Loi Krathong and Yi Peng 2027: dates, places, lantern rules

When is Loi Krathong 2027?

Loi Krathong 2026 falls on Tuesday 24 November. The Tourism Authority of Thailand gave the date on 30 October 2026, as the full-moon night it shares this year with Dev Deepavali and Gurpurab. In Sukhothai, the Loi Krathong and Candle Festival runs from 15 to 24 November 2026 in the historical park, according to the Thai government's event listing. Chiang Mai's Yi Peng lantern nights are expected on 24 and 25 November, following the 2025 pattern; the province announces the nights and the sky-lantern hours shortly before. The rest of this guide plans for 2027.

Loi Krathong falls on the full moon of the twelfth month of the Thai lunar calendar, which lands in November in most years. The festival is not a public holiday, so no government holiday list gives its date. The anchor is the Bank of Thailand's 2027 holiday notification, which puts Asalha Bucha, the full moon of the eighth lunar month, on Sunday 18 July 2027. The twelfth-month full moon comes four lunar months later, on Saturday 13 November 2027. Treat that date as expected until the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the provinces publish their programmes, usually a few weeks before the festival.

The table shows what to expect around that weekend. Programme dates come from the 2024 and 2025 festivals; the 2027 programmes are not out yet.

For the rest of the year's holidays and festivals, see our Thailand festivals calendar.

What happens, from the eve to the night after

A krathong is an offering. TAT describes people gathering at lakes, rivers, canals and beaches to honour the goddess of water, floating a raft of banana leaves decorated with flowers, incense and a candle to let misfortune drift away and invite good luck. After dark the riverbanks fill with small flames moving slowly downstream, and they stay busy late into the night.

In the north the same moon belongs to Yi Peng, a Lanna tradition that TAT says has been folded into Loi Krathong. In Chiang Mai, coloured paper lanterns hang outside homes and temples, people wear Lanna dress, and processions move through the old city. On the eve of the 2024 festival, thousands of small candles were lit along the old city walls, a sight worth walking out for before the crowds arrive.

Away from the big three, TAT lists strong local versions: Tak floats chains of coconut-shell krathongs down the Ping River, Samut Songkhram makes them from banana trunk on the Mae Klong at Amphawa, and at Wat Phra That Doi Kong Mu in Mae Hong Son, where there is no river, krathongs are sent into the sky instead.

The days build up like this:

• The days before: lanterns go up across Chiang Mai and stalls sell krathongs; Sukhothai's festival is already running in the historical park.
• The full-moon night (expected Saturday 13 November): the main floating everywhere, from Bangkok's piers to village ponds; in Chiang Mai the first of the lantern nights.
• The night after (expected Sunday 14 November): Chiang Mai's second lantern night; in past years the city has held its krathong procession contest and fireworks at Tha Phae Gate around this time.

Chiang Mai's Yi Peng, and the sky-lantern rules

Chiang Mai is the reason most travellers plan around this full moon, and our Chiang Mai guide covers the city itself. The programme spreads across the municipality. TAT's listing for 2024 named a grand krathong contest, a traditional Lanna lantern competition and the krathong sai ceremony, with the city lit by lanterns and small clay phang prathip candles. Earlier programmes used the Three Kings Monument for krathong-making, the Ping River for floating, Tha Phae Gate for the procession and fireworks, and the riverbanks around Nawarat Bridge for lanterns. Expect the 2027 layout to be similar but check the year's programme.

The hot-air lanterns, khom loi, are tightly controlled because the airport sits beside the city. For the 2025 festival, Chiang Mai's provincial announcement allowed sky lanterns, fire lanterns and fireworks on 5 and 6 November from 19:00 to 01:00, and only in approved areas. Smoke lanterns (wao hom) were allowed only on the morning of 5 November, from 10:00 to 12:00. Releases were banned outright in the aviation safety zone and the special surveillance zone, which together covered six districts and 39 subdistricts: all of Mueang Chiang Mai and Hang Dong, and parts of Saraphi, San Sai, Mae Rim and San Pa Tong. Releasing a lantern or firework without permission carried up to five years in prison, a fine of up to 200,000 baht, or both. Residents outside the banned zones had to apply to their district chief for a permit.

In practice this means the Old City and the riverside are for hanging lanterns, candles and krathongs, not for launching sky lanterns. Expect the 2027 announcement to follow the same pattern, with its own dates; the province publishes it shortly before the festival.

The mass releases seen in photographs are mostly private, ticketed events held outside the banned districts, such as the CAD Khom Loy Sky Lantern Festival, which Thai PBS Verify confirmed took place with permitted releases on 5 November 2025. Tickets are sold by the organisers and through travel agents, often with transfers from the city; seat categories and prices change each year, and the 2027 events have not been announced. Before you pay, check that the ticket names the date, the venue and its district, and what happens to your ticket if releases are cancelled.

Sukhothai's Loi Krathong and Candle Festival

Sukhothai's festival is the one with the deepest roots, staged in the ruins of the first Thai capital. TAT describes it as held in Sukhothai Historical Park for nearly 50 years, inspired by King Ramkhamhaeng's inscription and the tale of Nang Nopphamat: the ruined temples glow with candles and lanterns, krathongs float on the old ponds, and the days bring parades and the nights fireworks. Our Sukhothai guide covers the park, the old-town rooms and the road from the airport.

The festival runs for several days and ends on or near the full moon. In 2024 it ran from 8 to 17 November, around a full moon on 15 November; in 2025 it ran from 27 October to 5 November and went ahead in a toned-down form during the national mourning for Queen Sirikit, the Queen Mother, with only traditional Sukhothai-style fireworks and no Nopphamat beauty contest. For 2027, expect a similar run ending around 13 November. Sukhothai's old-town rooms are the ones to secure first, because staying in the new town adds a 12-kilometre ride each way after the late evenings.

Bangkok: piers, canals and park ponds

Bangkok celebrates on a big scale but in a scattered way, so pick one waterside spot and stay there. For 2025, TAT's Bangkok River Festival ran from 3 to 5 November at nine Chao Phraya piers, among them Wat Pho, Wat Arun, Tha Maharaj, Asiatique and ICONSIAM, with performances, river parades and food. In 2024 TAT held a canal-side festival on Phadung Krung Kasem Canal near Hua Lamphong station, and an evening at Wat Arun to which visitors were invited in traditional Thai dress. Our Bangkok guide explains the river boats and where to stay near the water.

For the 2025 festival, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) opened 33 public parks in 21 districts for floating, from their usual opening time until midnight, among them Lumphini, Benjakitti and Rama VIII parks. Sky lanterns, fireworks, firecrackers and alcohol sales were banned inside the parks, foam krathongs were prohibited, and bread krathongs were discouraged because the ponds are closed. If you only have one night, a riverside temple or pier on the full-moon evening gives you the view across the river; a neighbourhood park gives you a quieter, more local night.

Within a day of Bangkok, Ayutthaya celebrated in 2025 with Maha Loi Krathong at Wat Phra Ram in the historical park; our Ayutthaya guide covers getting there.

What to float: krathong materials and the clean-up

Every krathong ends up as waste that someone has to fish out of the water. After the 2025 festival, Bangkok's district offices collected 391,027 krathongs between 20:00 on the festival night and 05:00 the next morning. Of those, 82.76% were made of natural materials, 7.23% of foam and 10.01% of bread, and the share of foam had risen from 2024. Natural ones go to Bangkok's compost plant at Nong Khaem; foam goes to landfill. The city's campaign asks for one krathong per family, and Bangkok also runs online floating on its greener.bangkok.go.th site.

TAT gives the same advice nationwide: use krathongs made of biodegradable materials and float one per family. Buy one made of banana trunk and leaves, with no foam base, staples or plastic decorations, or join a krathong-making workshop at one of the festival venues and make your own.

Flights, trains and rooms

Loi Krathong is a working day: it is not on the Bank of Thailand's 2027 holiday list, so banks, offices and shops keep their normal days. The pressure falls on transport and rooms in Chiang Mai and Sukhothai.

Flights to Chiang Mai. For the 2025 lantern nights, Chiang Mai International Airport, run by Airports of Thailand (AOT), moved its schedule so that the last flight left by 19:00. The airport's general manager told Khaosod English that 161 flights were affected, 65 cancelled and 96 retimed, and that 44 extra flights were added after the festival; the airport expected more than 32,000 passengers a day, 17% above normal. The airport announced the changes on 31 October 2025, less than a week before the festival. For 2027, choose flights that land and leave in daylight on 13 and 14 November, or travel on the Friday and the Monday, and expect an airline to move an evening flight once the notice appears.

Trains. The State Railway of Thailand's D-Ticket system sells rapid, express, special express and tourist trains from 180 days ahead, so seats for a northbound train on Friday 12 November 2027 go on sale on Sunday 16 May 2027, and for Saturday 13 November on 17 May. Ordinary and local trains cannot be reserved online. Phitsanulok is the rail stop for Sukhothai, followed by a road transfer.

Rooms. Book as soon as your dates are fixed, and choose the area for the evenings: in Chiang Mai, a room inside or near the Old City or by the Ping River lets you walk to the lanterns and the river, which matters on nights when festival crowds downtown slow the roads, as far as the airport. In Sukhothai, old Mueang Kao next to the park is the base.

Etiquette and staying safe

Loi Krathong is a religious and family occasion as much as a party. Dress modestly for temple grounds, keep your voice down where monks are chanting or candles are being lit, and ask before photographing people at close range. Visitors in Thai or Lanna dress are welcome at the temple events.

Riverbanks and piers get very crowded after dark. Float your krathong from a proper landing or steps rather than a slippery bank, keep children close to you at the water, and watch for firecrackers set off in the streets. Do not release a sky lantern anywhere except at a permitted event, and never near the airport.