Loy Krathong Festival: Dates, Tickets & Venue (Bangkok)

A river full of small lights

Loy Krathong is a full-moon festival. In 2026 it falls on the night of November 24-25. Across Bangkok, people kneel at the water’s edge and set palm-sized floats onto the Chao Phraya River, the canals and the park lakes.

Each krathong is a small raft. The base is traditionally a slice of banana trunk, wrapped in folded banana leaf and topped with marigolds or orchids. Three incense sticks and a candle go in the middle. Once lit, it drifts off with a wish, and by full dark the river carries thousands of them past the temples and hotel towers.

Where Bangkok floats its krathongs

There is no single venue. The festival happens anywhere there’s water, and these are the places crowds usually gather:

• Chao Phraya riverbanks and piers: around Saphan Taksin and Sathorn Pier, and near Memorial Bridge (Saphan Phut).
• Asiatique The Riverfront: a night market on the river’s east bank with a long waterfront promenade.
• ICONSIAM: the big riverside mall in Khlong San, with a broad terrace facing the water.
• Lumphini Park: the lakes in the city’s central park, a calmer place to float than the river.
• Benchakitti Park: the newer park next to the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, built around a large lake.
• Riverside temples: Wat Arun’s grounds face the river from the Thonburi bank.

The parks feel more like a neighbourhood occasion. Families spread out along the lake edges and children float bread krathongs, which the fish eat. The river is the big spectacle: boats, the lit-up skyline and a much denser crowd.

Tickets, cruises and what’s free

You don’t need a ticket for Loy Krathong itself. The public riverbanks, the piers and the city parks are open to anyone with a krathong and a lighter.

The paid side of the night is separate. Dinner cruises on the Chao Phraya and riverside hotel terraces sell their own Loy Krathong seats, and each operator handles its own reservations. Visitors after a view from the water usually go for these, because seats on a deck are limited on the festival’s busiest night.

Reaching the water

Traffic near the river on festival night is slow. Most attendees ride rail and boats instead of taxis.

• Saphan Taksin and Sathorn Pier: BTS Saphan Taksin station (Silom Line). Sathorn Pier is beside the exit, and Chao Phraya Express boats and the Asiatique shuttle boat leave from there.
• ICONSIAM: BTS Charoen Nakhon on the Gold Line, or a river boat across from Sathorn Pier.
• Lumphini Park: MRT Lumphini or MRT Silom, both on the Blue Line. BTS Sala Daeng is also a short walk away.
• Benchakitti Park: MRT Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre (Blue Line).
• Memorial Bridge and Wat Arun: MRT Sanam Chai (Blue Line), then a short walk or cross-river ferry.

Late in the evening, people usually walk a few blocks before calling a ride. The roads right next to the piers stay jammed.

Floating your krathong without a fuss

Vendors set up trestle tables near pier entrances, park gates and BTS exits, piled with ready-made krathongs. Most pay in cash, though some stalls take Thai QR payment.

A few things people do at the water:

• Pick a natural base. Banana trunk and bread break down; foam doesn’t. The city has spent years asking people to skip foam.
• Share one. Bangkok encourages one krathong per family or couple, which keeps the waterways cleaner.
• Light it at the edge. Light the candle and incense, make a quiet wish, then crouch and set it down gently. People don’t toss it.
• Add something of yourself. Some Thais tuck in a coin, a strand of hair or a nail clipping, symbolically letting go of bad luck.
• Let it go. Once it’s on the water, it isn’t retrieved. Staff and volunteers clear the floats afterwards.

On temple grounds, the usual dress applies: shoulders and knees covered. Sky lanterns belong to the north’s Yi Peng festival around Chiang Mai. Releasing them in Bangkok is restricted because of air traffic at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang.

Around the festival night

The night runs late and the river gets crowded, so many visitors combine floating with dinner in the same area. Asiatique and ICONSIAM both have plenty of food under one roof. Around Saphan Taksin, the streets of Charoen Krung and Bang Rak are close by.

If the river feels too packed, Lumphini Park is a short MRT ride inland. Its lake edge is quieter, and the candles still reflect in the water under the full moon.