The Loy Krathong festival will be taking place today (22nd of November). Where the tradition is to pay respect towards Phra Mae Khong Kha who is the Goddess of the water. This is done by floating the “Krathong” which is an object made from Banana Leaves, Banana tree, flowers, a candle, and incense sticks.
In the past few years, other versions of the Krathong has also been designed in order to provide variation and an alternate source to produce less waste into the environment of the rivers. For example, Krathongs made from bread, ice cream cones, and even ice.
Wongjun Noeychana 55 years old and Reangsri Kemwiset 58 years old who are growers of banana leaves in Surat Thani province are busy cutting and preparing the leaves in order to deliver the leaves to the local fresh market in time. The banana leaves will be sold to buyers from all over the province. The buyers will be turning the banana leaves into beautifully decorated Krathongs by folding the leaves and adding flowers. They will then sell the Krathongs to those participating in the Loy Krathong festival mainly at temples and rivers.
Sanook reported that Wongjun stated that she has been growing the banana trees in her coconut farm for many years. She usually sells 50 piles of Banana leaves per day at 10 THB/Kilo. As the period of Loy Krathong celebration is close, the order for banana leaves is almost double of what it usually is. The orders come from buyers who want to sell Krathongs this year.
Wongjun even commented that compared to last year, the demand for banana leaves has almost doubled since last year for the Loy Krathong celebration. It is expected from this news that more people will be floating Krathongs out into the rivers this year.
In Klong Noi, where Wongjun and Reangsri farm is located, is an area that is one of the biggest producers of banana leaves, where for over 50 years an average of 1 ton of banana leaves are produced.
FB Caption: The demand for Banana leaves have almost doubled since last year.
Source: Sanook
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