Biodegradable krathongs stink up the Ping River

Biodegradable krathongs stink up the Ping River

A mass of rotten krathongs at the Tha Wang Tarn sluice gate in Chiang Mai's Muang district on Wednesday, a week after the Loy Krathong holiday. (Photo by Cheewin Sattha)
A mass of rotten krathongs at the Tha Wang Tarn sluice gate in Chiang Mai's Muang district on Wednesday, a week after the Loy Krathong holiday. (Photo by Cheewin Sattha)

A week after the happy Loy Krathong Day, Chiang Mai city officials are having second thoughts about krathongs made of bread after low tides in the Ping river brought an eye-opening problem with the clearing up of all the rotten “edible” floats.

It normally takes the Chiang Mai municipality a few days after the festival to collect hundreds of thousands of krathongs in Ping river, which runs past Muang district. After that the floats made of bread and banana tree trunks usually go rotten and emit a foul smell that hits riverside communities. 

Most krathongs are carried downstream to various sluice gates in Muang district by the river flow, where they are removed from the water in massive amounts.  

But this year it took at least a week to complete the task because the low level of water in the Ping river had slowed the path of the krathongs to the sluice gates, said Janesak Limpiti, director of the Irrigation Office in Chiang Mai. 

No water being released from Mae Ngat Somboon Chon dam in Mae Taeng district upstream into the river contributed to the problem.    

Mr Janesak said the situation resulted in the floating krathongs arriving at the Tha Wang Tarn sluice gate in Muang district slower than the previous years. And the large number of krathongs already floating in front of the gate were emitting a very bad smell. 

He said the gate was lower than at the same period last year, so the water upstream was running even slower and many krathongs were stuck along the river banks.

However, officials were eventually able to clear almost all of the rotten krathongs at the gate on Wednesday afternoon, using a garbage collection boat.

Mr Janesak said water level aside, the situation this year should cause a rethink on making krathongs out of edible natural materials purportedly to feed the fish.

He said the huge number of krathongs made of bread or banana tree trunks was too much for fish in the river to handle. 

Another reason was that bread is more likely used to feed farm-raised fish or fish at attractions where they are fed by tourists. Fish in natural waterways do not eat it. 

He called for a review of the campaign to make edible krathongs to avoid future pollution of the rivers in Chiang Mai.

A municipal official uses a garbage collection boat to remove krathongs from the Ping river. (Photo by Cheewin Sattha)


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