Loy Kratong is a religious event that happened in Thailand every year on the first full moon of November. This is a big thing in the north and specially in Chiang Mai but I didn’t want to come back to the north before going to Cambodia. I’ve heard that Koh Chang was also celebrating it that’s all I needed to book my ticket to go there. A beach, the jungle, monkeys and elephants and a light festival? Let’s go!

It appears that it was maybe not as incredible as I was expecting it would be but it was really powerful to see the locals preparing the crowns with flowers and candles, incenses sticks and banana leaves the entire day. Coca cola and the western world invading the Thai villages won’t have the locals traditions.
    

I start to realise how tourism is acting like a colonial gesture sometimes. We arrive there with our way of thinking, with our parties and our estheticism without even thinking about how it could hurt the people living here already. The first rule for the traveler should be: “never forget where you are”. You may feel like at home, surrounded by all the western backpackers but you are not. South East Asia has some rules, laws, and customs, and even if you think they are a bit funny sometimes, you can’t just try to make them change their way of life for you. I can see more and more on the way how we imported with us all the western industries and way of life and I can see how that affected the traditions in Thailand. To see the locals, with the kids, walking on the sea with their crown and pray for their ancestors made me feel grateful for the respect they still have for their own culture. I’m traveling to see a bit of this world, and I am always grateful to have this kind of easy travel where you can find anything from Europe easily (like the day I NEEDED to have a burger at Burger King), but also really glad to see that the world in not completely flat yet, that there is still different things to observe and try to understand and that tourism didn’t destroy the authenticity of some places.
    
    
  

There is also this legend about the crown. If a couple is offering the crown to the sea and the light keeps shining then the couple will have good luck for one year.

After few beers at the Siam House, Patrick arrived with a crown for me. “I know it’s important for you so I bought this stuff so you can drop it in the sea for yourself and there is no risks we will end up together and shit.” I thought that it’s the nicest thing a friend could offer me. If I remembered well, we spit on our hands and scelled our “friends for life” by a shake. I got undressed on the beach and walked with my little crown full of flowers and candles. Once again during my trip I felt really emotional about who I was turning into and how beautiful this trip was so far. The dark and warm water, the stars in the sky and the smell of the incense will last for a long time in my memories.

Last advice before closing this article. DON’T DRINK BUCKETS IN ASIA. I’ve learned that in my first trip in Asia but it looks like you need to be remembered all the time this precious rule. I had so much stories of guys getting completely fucked up by the cheap alcohol they put inside. It turns your head upside down in two seconds, even if you are used to drink. Fortunately, I was ok, I love beer and not that much strong alcohol but I had to bring back on my shoulder my nearly-two-meters-tall friend in the dark and it was NOT FUNNY. (Maybe a little bit in the morning when I saw his face after telling him all the details of the after party and the mess it was!)

Thank you Travis for the corrections!