The Catchy Loy Krathong Song

 | Tue 12 Nov 2013 14:23 ICT

As most of you will undoubtedly have noticed, the full-moon of the twelfth month is almost upon us. For many in Chiang Mai this means a weekend of accidentally setting fire to stuff and floating lumps of banana tree wading along in the Ping river, elaborately decorated with flowers, candles, incense and a small coin to placate the river spirits.In Chiang Mai Loi Krathong coincides with the Yee Peng festival, when thousands of khom loi (floating lanterns) fill the city sky and power-lines. But something else will also be filling the air – a song of such lyrical loveliness and melodic magnificence you will not be able to stop your brain from humming the chorus for days after the festivities have finished.
What better way to impress your chums than by launching into this delightful song every time you hear the music this weekend? So stop what you are doing and take a few minutes to learn the ‘Loy Krathong Song’. Below are the lyrics, and the Thai song can be watched on Youtube here, and the English one is here.
THE LOY KRATHONG SONG (with phonetics and English translation)
? ?Wan-pen duean sìp-s?ng, náam nong dtem dtà-lìngThe full-moon day (of) the twelfth month, as water fills to the (river) banks
? ? ?Rao tang-l?ai chaai y?ng sà-nuk gan jing wan loi grà-tongWe all, both men and women, are having fun on Loi Krathong day
? ? ? ?loi loi grà-tong, loi loi grà-tongfloat float the Krathongs, float float the Krathongs
? ?loi grà-tong gan láew,k?r chern nóng gâew òrk maa ram-wongWe have floated the Krathongs already, I would like to ask you (beloved younger lady) to come out and dance
? ?ram-wong wan loi grà-tong, ram-wong wan loi grà-tongdance on the Loi Krathong day, dance on the Loi Krathong day
? ?bun jà sòng hâi rao sùk-jaimaking merit will give us happiness