Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) workers have collected about 640,000 krathong, which were floated in the capital’s public parks and on canals during yesterday’s Loy Krathong festival, according to a BMA report.

They started collecting the krathong at about 8pm and finished by 5am this morning. 639,828 krathong were collected, an 11.74% increase on last year.

The report stated that 96.75% of the krathong, or 618,951, were made of environmentally friendly natural or degradable materials, such as banana trunks, banana leaves, sugarcane bagasse and bread. Only 3.26%, or 20,877, were made of polystyrene foam.

Last year, 95.70% of the krathong were made of natural materials and 4.30% were made of foam, said the BMA.

Khlong Sam Wa district recorded the highest number of krathong collected, at 31,575, most of which were made of natural materials. Pom Prap recorded the fewest, at 160. Bueng Kum district recorded the highest number of foam krathong, at 1,579.

A total of 290,886 people visited the city’s 34 parks to celebrate the Loy Krathong festival. 88,011 krathong were floated, or an average of three visitors per krathong. The three most visited parks were Lumpini, Benjakitti and Benjasiri.

All the krathongs collected were separated and sent to three garbage disposal facilities to be properly destroyed.

Introduced for the first time by the BMA this year, 3,744 virtual krathong were floated in Khlong Ong Ang.