When is Loy Krathong 2026 and where to see Yi Peng lanterns

Dates and lantern rules come from the Chiang Mai provincial notices of 7 and 20 October 2026 and the Sukhothai festival programme, checked on 27 October 2026. Provinces publish detailed programmes close to the date and airports announce flight changes a few weeks ahead, so we recheck this page every 14 days until the festival.

Loy Krathong 2026 dates by city

Loy Krathong and Yi Peng: what is the difference

Loy Krathong is celebrated all over Thailand on the full moon of the 12th lunar month. People float a krathong, a small raft of banana trunk and leaves with a candle, incense sticks and flowers, on a river, canal, lake or park pond.

Yi Peng is the festival of the north, the old Lanna kingdom. The Thailand Foundation explains the name as “full moon of the second month”: the Lanna calendar counts months differently, and its second month coincides with the 12th month of the central Thai calendar. So Yi Peng and Loy Krathong fall on the same night and are often celebrated together. Yi Peng’s symbol is the lantern: the khom loi (a hot-air sky lantern, also called khom fai) and the khom kwaen, hung outside homes and temples.

In practice: anywhere in Thailand you float a krathong on the water; in Chiang Mai you also see lanterns in the sky and on the streets.

Chiang Mai: Yi Peng 23-25 November 2026

The province and Chiang Mai municipality set the dates at a meeting on 7 October 2026. The programme includes city decorations with traditional forest-style gates, oil lamps (phang prathip), cultural shows, the Yi Peng lantern and pageant contests, krathong floating and the Lanna Great Sermon ceremony.

Rules for lanterns and fireworks, as the province announced them:

Organisers also have to provide firefighting equipment and safety staff for the whole event. Breaking the rules is punishable under the relevant laws, the province says, without naming fines.

Lanterns near airports: what the law says

The Airports of Thailand company (AOT) asks people every year not to release sky lanterns, smoke lanterns, balloons and fireworks near its six airports: Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Chiang Mai, Mae Fah Luang Chiang Rai, Phuket and Hat Yai. According to the AOT statement reported by Thai PBS and Spring News:

• In the air navigation safety zone releasing anything into the air is banned under section 59/1 of the Air Navigation Act. The penalty under section 109/1 is up to 5 years in prison, a fine of up to 200,000 baht, or both
• Outside the safety zone you need permission from the district office at least 7 days in advance (in Bangkok, the district director)
• If a lantern damages an aircraft in service, a separate 2015 law on aviation offences provides for 15 to 20 years, life imprisonment or death, plus a fine of 600,000 to 800,000 baht
• Drones within 9 km of an airport need permission too

The safety zones are not published as a simple radius. If you are staying near an airport, do not release lanterns at all.

Flights to Chiang Mai on lantern nights

In 2025 Chiang Mai airport changed 161 flights on the two lantern nights, 5 and 6 November: 65 were cancelled and 96 rescheduled, and the last flight on both days left no later than 19:00 (Pattaya Mail, 6 November 2025). As of 27 October 2026 we had not found the airport’s 2026 schedule. Plan for similar changes on 24 and 25 November 2026: book a flexible fare and avoid tight connections on those evenings. The overland alternatives are in Bangkok to Chiang Mai.

Ticketed lantern releases and how not to get scammed

The mass releases in photos, with thousands of lanterns going up together, are private ticketed events outside the city, not part of the municipal festival. On 27 October 2026 we checked two sellers of the CAD Khomloy Sky Lantern Festival on 24-25 November 2026:

Both call themselves official, the prices do not match, and neither page names the organiser’s own sales channel. Before you pay:

• Find the organiser’s name, the venue and the date on the ticket itself, not only on the seller’s page
• Check the seller’s company name and Thai tour business licence; a licensed agent shows the licence number
• Read the refund terms: within 60 days of the event most tickets cannot be returned
• Pay by card, not by bank transfer to a personal account or through a chat
• Be wary of resold tickets in social media groups and of “last tickets” at a big discount

If you do not want to pay, Chiang Mai’s own programme, with decorations, lamps, krathong floating and lanterns at approved places, runs in the city over the same nights.

Sukhothai: 15-24 November 2026

The Loy Krathong and Candle Festival takes place in Sukhothai Historical Park. The programme lists the opening on 15 November at 16:00 and a light and sound show at Wat Mahathat at 19:00 every night from 15 to 23 November, with two shows (19:00 and 20:30) on 24 November. The show lasts about 45 minutes with more than 300 performers; seats cost 500, 900 and 1,200 baht depending on the zone, and tickets are booked through LINE, Facebook, Instagram or by phone on 06-1242-8555.

On 24 November the royal procession and the parades of the province’s nine districts start at 16:00 and the mass krathong floating at 17:00. The candle-burning rite is at 21:00, the royal krathong is floated on Traphang Trakuan pond at 22:00, and traditional fire play and fireworks follow at 23:00 on the same pond. The organisers note the programme, revised on 1 October 2026, may change.

Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya

Bangkok. In 2025 the city opened 33 public parks for krathong floating from opening time until midnight, among them Lumphini, Chatuchak, Benjakitti and Santi Chai Prakan, and asked people not to float bread or fish-food krathongs in park ponds. TAT’s 2025 programme also had a river festival at nine piers from Wat Pho to ICONSIAM. The 2026 list had not been published by 27 October. If you combine the evening with temples, what to wear there is in temple dress code and the Grand Palace.

Phuket and Pattaya. As of 27 October 2026 we had not found official 2026 programmes from Phuket City or Pattaya City. Krathongs are floated wherever there is water: beaches, lakes and park ponds. Keep away from the Phuket airport area if anyone around you is releasing lanterns. November weather and events on the coast are in Pattaya in November.

How to take part without trouble

• Buy a krathong made of banana trunk, leaves and flowers; Bangkok asks people not to bring bread or fish-food krathongs to park ponds
• Do not release a lantern where it is not clearly allowed, and never near an airport
• Watch children near the water: piers and lake edges are crowded after dark
• Keep your phone and wallet zipped in the crowds by the water

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