Prime Minster Srettha Thavisin will attend the opening ceremony of “Naga Fire: Miracle of Faith 2023” in Phon Phisai district of Nong Khai on Sunday, according to government spokesman Chai Wacharonke.
The premier will stay overnight in Udon Thani before departing for Laos on Monday for his first official trip to the neighbouring country since taking office.
A collaboration between the government and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), “Naga Fire” is being staged to mark the end of this year’s Buddhist Lent.
Nong Khai governor Rachan Chunhua and San Sunthornthanakul, the mayor of Tambon Phon Phisai municipality, have affirmed their readiness to welcome visitors. They are expecting at least 200,000 tourists to show up this year.
The annual festival brings in billions of baht to the province while providing visitors, both Thai and from overseas, with a warm welcome, said Mr Rachan.
Related events are also being held from Oct 21 through Nov 6 in six of the province’s districts near the Mekong River: Muang Nong Khai, Phon Phisai, Ratana Wapi, Sangkhom, Sri Chiang Mai and Tha Bo.
According to Mr Chai, 80.2% of visitors to last year’s “Naga Fire” festival expressed their satisfaction with the event. Of those, 59.6% said they had attended it more than once, while the rest were first-time visitors.
According to statistics gathered by the province, a total of 260 fireballs shot into the air last year: 20 in Phon Phisai district and 240 in Ratana Wapi.
The Naga Fireballs are an annual phenomenon that occurs at the end of the Buddhist rains retreat. The fireballs, a rosy pink colour, emerge from the Mekong River in and around Nong Khai and shoot into the sky before disappearing.
The fireballs are said to be the work of the mythical Phayanak serpent that lives below the surface of the Mekong. No plausible scientific explanation has been put forward for the phenomenon.
In past years, some devotees on the Thai side of the river have accused their Lao counterparts of faking fireballs by setting off flares.
