Loy Krathong on the Andaman coast — Phuket, Krabi, and Phang Nga
| 2026 dates | Approximately 1–2 November (lunar calendar, confirm closer to the date) |
| Where | Beaches (Surin, Nai Harn, Rawai, Kata, Patong) and Saphan Hin Old Town |
| Cost | Free to attend; a krathong costs 50–150 THB |
| Not to confuse with | Yi Peng (sky lanterns) — that’s a northern Thailand tradition |
| Best for | Families, couples, anyone wanting a low-key cultural evening |
What Loy Krathong is and what it isn’t
Loy Krathong is one of Thailand’s most widely celebrated festivals, but it’s often misunderstood by visitors who confuse it with Yi Peng, the sky lantern festival held in Chiang Mai and northern Thailand around the same time.
To be clear about the Andaman coast:
Loy Krathong — what happens in Phuket, Krabi, and Phang Nga — involves floating decorated baskets (krathong) on water. On the Andaman coast, that means the sea, rivers, and lagoons. The sky stays empty. It’s a quiet, intimate ceremony on the water’s edge, not a dramatic aerial spectacle.
Yi Peng — the sky lantern festival — is a northern Thai Lanna tradition and happens primarily in Chiang Mai. Some coastal resorts have introduced lantern releases as a tourist attraction, but this is not traditional to the Andaman coast, and where it does happen, it raises valid fire and marine debris concerns.
Knowing this before you arrive sets the right expectations. Loy Krathong on the Andaman coast is worth attending on its own terms — the sight of hundreds of lit krathong drifting out to sea from a dark beach on a full moon night is genuinely beautiful — but it’s a different experience from the Chiang Mai photographs you may have seen.
When it happens in 2026
Loy Krathong falls on the full moon of the 12th lunar month. In 2026, this corresponds to approximately 1–2 November. The main celebration is on the full moon evening itself, with smaller events on the night before and after.
The timing is significant for a practical reason: early November is the start of the high season on the Andaman coast. The southwest monsoon has ended, the skies clear, and the sea calms down after months of rough conditions. The best time to visit Phuket for beaches and sea conditions begins right around this date. A trip timed to coincide with Loy Krathong lets you arrive at the transition from low to high season — good weather, before peak-season prices fully kick in.
What Loy Krathong means
Loy (ลอย) means to float. Krathong (กระทง) is the small decorated basket. The festival honours Mae Khongkha, the goddess of water, with an offering and an apology — for the ways humans have used and sometimes polluted her waterways throughout the year.
The act of releasing a krathong is also understood as letting go of bad luck, grievances, and the troubles of the past year. The candle burning inside the krathong symbolises hope and goodwill. People make a wish as they release it.
There’s nothing you need to believe or pretend to believe to participate. Most Thai people treat the evening as a combination of spiritual practice and community celebration — families come together at the waterfront, children buy krathong from stalls, couples release them together, and everyone watches the water fill with small lights.
Where to celebrate on the Andaman coast
Phuket: the main beaches
The largest celebrations in Phuket are at the main west coast beaches. Surin Beach, Rawai, Nai Harn, and Kata Beach all hold beach-front events on the full moon evening. Patong has a celebration too, though the beach-front nightlife atmosphere there is different from the quieter settings further south.
Of the west coast beaches, Surin and Nai Harn tend to have the most atmospheric events — less commercial, more community-oriented, with local Thai families predominating rather than tourist crowds. At Surin in particular, the beach curves gently around a bay, which makes the sight of krathong drifting on the water particularly striking.
Phuket: Saphan Hin waterfront park
Saphan Hin, the large park and promenade on the southwest edge of Phuket Old Town, hosts one of the island’s main community events. Temporary stages, food stalls, and organised ceremony take place here on the full moon night. This is a good option if you’re staying in the city rather than on the coast — accessible by foot or Grab, and with a genuine local atmosphere rather than a tourist-facing event.
Krabi: Ao Nang and Railay Beach
The celebration around Krabi Ao Nang is one of the most visually distinctive on the Andaman coast. Railay Beach — accessible only by longtail boat — celebrates Loy Krathong against a backdrop of vertical limestone karst cliffs rising from the sea. The sight of krathong lights on dark water framed by those cliffs is unlike anything you’ll see in Phuket.
Getting to Railay from Ao Nang takes about 15 minutes by longtail. On the full moon evening, the last boats back run late to accommodate the celebration, but confirm return times with the longtail operators before you go.
Phang Nga Bay: Koh Yao Noi
Koh Yao Noi is a quieter Muslim fishing island in Phang Nga Bay — less visited than Phuket’s main beaches and with a predominantly local atmosphere. The Loy Krathong celebration here is small and community-centred. There’s no staged event, no tourist infrastructure — just families at the waterfront releasing krathong by the light of the full moon, surrounded by the karst islands of Phang Nga Bay.
Getting to Koh Yao Noi requires a ferry from Rassada Pier in Phuket (about 30 minutes). It’s worth the effort if you want to experience the festival in a genuinely local context rather than a tourist-oriented setting.
Making or buying a krathong
A krathong is a small floating vessel, traditionally made from a cross-section of banana tree trunk as the base, decorated with folded banana leaves, lotus flowers, incense sticks, a candle, and a small coin. The coin is symbolic — it represents letting go of worldly attachment along with your bad luck.
You can buy ready-made krathong at markets and stalls near any waterfront on the festival evening. Prices are 50–150 THB ($1.50–4.50 USD) depending on size and how elaborate the decoration is. The simpler banana-leaf ones are 50–80 THB; larger ones with orchids and detailed folding are at the higher end.
Some venues offer krathong-making workshops in the days before the festival — hotels and cultural centres in Phuket Old Town occasionally run these for 200–400 THB ($6–12 USD). It takes about 45 minutes and produces a more personally meaningful krathong than a purchased one.
The environmental question
Traditional krathong made from banana trunk, banana leaves, lotus flowers, incense, and a candle are entirely biodegradable. The banana trunk absorbs water and sinks within a few days, and the materials decompose naturally. This is the traditional form and the environmentally sound one.
The problem: many commercially sold krathong use styrofoam bases or synthetic flowers and materials that don’t decompose. Styrofoam krathong released into the sea remain as marine debris for years.
How to tell the difference: a banana trunk base is grey-brown, fibrous, and feels solid but flexible. A styrofoam base is white or light-coloured and rigid. If it’s styrofoam, find one made from banana trunk instead — they’re always available at the same stalls.
Some local government authorities and community organisations retrieve krathong from the water the morning after the festival to dispose of them properly. This is good practice and doesn’t diminish the meaning of the ceremony.
Practical notes for attending
Arrive early
At the main beaches, good spots along the waterfront fill up in the hour before sunset. The ceremony proper begins after dark with the candle-lighting. Arriving an hour before sunset gives you time to buy a krathong, find a spot, and watch the atmosphere build.
Food stalls
Food vendors set up near every Loy Krathong celebration. This is a good opportunity to eat well from Thai street food stalls at normal prices — 50–100 THB per dish ($1.50–3 USD). The Phuket street food scene is at its best at community events like this rather than at tourist-facing night markets.
Photographing the ceremony
The reflection of hundreds of krathong lights on water in the dark is genuinely difficult to photograph on a phone. A few tips: use portrait mode to blur the background, photograph other people releasing their krathong rather than the water surface (the light on faces works better than the distant reflections), and use the moment for experience rather than trying to capture it perfectly.
Language
The ceremony needs no Thai language. Buying a krathong, lighting the candle, making a silent wish, and releasing it into the water is self-explanatory. You’ll see how it’s done by watching the people around you.
November travel context
Loy Krathong falls right at the start of Phuket’s high season. November weather is typically excellent — clear skies, calm seas, and temperatures around 28–32°C. This is when Kata Beach, Karon Beach, and the west coast beaches are at their best for swimming.
The Similan Islands reopen in November after their seasonal closure, which means the full range of island hopping and dive trips becomes available again. If you’re planning a week-long trip around Loy Krathong, you can combine the festival with the first good snorkeling and diving conditions of the season.
Accommodation prices begin rising in November — not yet at December-January peak levels, but noticeably higher than October. Book accommodation at least six weeks ahead for the festival weekend itself, as waterfront rooms near Surin Beach and Rawai fill up.
For a full November trip structure, the Phuket in 7 days itinerary is a good starting framework that can be adapted to centre on the full moon date.
Pairing the festival with an evening out
If you’d rather experience Loy Krathong as part of an organised evening than navigate the waterfront crowds independently, a cultural dinner in Phuket Old Town around the festival dates gives you the Sino-Portuguese architecture, local food, and a shorter walk to Saphan Hin for the ceremony itself.
Phuket Old Town cultural heritage dinner experience
What locals actually think of the festival
For many Phuket residents, Loy Krathong is a family evening rather than a spectacle — parents bring young children to release a krathong together, older relatives visit temples earlier in the day, and the beach gathering afterward is as much about seeing neighbours as it is about ceremony. Visitors are welcome and rarely made to feel out of place, but it’s worth remembering this is a lived tradition, not a tourist show staged for an audience. Taking a moment to actually make a wish as you release your krathong, rather than just photographing the moment, tends to make for a better evening regardless of your beliefs.
Frequently asked questions about Loy Krathong on the Andaman coast
Is Loy Krathong the same as the sky lantern festival? No. Sky lanterns (khom loi) are the Yi Peng festival, specific to northern Thailand, primarily Chiang Mai. On the Andaman coast, Loy Krathong involves floating krathong on water only. Some tourist resorts have added lantern releases as an extra, but this is not traditional and has legitimate environmental and fire concerns associated with it.
Are the 2026 dates confirmed? The approximate date — 1–2 November 2026 — is based on the lunar calendar calculation for the 12th lunar month full moon. The official confirmed date will be announced by the Thai government and Tourism Authority of Thailand closer to the time. Lunar calendar festivals occasionally shift by a day based on the official lunar count.
Can children participate? Yes, Loy Krathong is a family festival and children participate everywhere. Parents typically help young children light the candle and guide the krathong to the water. The crowds at major events can be dense on the full moon evening — keep small children close and in view.
Is there an entrance fee? No. Beach access and public waterfront areas are free. Some hotels and restaurants organize their own formal Loy Krathong events with dinner packages — these are optional and typically cost 800–2,000 THB ($24–60 USD) per person. The public celebration at the beach requires no ticket.
Is the full moon night the only opportunity? The main celebration is on the full moon evening. In some areas, smaller events happen the night before and the night after. The full moon night is significantly larger than surrounding dates.
Where is the quietest, most authentic place to celebrate? Koh Yao Noi in Phang Nga Bay is the least touristy Loy Krathong experience accessible from Phuket. Nai Harn beach in south Phuket is quieter than Patong or Kata. Saphan Hin in Phuket Old Town is a large community event but predominantly local rather than tourist-oriented.