City Hall this morning revealed that more krathongs were sent afloat in Bangkok’s waterways than last year, but said the majority were made from natural materials.
City workers counted 572,602 krathongs, a 42% increase over last year’s haul of 403,203, said Bangkok Metropolitan Administration spokesperson Ekwaranyu Amarapal.
Of those, the vast majority of traditional vessels floated into canals and other bodies of water, ostensibly to honor the water spirits, were made from environmentally friendly materials. Only 4.3%, or 24,516, of the krathongs were styrofoam.
Seven Bangkok districts found no styrofoam krathongs: Lak Si, Din Daeng, Bang Rak, Sathorn, Chom Thong, Bangkok Yai, and Thawi Watthana.
Loy Krathong has long come under scrutiny for the tons of waste dumped into the water than ends up clogging drains and fouling the environment.
For this year’s Loy Krathong, the most krathongs were recovered in the district of Khlong Toei (27,776) while Pom Prap Sattru Pai counted the fewest (122).
Khlong Toei had the honor of floating the most eco-friendly krathongs (26,912) while Prawet was found to have been floating the most styrofoam krathongs (1,140).
Photos: Bangkok Metropolitan Administration
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