Pattaya cleans up after Loy Krathong

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While thousands of revelers were still floating their krathongs into the sea, Pattaya City sanitation workers walked along the shoreline collecting krathongs that were washed up onto the beach.

First comes Loy Krathong. Then comes the cleanup.

An army of sanitation workers spread out along Pattaya and Jomtien beaches early Nov. 20 to retrieve krathongs people sent to sea, only to have them come back hours later.



Ironically, Loy Krathong revelers send tons of waste to sea to apologize to the Hindu water god for polluting seas, rivers and lakes.

By the time the cleanup was done, hundreds of black plastic bags lined the shoreline, destined for a landfill where they will never degrade.


Joining the effort were volunteers including local fishermen cognizant of how much Loy Krathong damages the marine environment year after year. They scoured the bay plucking the last seaworthy krathongs from the water before they are eaten by animals.

Mayor Sonthaya Kunplome personally supervised the city hall commissioned boats to go out to sea to pick the krathongs late at night.



A beautiful and serene picture of city hall boats on the beach ready to go out into the bay to pick up the krathongs after revelers had finished partying.



At break of dawn the next day, city sanitation workers were hard at work picking up the remnants of all the krathongs from the beach.