The blaze of green light seen above the Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi province was not aurora, according to authorities.
Pictures of green light in the sky seen from the Panoenthung scenic point in the national park were posted on the Facebook page of Khao Panoenthung (in Thai) from Friday and raised a question if the lights had anything to do with aurora. Visitors to the Khao Panoenthung mountain also witnessed the green lights.
Mongkol Chaipakdee, chief of the Kaeng Krachan National Park, said the green light emerged in the western sky from the mountain between 7pm and 10pm on Friday. About 200 campers saw it on the occasion. The green light disappeared when the moon rose.
The green light reflected on clouds above the Tanaosri mountain range where its peak was about 1,200 metres high. The lights showed up when the local mountaintop temperature was at 20 degrees Celsius, he said.
Photographers earlier captured such light at the same location on Nov 2, 2021, and Jan 1, 2022.
Authorities dismissed the speculation, saying Thailand is too far from the poles and thus it is impossible for aurora to appear in the sky above the country.
Matipon Tangmatitham, an astronomer at the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand, wrote that Thailand was too far from the Earth's poles for aurora to be visible.
Aurora were not opaque, he wrote. Stars would shine through them.
The green light above Kaeng Krachan National Park reportedly blocked the sight of stars. It likely appeared on clouds which reflected green lights emitted from the surface of the earth, Mr Matipon said.
He believed the green light came from numerous squid fishing boats in the Gulf of Thailand. Fishermen conventionally used green lights to lure squid there, he wrote.