On one night in November, the whole of Thailand goes to the water.
Candles are lit, small boats of folded banana leaf are set down on the surface, and a wish goes out with them. It is called Loy Krathong — literally, to float a vessel — and it is the gentlest festival in the Thai year. No parades, no firecrackers, no crowds pushing. Just a lot of people standing quietly at the edge of the water at night.
In 2026 it falls on Tuesday 24 November, and if you are staying in Phuket Old Town that week, it is worth building your evening around it.
When is Loy Krathong 2026?
Tuesday 24 November 2026, after dark.
The date moves every year because it follows the full moon of the twelfth month of the Thai lunar calendar — it was 5 November in 2025, and it will be 14 November in 2027. The moon that night is full, which is part of the point: people come to look at it.
Two things worth knowing. It is not a public holiday, so shops, restaurants and offices run as normal during the day and the festival only begins once the sun goes down, usually from about 6pm. And because it lands on a Tuesday this year with no long weekend attached, Phuket will feel local rather than packed with domestic tourists — which, if you ask us, makes it better.
What you are actually doing
A krathong is a small float, traditionally made from a slice of banana trunk, wrapped in folded banana leaves and decorated with flowers. On it go a candle, three incense sticks, and often a coin.
You light the candle and incense, hold the krathong for a moment, and set it on the water. The gesture is an apology and a thank-you to Phra Mae Khongkha, the goddess of water, for a year of using the rivers and taking from them. Many people also use it to let go of something — a bad year, a grudge, a worry — and watch it drift off.
There is no ceremony to get right and no religious requirement. Visitors are genuinely welcome to join in.
Phuket does Loy Krathong differently
Most of the famous Loy Krathong photographs come from Sukhothai and Chiang Mai, where the festival happens on wide rivers against a backdrop of ruins or temples. Phuket has no river like that.
So the island floats in park lakes, reservoirs and canals instead — which gives the night a quieter, more neighbourhood feeling. Families walk over after dinner. Children carry their own krathongs. It is small-scale in the best way.
One important local note: Phuket actively discourages floating in the sea. Krathongs released into the ocean come straight back onto the beaches as rubbish, so municipalities set up lake and pond areas instead, and in some years build temporary pools specifically so people have somewhere to float that is not the water around a marine island. Please use them.
Where to float near Old Town
The main celebration in Phuket Town is traditionally held by the city municipality at Suan Luang Rama IX (the King Rama IX Public Park), where people float on the reservoir at the front of the park. It is a few minutes from The Tint by car or tuk-tuk.
Worth knowing: in earlier years the city held its celebration at Saphan Hin instead, on the seafront stage, with a krathong procession, a Noppamas pageant and a fresh-flower krathong contest. The venue has moved between the two, which is exactly why it is worth checking rather than assuming.
In past years the evening there has included banana-leaf krathong competitions, a Noppamas pageant, food stalls, and — the detail we like most — telescopes set up for looking at the full moon. It is an unusually lovely thing to stumble into: a queue of kids waiting to see craters on a festival night.
Other spots around the island hold their own smaller versions. Nong Nam Nai Han, the lake park in Rawai, is the quiet one — calm water, families, no crowds. Laguna Phuket up in the Cherng Talay area runs a livelier evening with stages and live music. There are also canal-side celebrations around Wichit. All of them are a drive from Old Town, so they only make sense if you are staying on that side of the island.
One honest caveat: Phuket City Municipality usually confirms the venue, timing and programme only one or two weeks before the night, and the scale changes from year to year. Treat the above as what normally happens, and ask our front desk closer to the date — we will know exactly where the krathongs are going that week.
No sky lanterns here
If you have seen photographs of thousands of glowing paper lanterns rising into the night sky and assumed that is Loy Krathong, that is Yi Peng — a separate northern festival that happens in Chiang Mai on the same full moon.
There are no mass sky lanterns in Phuket. Releasing them near an airport is both unsafe and restricted. Phuket floats on water, not in the air.
Buying and choosing a krathong
Krathongs appear on street corners, outside markets and at the entrance to any float site from the afternoon onward, usually for somewhere between 30 and 150 baht depending on size.
- Banana leaf and banana trunk — the traditional build, and the one to buy. It breaks down naturally.
- Avoid bread krathongs. They were promoted as eco-friendly for a while, but in a still lake they dissolve into a sludge that ruins the water. Most places now discourage them outright.
- Never foam or plastic. Banned in most places and genuinely awful for the island.
- One float per group. The widely promoted line in Thailand is “one family, one krathong” — share rather than buy one each.
How to do the night well
- Go between 7 and 9pm. Early enough for the moon to be up, late enough for the atmosphere, before the final rush.
- Bring a lighter. Sellers rarely include one and the queue to borrow a flame gets long.
- Cash only. Krathong sellers and food stalls do not take cards.
- Eat first in Old Town, float after. The restaurants near the hotel are at their best on a weekday evening, and you will not want to queue twice.
- Ask before photographing people floating. For many Thais this is a private moment, not a photo op.
If you are curious about how Phuket does its other festivals, our guides to the Por Tor Hungry Ghost Festival and eating during the Vegetarian Festival cover two of the island’s strangest and best.
Stay where the evening starts
Loy Krathong is an after-dark festival on a working Tuesday. It is a far better night when you can have dinner in Old Town, walk back, and not think about a long drive from the beach afterwards.
The Tint puts you in the middle of Phuket Old Town, minutes from where the city floats.
Book direct and save up to 60% with code LOVETINT for stays through 31 March 2027 — at thetintphuket.com.
