Naga Fireballs of the Mekong River

this month’s full moon is celebrated in various parts of the world for various reasons.

in Nong Khai, Thailalnd, a festival is dedicated to celebrate a very mysterious, unusual and rare event, Thailand’s most curious natural phenomena. the festival is called Bang Fai Phaya Nak or Naga Fireball Festival.




Mekong ‘fireballs’ rise from the bottom of the Mekong river and while they ascend toward the sky they emanate a pinkish color. they appear just after dusk and are visible only for a short while, a few seconds and only on full moon of the 11th Buddhist Lunar Month of a year and only over a stretch of this river around Nong Khai.

the luminous bubbles are also called ‘Naga Fireballs’, named after the mysterious Mekong River Naga ‘Phaya Nak’ who lives beneath the waves. Thai people hold nagas sacred and they are worshipped and artistically displayed on temple walls and paintings to honor the importance of water to life.

nobody so far knows the secret of this extraordinary ‘miracle’. locals have absolutely no doubts however that it is the naga, very much alive under the river, who fires the balls up into the sky “to remind villagers to treat this life-giving river with respect”.



There are many theories of what the scientific cause of these fireballs could be and researchers tried to create this effect but with no success nor explanation.

of course it all could be a hoax………. “but most believe it is better not to know and would rather enjoy the festivities of the night instead”.


whatever the cause might be, I already can hear the shots coming from the Laos side of the river and it is not even dark yet !


en.wikipedia.org...

thailandimpression.blogspot.com...

I love me some mystic Naga action, the snake people are among my favorite myths.
Anyway, are there any eyewitnesses to this phenomenon? All the videos i find seem to just be fireworks.

Ach, Nong Khai!

We tried to see this "Fire-Balls" already 3. Times but until now without Success!

We used Nong Khai many times for the Border Crossing to the wonderful Laos!

This isn't far from there!

Place is covered with Reptilians...

National Geographic Ancient Megastructures Angkor Wat HD HD)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPG0wlV5Cx8
www.youtube.com...


Angkor Wat : Mystery of Cambodia's Ancient Khmer Civilization of Angkor Wat (Full Documentary)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuxRW9FLajE
www.youtube.com...


Temples of Angkor Wat - Cambodia
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es9B0ZK6X58
www.youtube.com...

reply to post by SovannaMaccha


Thank you for bringing up the mysterious Naga fireballs, its quite an event and an excellent festival full of wonder and excitement.

I think the ancient Naga of S.E. Asia deserve more attention because many believe they are more than myth. Apart from the tales of the Naga found in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos there are tales even as far as the Philippines.

Ask any Filipino about the tales of the snake man (Naga) of Robinson's Department Store in Manila? So many tales and story's, it's quite interesting!

reply to post by Thorneblood


hope i can tell you some more about the snake myths here soon.

for now the first impression of town, the mighty Naga

reply to post by AbleEndangered


thank you heaps for the tip, who knows what is up my path. i think i will look into adding this to my journey. just too tempting.

reply to post by Hongkongphooey


here my first glance over the Mekong river, Thailand on one and Laos on the other side



she is very beautiful and the festival in town is shaping nicely.

reply to post by SovannaMaccha


Oh wow, you are actually there eh?
Lucky Bastard.

I hear the temples are really spooky at night time!

The steps to some of the temples look like they are made for giants.

In the last video of the three I posted :Temples of Angkor Wat - Cambodia,
at time 53:30 in video, the monks are seen taking huge steps climbing that jungle temple.
It is like it was made for larger people to climb.

Even here in Japan we find Nagas in a few old Temples

Skeptoid has a look at these, and apparently the full moon fireballs are 'helped' along with some human intervention.

skeptoid.com...

He does go onto say that they may possibly be seen at other times of the year, perhaps even sans human intervention, but outlines a convincing case for the regular annual manifestation.

reply to post by AbleEndangered

I hear the temples are really spooky at night time!

very spooky, as you argue, and also when you come across paintings like this one from a temple here in Nong Khai.


but the Mekong changes more and more beautiful as the day gets on

reply to post by cuckooold


thanks for that great link

from that article which I find very thorough:

Nong Khai's main proponent of this natural explanation is a pediatrician, Dr. Manos Kanoksilp, who has made the study of the Naga Fireballs his passion. He believes that the precise conditions require an alignment of the sun, moon, and Earth. He also believes that this particular part of the river is especially high in oxygen (it isn't) and that it's sufficient to spontaneously combust the methane because the sun heats the water to a hot enough temperature (it doesn't).

I think you Westerners could do with Dr. Manos Kanoksilp to prove Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny are real

reply to post by Human0815

Even here in Japan we find Nagas in a few old Temples

this part here is dedicated to the Naga !



sorry to hear you were here three times and did not see the fireballs. but you must have enjoyed the festival and the fireworks. japan is big on fireworks, I know. where I stayed, there was not even a reason needed for a firework every night.

they say, the best place to see the Naga fireballs is in Phon Phisai, 40 ks east of town.

I figured, the best place I can go to is as far east out of town as possible. but as far as I could walk east along the river, this fantastic festival with its bright lights did not end. food stalls, vendors of all sorts, music, and events non stop. fireworks were cracking loud and colorful on both sides of the river.

I was very disappointed. I asked the Naga to please give me a sign that it exists. and then, suddenly, when least expected, there was the Naga up in the sky above the river! I knew it would talk to me. the Naga was there in a ufo formation of 7 magical lights !



and this is how the Chinese lanterns - I mean the ufos - are launched






my opinion in regards to this phenomenon doesn’t count. whether the fireballs had appeared or not will be published tomorrow in the Bangkok Post as well as on TV.

they appear every year. only 2 years ago they did not. locals told me that the reason was that the laos’ canon got wet and malfunctioned. then again, they were local westerners.

you have to visit yourself to find out.

reply to post by SovannaMaccha


lol cool pic
Why are they torturing all those aliens?

reply to post by Thorneblood


What I find interesting is that many times what maybe considered as folklore is actually based on facts.

My mind goes to the modern example of native islanders recreating planes to call upon these new gods to return and give them more stuff lol.

An example of how the aliens, monsters, gods etc the ancients depicted were likely real. There is likely something real behind the naga forgive if I did not spell or say it correctly.

The Bot