865,415 Krathongs were Floated in Bangkok Parks

One of the things that has to be done after the Loy Krathong festival every year is to clear up all of the krathongs left floating on the water. If people float their krathongs on the Chao Phraya River, then these are washed downstream and out to the Gulf of Thailand. But any krathongs that were floated on the lakes in the 28 parks in Bangkok have to be physically removed. And counted. Last year, a total of 916,354 krathongs were collected by BMA officials. Apparently 86% of them were made of natural materials and 14% from foam. This year, only 865,415 krathongs were collected. 88% of them were made from natural materials which is a record. 12% were made from foam. We weren’t expecting so many this year. Partly due to the death of the Supreme Patriarch. But also because so many people were protesting in Bangkok last night. But, this was still much better than 2011 which coincided with the big flood. That year only 322,779 krathongs were collected from the parks in Bangkok. I guess most people just floated the krathongs from their front door and watched them float down the street.