Nong Khai is not the most obviously alluring of tourist destinations. When I told a Thai friend I was going there to attend the annual fireball festival and would he like to accompany me, he looked dubious. 'Nong Khai small,' he said. 'Yes, well, small can be fun, look at you for instance,' I replied. He continued to look dubious, but I persisted and finally he said, 'Okay, I go, I can sleep there.' At which point I decided to revert to my original plan and go alone.
I've been to pitifully few Thai festivals over the years, considering their great number, but the Nong Khai fireball festival has always fascinated me. All those fireballs shooting up out of the Mekong river into the overhanging darkness on just one full-moon October evening each year. A supernatural event starring a water-dwelling naga serpent, as many Thais believe? A more prosaic natural phenomenon perhaps? Or a money-spinning hoax as sceptical farangs prefer to think? I've always wanted to check it out for myself.
I've just returned from my four-day stay. The town, in northern Isaan, runs along the south bank of the Mekong in a narrow strip. Like most Thai provincial towns it's no feast for the eyes, drab concrete having replaced most of the traditional wooden buildings. No attempt had been made to cheer up even the main street for the occasion and there weren't a lot of people about during the daytime.
In the evenings all activity was concentrated along the riverside promenade. By 8pm there would be big crowds (a sprinkling of farangs) eating at the long rows of Isaan food stalls or watching costumed performers dancing and singing morlam-style against brightly-lit naga serpent backdrops. On the river a few illuminated naga-serpent-shaped boats drifted slowly past like psychedelic visions. A fair amount of naga serpent merchandise was on sale – paintings, tee-shirts, jewellery, glass figurines, toys – ranging from the fierce to the cuddly. Did I mention that the naga serpent has a starring role in this festival?
The naga serpent itself is said to live in the depths of the Mekong hereabouts, though considering its fame it's a surprisingly coy naga serpent, usually only revealing itself to Saturday night drunks. On the full-moon night every October (Sunday October 13 this year), which happens to coincide with the last day of Buddhist Lent, it bestirs itself to spit out fireballs in a request, some say, to the Buddha to return to earth and help mankind. Lurking somewhere beneath all the commercial razzamatazz, this story still resonates with many Thais.
On Sunday, lift-off day, I had arranged to join a group going by minibus from the Mut Mee guest house to Ban Nam Pae about 60 kilometres along the river to the east, where most of the fireball action was expected to occur. We set off at 3pm and were there in just over an hour. The place is just a rural village but it looked like every man, woman and child was out cashing in on the big crowds. I found a good viewing spot on the river bank and the long wait began. The water level was unseasonably low, not good for fireballs I'd been told. All around, friends and family groups sat on mats eating and drinking. How Thais love a festival! As dusk turned to darkness people started lighting firecrackers and launching fire lanterns like those seen at Loy Krathong. Celebrations were going on on the Lao side of the river too.
I kept scanning the river left and right like a tennis umpire doing his warm-up exercises, but when the first loud cheer went up at 6.25 (I checked my wristwatch) I missed the sighting. Gotta be quick to catch those fireballs. I saw the next, from the same direction a few minutes later, three in quick succession. They behaved just as I had been led to expect: small red orbs shooting up almost vertically and silently for 100 metres or more, then disappearing. For the next hour the pattern was repeated: two or three fireballs in quick succession every ten minutes or so, always from the same direction. People cheered each time but to me they seemed to be coming from beyond the river in a densely jungled area on the Lao side. I didn't see one that rose clearly from the river. And shouldn't they be spread about a bit more? By 7.30 a breeze had got up and I was beginning to feel chilly, not to mention losing interest. A Thai couple were trying to light a fire lantern a few yards from me but lost control of it as it burst into flames. It came straight towards me and I just managed to leap out of the way. It was my most exciting encounter with a fireball all evening.
It started to rain lightly as I made my way back to the car park. On the tedious, 4-hour, bumper-to-bumper journey back to Nong Khai, I had plenty of time to reflect on fireballs. I felt deflated. I had really been hoping to witness something impressive. I didn't want to be just another sceptical farang. The naga serpent stuff was, of course, easy to dismiss. Get outta here secretive, occasion-savvy naga serpent. But the explanation I'd read about the fireballs as a natural phenomenon had seemed reasonable to me. Scientists have proposed that rotting matter on the riverbed causes methane bubbles to rise to the surface and ignite on contact with oxygen in the air. Throw in a bit of lunar gravitational pull and special organic conditions in the Mekong and you have yourself the makings of a fireball theory. One of Nature's simpler special effects when you consider a spectacular phenomenon such as the Northern Lights.
I still like this explanation but the trouble with it from a festival organiser's point of view is that the fireballs, if they exist, are probably nowhere near as predictable or abundant as they would wish us to believe. Much as a festival organiser would like to have a whole bunch of them turn up at the perfect viewing time of 6pm to 8pm one day a year, Nature might have other ideas. As a result I suspect that a little man-made 'assistance' is provided. Too much local community income at stake. In 2002 a Thai TV company investigated the fireball phenomenon and concluded that Lao soldiers were firing tracer rounds from the Lao side of the river. The TV company received death threats and lawsuits for their trouble (which suggests that they might have been on to something). That description certainly fits what I witnessed. It had felt like a hoax to me and a pretty amateurish one at that. Whether or not the same thing happens every year I wouldn't know. Perhaps some years there are a lot of genuine fireballs. Anyway I have a suggestion (free of charge) for any would-be hoaxers in the future: get yourselves some specially trained farting catfish. At least that way the fireballs would come from the river itself and different locations.
I was staying in Nong Khai for one more day. There are worthwhile side-trips to be made but I couldn't be bothered. I spent a lazy day in my hotel room and wandering about. The covered all-purpose market (Tha Sadet) by the boat pier is worth a look and the riverside promenade is an attractive place to stroll during the daytime. I liked the naga serpent lamp-holders on its lampposts and similarly inspired pattern on its railings. No sexy young guy approached me pleading to be bedded (an ugly female tart had the night before, but that's another story). Having snacked at food stalls for most of my stay, I treated myself to a restaurant meal at Jing Joe's in the evening. Good pizza and salad. Back to Pattaya the following day (ie yesterday).
A few photos from my trip. Sorry, no fireballs.
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Originally Posted by frequent
