for several known blogging sites in Bangkok, including Happio and The Smart Local. Her articles have been syndicated by many big publishers in Thailand and internationally, including the Daily Mail, The Sun and the Bangkok Post. She is a news writer who stops reading news on the weekends to spend more time cafe hopping and petting dwarf shrimp! But during office hours, you can find Petch on LinkedIn and you can reach her by email at petch@thethaiger.com.

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