Despite the recent passing of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit The Queen Mother and the ongoing mourning period, this year’s Loy Krathong Festival in Thailand will proceed as planned, with a more subdued, traditional tone. Here’s what you need to know about this year’s observance. Loy Krathong, often called Thailand’s ‘Festival of Lights,’ falls on Wednesday, November 5, 2025. The festival, marked by beautifully decorated lotus-shaped krathongs floating on water beneath the full moon, symbolizes releasing anger, grudges, and bad luck. This year’s theme is ‘Loy Krathong Thai, Honoring the Mother of the Nation,’ emphasizing Her Majesty Queen Sirikit’s efforts to revive traditional Thai dress styles and cultural heritage. The Thai government has announced that cultural and religious events will continue, but the festivities will be more restrained. This means reduced lighting, sound, and entertainment. Major events like fireworks, concerts, dance shows, and pageants are expected to be canceled or significantly scaled down. The focus will be on the meaningful act of floating krathongs to honor the water goddess and reflect on gratitude and renewal, rather than large-scale celebrations. Across Thailand, local organizers are expected to adopt a similar approach, centering the festival on its spiritual essence and traditional rituals.

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Unesco has listed Thai khon as intangible cultural heritage of humanity. Culture Minister Vira Rojpojchanarat said the 13th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage agreed to officially list Thailand’s khon masked dance drama as intangible cultural heritage on Thursday. khon is a dance drama genre from Thailand. khon has been performed since the Ayutthaya Kingdom. It is traditionally performed solely in the royal court by men in masks accompanied by narrators and a traditional pipit ensemble. A variation of this genre with female performers is called khon phu ying. Mr Vira credited the success to Her Majesty Queen Sirikit’s contribution to preserve and improve the art. “She ordered a remake of costumes and ornaments, as well as makeup, stage, format, light and sound, turning it into a royal khon performance,” he said. Anucha Teerakanond of Thammasat University said there were three intangible cultural heritage lists. The longer one is the representative list which Thai khon has been added. Another one is the list in need of urgent safeguarding by communities and countries. The other one is the good practice list. “Cambodia‘s Lkhon Khol Wat Svay Andet is on the urgent list while Thai khon is on the representative list,” he explained. To celebrate, Thailand‘s Cultural Ministry will start holding khon-related activities until the end of next year. They include live performances, animation films, exhibitions, children books, features and digital database. Contributors to the art will also be celebrated. Thailand started applying for listings of intangible cultural heritage after the country ratified the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage on June 10, 2016. For next year, the ministry plans to apply for the listings of nuad Thai (Thai traditional massage) and Nora, a southern traditional dance. Credit to: https://www.bangkokpost.com/lifestyle/art/1584642/unesco-lists-khon-as-cultural-heritage. View our policies at http://goo.gl/9HgTd and http://goo.gl/ou6Ip. © Bangkok Post Public Company Limited. All rights reserved.

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Do you know Sushi and what country it comes from? I guess this kind of question is pointless since even a little boy knows that Sushi is from Japan. So, let’s talk about Asian cuisine, an extraordinary one, all of it. So many choices, most still unknown to the world but so delicious and with an  unforgettable taste. Do you know any of it? Well, when you travel in Asian countries, you will find tons of traditional food. Asia is a big continent divided into several countries, so there surely is plenty of local food out there waiting for you to come and try. Let me tell you about food from my country, the Malaysian Borneo. Terung Dayak, also known as Terung Assam, is secret recipe of Sarawak’s indigenous people. Terung Dayak has been recognized here as traditional food from generation to generation. In scientific term, the proper name given to this vegetable is Solanum Feroc L, one of the egg plant species. It can be found in many South East Asian Countries like Indonesia, where they call it Sour Brinjal. Usually, it has a round shape and it is covered with a hairy and itchy skin. Its starting colour is usually green, and it turns yellow once it is ripe. According to history, its seeds were brought back to Sarawak from Indonesia by the Dayak people. Terung Dayak is a wild vegetable which used to only grow wild in the forest; now the Dayak people plant it and harvest it from their paddy fields. For Sarawakians, this vegetable is suitable to be cooked with salted fish, particularly with salted and dried shark, in a soup. Besides that, the native people like to slice it into small pieces and eat it dipped in spicy sambal sauce. The uniqueness of Terung Dayak is that it is usually cooked and served during Dayak weddings or special occasions. It is one of the favorite dishes among Sarawakians and it is now promoted as part of Sarawak’s famous cuisine. Deputy Chief Minister of Sarawak, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu, disclosed to the Borneo Post that Terung Dayak is one of the Key Focus Activity (KFA) projects implemented by the Research Division of State Agriculture Department (DOA) this year. Thanks to modern times, Terung Dayak is now being promoted as a niche product of Sarawak! It is worth knowing that, aside from cooking, Terung Dayak is also very well-known as a traditional medicine: the Dayak people believe it can cure pin worms. I bet by now everyone is starting to Google it. Personally, I cannot find enough words to fulfill the excitement of having the Terung Dayak here in Sarawak. You have to come to visit us and indulge yourself with this amazing delicacy. Being Sarawak a state with multiracial citizens, do not forget to enjoy other popular dishes such as Laksa Sarawak cooked by the Malay people, Kolo Mee by the Chinese people, and Roti Canai by the Indian people. And if you drink alcohol, do not hesitate to try the traditional liqueur, the so called rice wine.

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