IJEP 45(7): 631-638 : Vol. 45 Issue. 7 (July 2025)
Rajabhat Rajanagarindra University, Faculty of Science and Technology, Chachoengsao 24000, Thailand
Abstract
Loy Kratong is one of the most famous festivals in Thailand. As the name implies, the kratong, a floating receptacle, is the most important element of the Loy Kratong festival. The effects of various kinds of kratong materials were concerned with the aspect of water quality. This research has been done to prove how water quality was affected by the kratong. The popular kinds of kratong in the Chachoengsao Loy Kratong festival were observed and analyzed for their components. Natural-based kratong and coloured fish-food kratong were the most popular kinds this year. The simulation experiment was done by immersing natural materials, coloured fish food, sharp metals, candles and joss sticks in freshwater separately. Then, turbidity, dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and heavy metals were analyzed on days 3, 7 and 14 after immersion. The results showed that the turbidity on day 14 for both natural-material immersed water and coloured fish-food immersed water was approximately 25-35 times that of freshwater. By this, DO in sample water was zero since day 3. The BOD of natural-material immersed water and coloured fish-food immersed water after a couple of weeks were 89 and 147 mg/L, respectively. In a couple of weeks, COD results of natural-material immersed water and coloured fish-food immersed water were 992 and 583 mg/L, respectively. This implies that both natural-material and coloured fish-food kratongs also cause the decline of water quality. The suggestion to continue this research is to do experiments in real waterbodies that are used in Loy Kratong festival.
Keywords
Loy Kratong festival, kratong, water quality, Thailand, river
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