Water Festival

Thai girl Sawanya Seesura prays before releasing a traditional Krathong float into a pool during the Loy Kratong festival in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011. Every year when the moon is full and the rainy season draws to an end, Thailand's waterways fill with millions of floating lotus-shaped lanterns - a symbolic, centuries-old gesture once meant to placate to the country's goddess of water. This year, flood-ravaged Thailand has plenty of reason to pray for rebirth - and little reason to celebrate. 

A young Thai boy makes his way with Krathong, a small lantern made of banana leafs or paper, to a canal during the Loy Kratong festival at a temple in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011. The festival, came on the heels of a cataclysmic waterborne disaster that's drowned one-third of the country in three months, killing 529 people and wiping out rice fields and factories and livelihoods along the way. The flooding is the worst in Thailand since World War II, and it's not over yet. Damage so far is likely to exceed $6 billion. Recovery will take months.

Thai citizens buy Krathong, a small lantern made of banana leafs, before floating it in to the river during the Loy Kratong festival at a temple in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011. The festival, came on the heels of a cataclysmic waterborne disaster that's drowned one-third of the country in three months, killing 529 people and wiping out rice fields and factories and livelihoods along the way. The flooding is the worst in Thailand since World War II, and it's not over yet. Damage so far is likely to exceed $6 billion. Recovery will take months.

Thai people pray before floating Krathong, a small lantern made of banana leafs or papers, into a canal during the Loy Kratong festival at a temple in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011. The festival, came on the heels of a cataclysmic waterborne disaster that's drowned one-third of the country in three months, killing 529 people and wiping out rice fields and factories and livelihoods along the way. The flooding is the worst in Thailand since World War II, and it's not over yet. Damage so far is likely to exceed $6 billion. Recovery will take months.

A Buddhist monk gives an advice to a man to buy Krathong, a small lantern made of banana leafs or papers, before floating it in to a river during the Loy Kratong festival at a temple in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011. The festival, came on the heels of a cataclysmic waterborne disaster that's drowned one-third of the country in three months, killing 529 people and wiping out rice fields and factories and livelihoods along the way. The flooding is the worst in Thailand since World War II, and it's not over yet. Damage so far is likely to exceed $6 billion. Recovery will take months. 

Traditional Krathong floats are released into a pool during the Loy Kratong festival in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011. Every year when the moon is full and the rainy season draws to an end, Thailand's waterways fill with millions of floating lotus-shaped lanterns - a symbolic, centuries-old gesture once meant to placate to the country's goddess of water. This year, flood-ravaged Thailand has plenty of reason to pray for rebirth .

Thai residents buy Krathong, a small lantern made of paper, before floating it in to the river during the Loy Kratong festival at a temple in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011. The festival, came on the heels of a cataclysmic waterborne disaster that's drowned one-third of the country in three months, killing 529 people and wiping out rice fields and factories and livelihoods along the way. The flooding is the worst in Thailand since World War II, and it's not over yet. Damage so far is likely to exceed $6 billion. Recovery will take months.

A woman helps her son pray before releasing a traditional Krathong float into a pool during the Loy Kratong festival in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011. Every year when the moon is full and the rainy season draws to an end, Thailand's waterways fill with millions of floating lotus-shaped lanterns - a symbolic, centuries-old gesture once meant to placate to the country's goddess of water. This year, flood-ravaged Thailand has plenty of reason to pray for rebirth - and little reason to celebrate.

A Thai woman lights candle and incense sticks to decorate in the Krathong, a small lantern made of banana leafs or papers, before floating it into the water during the Loy Kratong festival at a temple in Bangkok, Thailand Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011. The festival, came on the heels of a cataclysmic waterborne disaster that's drowned one-third of the country in three months, killing 529 people and wiping out rice fields and factories and livelihoods along the way. The flooding is the worst in Thailand since World War II, and it's not over yet. Damage so far is likely to exceed $6 billion. Recovery will take months.