One night a year, Thailand walks to the water. You crouch. You light a candle. You let the basket go—and for about twenty minutes, the river is only yours. That is Loy Krathong. The rest of the night is other people doing the same thing. Plan for the twenty minutes. Book around the crowd that follows.
If you have been searching when is Loy Krathong 2027, hold this page against any 2026 date still circulating online. The moon moves. The notice comes later. We hold the rooms across both nights until it does.
Start from East Marvel Thailand. Wider festival map: Thailand 2027 festivals: calendar vs moon. November weather and coast choice: Thailand in November. Season frame: When to Go to Thailand. Planning steps: How to Plan a Trip to Thailand in 2027. Papers: Before You Fly · TDAC.
1. The Date: Loy Krathong 2027
Loy Krathong is the full-moon night of the twelfth Thai lunar month. The 2027 calendar marks it as Saturday 13 November. The moon is fullest on Sunday morning, the 14th. Chiang Mai’s lantern nights, and Sukhothai’s park programme, are announced later and can use both evenings. If you are booking a room, hold the 13th and the 14th. Drop one when the notice is out.
In 2026 the nationwide night is Tuesday 24 November. Chiang Mai’s own programme runs 23–25 November, and the province allows sky lanterns only on the 24th and the 25th, from 19:00 to 01:00, at permitted places. That is why some pages print the 25th. It is the second lantern night, not a second Loy Krathong. Do not copy those dates into 2027.
Cool-season nights are already soft in November—one reason this festival sells out riverside and old-town beds first. Browse private routes that can place you in the north that week: Thailand tour packages.
2. Four Ways to Spend It
Chiang Mai — Loy Krathong and Yi Peng together Krathongs go onto the Ping. Yi Peng is the lanterns. In 2026 the old city was not a release zone. You float a basket in town. A lantern goes up only at a field the province has named, in the hours it has named. The ticketed launches sell months ahead, and the popular fields go first. A ticket is a launch at that field. It is not the whole sky.
The airport corridor stays closed. Releasing a lantern inside an air-navigation safety zone is an offence, with a published penalty of up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 200,000 baht. If the hotel is near the airport, you do not launch anything.
City base: Chiang Mai travel guide. Compact northern build: Romantic Northern Thailand (7 days). Festival-week triangle: Bangkok, Chiang Mai & Phuket (10 days).
Sukhothai — the story Thais tell about the first krathong The historical park still builds the long festival around the night. In 2026 that ran from 15 to 24 November: a light-and-sound show each evening, processions from the province’s districts, and a second, later show on the full-moon night. Seats were tiered. Expect a paid night inside the park again, and wait for the 2027 price. There are fewer people than in Chiang Mai, and more light on the ponds.
A northern historic route that can include Sukhothai: Bangkok to Northern Thailand.
Bangkok — a riverbank and nothing forced Both sides of the Chao Phraya work. Asiatique is one frontage. Tha Tien is the pier opposite Wat Arun, a crossing of about two minutes. A dinner boat is the version where the table and the water are the same evening. You let the basket go, and then you eat.
City pacing: Bangkok Travel Guide · Bangkok destination.
Phuket — the beach version Many hotels show you how to fold a krathong, and you carry it down to the sea. In Phuket Town, people gather at Saphan Hin and at Suan Luang. Pair festival nights with a calmer Andaman week: Phuket travel guide · Phuket, Phi Phi & Krabi.
3. The Twenty Minutes That Are Yours
Buy the krathong from a street stall. A banana-leaf basket is a few tens of baht. Leave the foam ones. They strand on the bank, and someone pulls them out of the river in the morning. Cities have been asking for leaf and flower for years.
- Light one candle and three sticks of incense. A lighter holds in the wind. A match often does not.
- Crouch. Push the basket out. Do not throw it. A thrown one turns over.
- One sentence is enough for the wish. A long one outlasts the basket.
A candle still burning as it leaves your sight is the folk sign of a good year. One that gutters out is usually the wind. The river puts out plenty of them.
The steps are wet. Most have a rail on one side. Keep children on the inside of it. Do not wade in after a basket, and do not collect someone else’s.
This is the part you came for—not the queue for a selfie lantern, not the hotel surcharge. Twenty minutes. Then the city takes the night back.
4. Before You Pay for the Room
- Hold both the 13th and the 14th. The notice decides which night you sleep there.
- Buy a Chiang Mai lantern ticket when the sale opens, and read the field named on it.
- November nights in Bangkok sit around 25°C. At the water there is wind. Take a light layer. On a boat, take another.
- Festival weeks price the room for the festival—especially riverside Chiang Mai and Chao Phraya frontages. Book early or let us hold a buffer until the programme posts.
File papers before you fly: Before You Fly · tdac.immigration.go.th.
5. Which Route Fits the Night You Want
Want Ping River + ticketed Yi Peng? Build the week in Chiang Mai, then continue south when the lanterns are done. Start with Romantic Northern Thailand or the classic Bangkok, Chiang Mai & Phuket.
Want Sukhothai ponds and fewer shoulders? Ask for a northern historic line that can pause at the park—see Bangkok to Northern Thailand or tell us to reshape a sample package.
Want Chao Phraya without a flight north? Keep Bangkok as the base for the full-moon night, then add islands or the north after. City depth: Bangkok Travel Guide. Longer first-timer frame: 2-week itinerary.
Want sand under the basket? Phuket Town and hotel beaches keep the rite simple. Pair with Phuket, Phi Phi & Krabi once the Andaman is in open season.
Every sample route is customizable. The email quote is the price.
6. Let Us Hold the Two Nights for You
East Marvel has designed private Asia journeys since 1988. Tell us whether you want the Ping, the Sukhothai park, or a Bangkok riverbank—and we hold the rooms across 13–14 November 2027 until the programme is out. The trip is planned at our U.S. headquarters and led by licensed English-speaking guides. Our guides and our proposals work in English. If someone traveling with you is more at ease in Chinese, say so when you write.
Published routes: Thailand tour packages. Write to contact@eastmarvel.com · WhatsApp +1 201 240 4890.
You do not need to guess the moon twice. Tell us the city. We build the twenty minutes—and the nights around them.
7. Frequently Asked Questions
When is Loy Krathong 2027?
Saturday 13 November 2027 on the Thai lunar calendar. The moon is fullest on the morning of the 14th. Chiang Mai lantern nights and Sukhothai park shows may use both evenings—confirm the year’s notice.
Is Yi Peng the same as Loy Krathong?
Not exactly. Loy Krathong is nationwide (floating krathongs). Yi Peng is the Lanna lantern tradition centred on Chiang Mai. They share a week—hence the crush. More context: Thailand in November.
Where should first-timers go?
Chiang Mai if you want both festivals and can book tickets early. Sukhothai if you want park light and fewer shoulders. Bangkok if you want a riverbank without a northern flight. Phuket if the beach is already your base.
Can I release a sky lantern anywhere in Chiang Mai?
No. Only at permitted fields and hours. Airport corridors stay closed. Keep your ticket and follow the field named on it.
8. Sources and Limits
The 13 November date is the 2027 Thai lunar calendar. Chiang Mai’s launch hours and Sukhothai’s ticket prices follow the notice for that year. This page is travel guidance for planning a private trip.
Related reading: Thailand 2027 festivals · Thailand in November · Songkran 2027.