Loi Krathong postponed

Hotels will have to cancel Loi Krathong parties and celebrations, 17 November, as the country mourns the passing of His Holiness Supreme Patriarch who died last Thursday.
The Supreme Patriarch who was the spiritual leader of Buddhism in Thailand, was 100 years old.

The government immediately declared a month of official mourning across the nation that prohibits all entertainment and celebrations usually associated with this annual festival.
TAT deputy governor, Thawatchai Arunyik, hinted of a postponement to salvage the entertainment content of the festival for foreign tourists who had already booked a holiday linked to the festival. It would require rescheduling it to after the mourning period in late November.
Thais and visitors can still enjoy the traditional elements of the festival, but all the entertainment, music, dance and fair activities including beauty contests are cancelled.
The country will be in official mourning for one month . The ban on entertainment includes national festivals such as Loi Krathong as well as entertainment, concerts, bands and folk dances that are often held weekly in provincial towns particularly in North Thailand.
Even TAT’s assurances that the event could be held later may not be practical. Loi Krathong is an annual festival that falls on the night of the full moon of the 12th Thai lunar month, which is Sunday 17 November this year. Even postponing the festival by a month to the full moon night of 17 December may not gain the imagination of residents.
Earlier, TAT said it was supporting six venues, countrywide, for tourists to celebrate Thailand’s annual Loi Krathong festival — Bangkok; Ayutthaya; Samut Songkhram; Sukhothai; Tak; and Chiang Mai.
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration said it would still host the traditional elements of the festival but without any entertainment.
BMA deputy permanent secretary, Manit Techa-apichoke, said City Hall decided to go ahead with the festival minus entertainment to support the private sector and travel agencies that already have bookings from tourists.
The BMA has designated a section of the Chao Phraya River near the Rama VIII Bridge and at 28 public parks in the capital for the festiival.
Essentially a family celebration, the festival has its origin in legends from Thailand’s Sukhothai period (1238 to 1438) and folk tales passed down by past generation that claimed members of the royal family created a festival to ask for forgiveness from Phra Mae Kongka (Ganges Goddess of rivers) and to pay respect to the Lord Buddha.
Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara Somdet Phra Sangharaja Sakalamahasanghaparinayaka (3 October 1913 to 24 October 2013) was the 19th Supreme Patriarch of Thailand. He was appointed to the position in 1989 by HM the King Bhumibol Adulyadej. He turned 100 in October.
During his more than 70 years as a monk and novice, Somdet Nyanasamvara has held a variety of posts in the Thai ecclesiastic hierarchy.
As abbot of Wat Bovoranives, he oversaw the renovation and expansion of this famed century-old monastery. Long interested in the meditation techniques of the Thai forest monks, Somdet Nyanasamvara made his temple residence a centre for meditation study and instruction in Bangkok.

Sourced: ttrweekly