The Loi Krathong song in Thai…
My Thai teacher just loves to sing. And sometimes, right in the middle of a lesson, she will stand up and belt out a Thai song.
Often, she will drag me up too. Then, swinging her arms like a conductor, we prance around my sofa. In unison. Singing loud.
What a sight. Her, a tiny wee thing. And me, this blond western thing.
My teacher has a beautiful voice. And while my voice isn’t too shabby either, I’m glad my condo walls are thick!
For a long while, her song of choice was the Thai national anthem.
Fair enough, but I needed something different so we moved on to other songs (but not for very long).
Today is the Thai festival, Loi Krathong. And guess what? It has a song too.
Btw – if you are not sure what the festival is about, here is a brief explanation from my buddy Talen:
Originating as a Brahmanical festival adopted by Thai Buddhists during the reign of Rama IV in1863, Loy Kratong is a ceremony that venerates the Lord Buddha by offering floating trays laden with flowers, candles and incense. Loy translates to โfloatโ in Thai, while Kratong pertains to a tray made from banana leaves. The light from the candle honors Lord Buddha, while the act of floating symbolizes the release of anger, resentment or any tarnishing of oneโs character. It is a way for a person to make amends and start afresh.
And (surprise!) in honour of the festivities I learned the much loved Loi Krathong song.
So, are you ready to sing along?
เธงเธฑเธเนเธเนเธ เนเธเธทเธญเธ เธชเธดเธเธชเธญเธ
wan-pen deuan sรฌp sลng
full-moon day ยท month ยท twelve
เธเนเธณ เธเน เธเธญเธ เนเธเนเธก เธเธฅเธดเนเธ
nรกam ยท gรดr ยท nong ยท dtem ยท dtร -lฤญng
water ยท also ยท overflows ยท full ยท bank
เนเธฃเธฒ เธเธฑเนเธ เธซเธฅเธฒเธข เธเธฒเธข เธซเธเธดเธ เธชเธเธธเธ เธเธฑเธ เธเธฃเธดเธ เธงเธฑเธ เธฅเธญเธข เธเธฃเธฐเธเธ
rao ยท tรกng ยท lฤai ยท chaai ยท yฤญng ยท sร -nรนk ยท gan ยท jing ยท wan ยท loi ยท grร -tong
we ยท all ยท many ยท men ยท women ยท enjoy ยท together ยท really ยท day ยท float ยท basket
เธฅเธญเธข เธฅเธญเธข เธเธฃเธฐเธเธ, เธฅเธญเธข เธฅเธญเธข เธเธฃเธฐเธเธ
loi ยท loi ยท grร -tong, loi ยท loi ยท grร -tong
float ยท float ยท basket ยท float ยท float ยท basket
เธฅเธญเธข เธฅเธญเธข เธเธฃเธฐเธเธ เธเธฑเธ เนเธฅเนเธง เธเธญ เนเธเธดเธ เธเนเธญเธ เนเธเนเธง เธญเธญเธ เธกเธฒ เธฃเธณเธงเธ
loi ยท loi ยท grร -tong ยท gan ยท lรกew ยท kลr ยท chern ยท nรณng ยท gรกewยท รฒk-maa ยท ram-wong
float ยท float ยท basket ยท together ยท and then ยท ask ยท young ยท beloved ยท come out ยท dance
เธฃเธณเธงเธ เธงเธฑเธ เธฅเธญเธข เธเธฃเธฐเธเธ, เธฃเธณเธงเธ เธงเธฑเธ เธฅเธญเธข เธเธฃเธฐเธเธ
ram-wong ยท wan ยท loi ยท grร -tong , ram-wong ยท wan ยท loi ยท grร -tong
dance ยท day ยท float ยท basket ยท dance ยท day ยท float ยท basket
เธเธธเธ เธเธฐ เธชเนเธ เนเธซเน เนเธฃเธฒ เธชเธธเธ เนเธ, เธเธธเธ เธเธฐ เธชเนเธ เนเธซเน เนเธฃเธฒ เธชเธธเธ เนเธ
bun ยท jร ยท sรฒng ยท hรขi ยท rao ยท sรนk ยท jai, bun ยท jร ยท sรฒng ยท hรขi ยท rao ยท sรนk ยท jai
making merit ยท will ยท make ยท us ยท happy ยท making merit ยท will ยท make ยท us ยท happy
Then begin at the beginning again…
Hunting down my darling
My intention was to first type out the Thai script, then translate the song into English. But, when googling to find a better fit for nรณng gรกew (เธเนเธญเธ เนเธเนเธง), I found that learningthai.com had darling.
Learningthai.com (no longer online) also has a beautifully translated version of the Loi Krathong song:
The full moon (of) the twelfth month, as water fills to the banks.
We, all men and women, really have a good time (on) loy krathong dayFloat, float the krathongs
Float, float the krathongsAfter we’ve floated our krathongs, (I) invite (you) my darling to come out and dance.
Ramwong (on) loy krathong day
Ramwong (on) loy krathong day(Making) merit will give us happiness
(Making) merit will give us happiness
The Loy Krathong song in English
The English YouTube version has slightly different lyrics to the Thai Loi Krathong song.
Edit: The video has been deleted from YouTube. Pity.
November full moon shines
Loi Krathong, Loi Krathong
And the water’s high in local river and the klong
Loi Krathong, Loi Krathong
Loi Krathong, Loi KrathongLoy gratong is here and everybodyโs full of cheer
We’re together at the klong
Each one with his krathong
As we push away we pray
We can see a better dayLoi Krathong, Loi Krathong
Loi Krathong, Loi KrathongLoy gratong is here and everybodyโs full of cheer
So you you can choose to pray in English, or you can make merit in Thai. Up to you.
What is the timbre of this song?
Can I use this article as reference on my learning activity sheet?
Sure thing. Please feel free to use it as a reference. And thanks for asking!
Welcome to learning Thai Mel ๐ WLT is now nine years old (where did the time go!) so I’ve touched on many things Thai. There’s still an awful lot to write about though …
Hey thanks for your posts! I’ve just arrived in thailand not knowing any Thai at all. Love your blog keep up the great good Catherine and thanks for helping all the English speakers with Thai ๐ love from Bangkok
Every time I search something Google directs me to your blog. Seems like you’ve got a lot covered for us
You are welcome Imelda – I hope your class went well ๐
Thank you very much for this post. This is what i exactly needed for my class.
Good deal. You can also download the YouTube videos to your HD if you like. I have a Mac and do it via Safari. And then if I want them on my iPhone or one of the other i’s I use HandBrake (instructions for both are found on WLT).
Catherine,
Thanks for the help. I figured out how to put YouTube videos into my documents library; I just put them into my Favorites list and then send them to my documents library. Again, thanks.
Sid L.
Btw – the National Anthem is easily found (it’s linked on a post here).
Sidney, I did a search but didn’t find anything satisfactory so I believe the easiest thing to do would be to record it from the YouTube files I have above. If you don’t have anything to record with, download Audacity (and I believe you need lame too). Links to both can be found here:
Catherine,
Please help this computer novice. I successfully copied and pasted the lyrics for the Loi Kratong song onto my laptop, but I have been unsuccessful in downloading the music onto my laptop. Can you help?
Thanks,
Sid Leonard
P.S. And I would like to do the same with the king’s anthem.
Loy Krathong is tomorrow (this year went fast). On twitter, Paul posted a Loy Krathong song in English. Sweet.
monrakplengthai: loy krathong
Morning Talen! Sending two welcomes your way ๐
My first Loi Krathong was a keeper (my house guest is still sleeping the evening off).
What made it sweeter was being able to sing along with the traditional song Loi Krathong. The song even came over the radio as we were coming home in a taxi. Previous, the taxi driver was very quiet. After I started singing, he perked up and joined in, laughing as he went. And with all the traffic out last night, we went slooooooooooow so there was plenty of opportunity.
I’m with you on the English version too. It is just not Thai. And I like Thai.
Excellent post Cat. I never knew there was a Loy Krathong song. I won’t be singing it any time soon but I quite liked. I didn’t care for the English version though…just didn’t feel right.
Thanks for the mention and the upgrade to buddy status ๐