Loy krathong

Doesn't our house look lovely? We are not big Loy Krathong fans. At its heart it is a lovely festival, held on the full moon of the 12th month of the Thai lunar Calendar people float little floral rafts (usually banana leaves, orchids and jasmine with incense and a candle) on to the river to symbolise the releasing of all the bad luck and negativity from the previous year. In Chiang Mai they also set aloft hundred and thousands of Khom Fai (floating paper lanterns) which fill the sky every night for a week. However to our sensitive western ears the festival is ruined by an endless barrage of fireworks and firecrackers, and the raucous music of the riverside parties - and as we live by the river we really get the worst of it.

But the lovely part for us is that every year Fon brings us a bag of tiny candles to set around the perimeter of our house. We can handle the romantic flicker of candles.

Looks just like a house filled with love doesn't it?