Loy Krathong Cancelled

Well, I had planned on going to Chiang Mai to film the mass release of lanterns that float up into the air. It happens during the Loy Krathong festival. I went a couple years ago and it was very cool. I thought it would be even cooler to shoot it with the Quad from the air. Last year, the airlines complained about it, even though it has been going on for many years without incident. The mass release is nowhere near the airport, but they wanted it cancelled. The local organizers didn’t want to cancel because it brings in a huge number of tourists (which benefits who? The airlines!). So the airlines cancelled dozens of flights to Chiang Mai over the four nights of the festival. Then the local organizers cancelled the mass lantern release. So now there are no flights, no lanterns and no reason for me to go to Chiang Mai right now. I decided to wait until the Flower Festival in February. I’m pretty sure the airlines aren’t anti-flower yet. Instead of Chiang Mai, I decided to go to Hong Kong for three days instead.