This water dragon story fascinates me. I studied it awhile back -- the fireballs (bang fai phaya naga) that erupt from the Mekhong River only on the night of every 11th lunar full moon, whispers of serpent stories and the tale of the US marines who caught a sea serpent way back in the 60s.

Anyone have any tidbits to add?

Only that you spelt tidbits correctly. I'm afraid my spelling is awful, which coupled with an unerring fascination for the female form, always leads me to disaster with that one.

from the thread:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...40063&st=60

As a witness to the event, I can add my own personal take. First, definitely not tracer rounds. I have a lot of experience with firearms and these are NOT tracer rounds. Secondly, as proposed by the movie of a diver releasing chemical compound balls; no way. I did however enjoy the movie... particularly the clarity showing the swimmer underwater in the Mekhong. As someone who has swam in it, it is definitely has a visibility of about 3 inches...Various gasses released? Doubtful they would do so with such regularity. Too many variables in Nature for it occur so regularly. Conclusion?... who knows... by process of elimination, Naga is the most plausible I've heard.

Well worth a trip to witness and draw your own conclusions.

The "rent-a-hotel-room-in-Nong Khai-and-rent-a-motorbike-to-ride-to-the-site" route that I took went very well I thought.

Car traffic is EXTREMELY heavy where I went with a reported 20,000 people attending. Still took some time to get back, but at least 10 times faster than the line of cars I passed.

The number of fireballs I witnessed was around 20, although the "official" count (conducted by local volunteers and walkie-talkie radioed every few minutes when they are occuring to a central command post), was around 80. Granted also, though, that I admit to missing some as many are very quick and illuminated only briefly, and if you are looking in an opposite direction downriver at the time, you'll miss it.

Fireballs were witnessed simultaneously all along a 45 km stretch of the river.... which dispels the theories like The Skipper...

As for Head Snake's question on sound: The were silent except if it was close, there was a faint, but detectable "whoosh".

What's the answer? I don't know. I expected some logical explanation when I went there and ended up leaving with nothing plausible that I could believe in... leaving Naga as the only theory unable to dissprove.

Easily, it was one of the most amazing Thai experiences I've ever had.

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The ones that were close enough to hear...how close were they?..approximately...could you tell how big they were...1 meter in diameter...10 meters in diamter...or whatever....how high do you think they went?....did they get smaller as they ascended?...what color were they?....did several come up in a row or just one at a time?...if several came up in a row then did they come up for one second, ten seconds?..or what...if many came up in a row then how many?

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Phew... ok, here goes.. I'll try my best.

Closest ones were maybe 100 meters. All of them seemed to emerge from the middle portion of the river, but along a rather long stretch of the river, maybe a kilometer.

The glowing core looked to be about the size of a basketball with an illuminated, thinner tail trailing behind in lengths of 2-5 meters. The ones further away were difficult to judge their size.

They went very high... several hundred meters before darkening or disappearing. They appeared to be about the same size as they rose. Didn't look as though they got smaller. They just disappeared when they got high.

Some were first visible only a few meters off the surface of the river, others I first saw them glowing at maybe 50-100 meters off the surface of the river.

I'd say they were orangish red to orangish yellow in color.

They seemed to come up a few (2 or 3) in a batch with sometimes long stretches of time where none rose. Other times, only one was visible at a time.

They rose very fast. Usually they went straight up, but several seemed to have more of an arc to their path. Most were visible for only a few seconds... less than 5. There was one that came closest to me and it seemed to last longer, visible maybe 7 seconds. That was the one I got the best look at... I likened it to a flaming basketball... kinda scary in a way.

Hope this helps...

Oh, thanks, Sri! I usually do a search before I post a new topic so I don't do a repeat, but I am to fault for not doing so this time. Just wanted to add some new blood to invigorate the, um, sluggishness here. Thanks for the head's up.

Suiging, you are certifiable and definitely belong here.

very intersting, a friend of mine was there in 2002 (or 2001?) and he said it was definitely tracer ammo fired from the Laotian side. Maybe they use it as a backup if the real thing doesn't happen...

btw....why is this one in Bedlam and not in the Travel or Isaan forum?

very intersting, a friend of mine was there in 2002 (or 2001?) and he said it was definitely tracer ammo fired from the Laotian side. Maybe they use it as a backup if the real thing doesn't happen...

btw....why is this one in Bedlam and not in the Travel or Isaan forum?

The Jestster said because she thinks Bedlam is getting sluggish....if she thinks the Travel or Isaan fora are getting sluggish then I'm sure she'll chip in and start a topic there.....she is SUCH a busybody....don't you think?

Should I call her if my bowels start getting sluggish?

Chownah

My gram used prunes.

There was a good movie made about it back in 2002. Translated it was called "Mekong Full Moon Party"

I don't know what it's called in Thai

http://imdb.com/title/tt0352575/

All of the marines pictured with the "so called" Naga have allegedly met with their maker already. I don,t know if it's true or not, but it makes for a good story.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/...-391567,00.html

What kind of fish is it actually that those marines are carrying?

What is the story of that picture anyways? Does anybody know?

Sri Racha John gives a great account of it. Definitely not tracer bullets, that's easily disproved when you go to see it. I recommend you do, because it's one of the most amazing things you see in Thailand.

The wife actually comes from that area and is 100% convinced of the existance of the Naga although nobody she knows has really seen it.

I take it that the fireballs are real...still we don't know what makes them...

What kind of fish is it actually that those marines are carrying?

What is the story of that picture anyways? Does anybody know?

It's a Regalecus Glesne . Go here to find out more .. http://www.thailandroad.com/trevor/naga.html

What kind of fish is it actually that those marines are carrying?

What is the story of that picture anyways? Does anybody know?

It's a Regalecus Glesne . Go here to find out more .. http://www.thailandroad.com/trevor/naga.html

Thanks for that one! So this part of the Naga saga can be considered as a hoax, although the article does not contain any proves for its claims.

Naga Saga... :D Nice one Raro.

ooops....that was unintentional...nice one indeed...what a genius I am!

Mekhon Fireballs. Is that a Thai cocktail, sort of a version of Flaming Lamborghinis?

wow, exciting times - a thai story in Bedlam...

yeah...we've come a long way...

According to my research - a brief par included in a long Issan feature story I recently wrote:

During October full moon each year, Nong Khai is packed with curiosity seekers keen to witness the mysterious Naga Fireballs that shoot hundreds of metres into the night sky from the depths of the muddy Mekong. The strange and unexplained phenomenon was a village secret for centuries until word got out. In recent years, the ruby orbed spectacle has attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors to the region. Sightings have also been recorded in the months March to June and also September. Locals believe the fiery balls are produced by a mythical serpent, the naga. Killjoy scientists say the show is produced by gases in the river.

I did a lot of research - all boiled down to above.

Spitting it on your nads and accidently droppping a lighter on them. Thus igniting the alcohol and resulting in Mekhong firey balls?

Some American Hilly Billy fellow sang about these years ago. He claimed he had " Big boppers" whatever that means, but " Great balls of fire" definitely got a mention

" Great balls of fire"

I wonder if they use that as their theme song every year? Would be a great ad slogan. Nice going, Limpalong.

Thanks for the update, Khall. I heard a temple in the area has records from a hundred or more years back noting the fireballs.

According to my research - a brief par included in a long Issan feature story I recently wrote:

During October full moon each year, Nong Khai is packed with curiosity seekers keen to witness the mysterious Naga Fireballs that shoot hundreds of metres into the night sky from the depths of the muddy Mekong. The strange and unexplained phenomenon was a village secret for centuries until word got out. In recent years, the ruby orbed spectacle has attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors to the region. Sightings have also been recorded in the months March to June and also September. Locals believe the fiery balls are produced by a mythical serpent, the naga. Killjoy scientists say the show is produced by gases in the river.

I did a lot of research - all boiled down to above.

The "scientists" explanation doesn't pan out for reasons I stated previously.

8 out of the last nine posts have had nothing to contribute towards this immense legend of the fireballs.

Shouldn't this be closed?

Get's my vote.

Just to get us back on topic:

"Goooodness GRAAAAAcious GREAT BALLS OF FIRE!!!!": Jerry Lee Lewis......he married his 13 year old distant cousin.....seems like the marriage lasted about ten years...if my memory serves me correctly...!!!!

The military dicatatorship wants Thailand to start developing and manufacturing missiles (there's a couple of news stories about it out in the real world forum)....I think they could learn a thing or two from those Nakas!!!!!!

If they do manage to pull off the missile program Naga would be an excellent name for it.