More "green" kratongs floated in Thailand this year

BANGKOK, November 18 (TNA) - In the wake of Sunday night's active kratong floatings nationwide, including the one by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej at Klai-kang-won Palace in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province in the Upper Thai South, the Pollution Control Department, under the Thai Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, says that more environmentally-friendly kratongs were floated in the country's Loy Kratong Festival this year. The department's director-general, Wichien Jungrungroeng, told journalists on Monday morning that more "green" kratongs with smaller sizes, made from banana leaves or bread were floated nationwide on Sunday night, which is a positive trend. Wichien also acknowledged that the number of kratongs floated countrywide also dropped this year, as several couples and members of each family shared same kratongs to help reduce garbage of used kratongs. According to the senior official, the increased use of "green" kratongs with reduced sizes and amounts, coupled with quick operations by local workers to collect used kratongs in waterways, have shown rising public awareness and cooperation on conserving the environment and easing the problem of global warming or climate change. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) reported, meanwhile, that there were more than 865,000 kratong floated in the capital's all 50 districts on Sunday night, about 88 per cent of which were made from banana leaves, and that the number of kratongs floated in the city dropped by nearly 51,000 units, compared with last year. (TNA)