Loy Krathong festivities will light up major tourist and provincial centres across the country this evening, with businesses anticipating a record 9.9 billion baht windfall during the days of celebration.
The traditional floating lantern festival is celebrated at the full moon of the lunar month, which falls today, Friday Nov 3.
In Bangkok, the main celebration will be at Santi Chaiprakan Park, Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said.
In the North, Chiang Mai celebrates its own famous Yee Peng-Loy Krathong festival from Nov 1-5.
Celebrations are also set for Sukhothai Historical Park (Nov 1-5), Wat Simummueng in Ayutthaya (Nov 3), Wat Pummarin Kudeethong in Samut Songkhram (Nov 3), and Rattanakosin Song Roi Pi Bridge in Tak (Nov 3-7).
More than 300,000 tourists, both domestic and foreign, are expected to join the festivities in Sukhothai. Chiang Mai was reportedly booked out, with visitors drawn by the cooler weather this week.
Thanawat Polvichai, director of the center for economic and business forecasting at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, predicted Loy Krathong this year will generate revenue of more than 9.92 billion baht, up 3% on last year.
