Nong Khai prepares venue ahead of Naga Fireballs Festival 2015

NONG KHAI, Oct 16 (TNA) -- Local authorities in the Thai northeastern province of Nong Khai have started the preparations and clean up along the bank of Mae Khong River, ahead of the annual Naga Fireballs Festival or Bun Bung Fai Phaya Nak, which is set to be organised at the end of the Buddhist Lent season. Officials from the Pone Pisai Sub-district Municipality have been working to clear up the landscape along the Mae Khong River and in front of Wat Thai temple in preparation for the Naga Fireballs festival, which is scheduled to be held on October 27. Authorities have also set up an activity area to accommodate tourists, who would be traveling to the area to watch the naga fireballs phenomenon, while local communities would be finishing up the decorations on their large illuminating boats to participate in the upcoming parade at the festival. The municipality office has also stepped up tourism in the province by recruiting student artists to create art works about the naga fireballs on the walls of the Wat Thai temple to attract more tourists to the province. Meanwhile, the nearby Rattanawapi district has also, another important venue for the witnessing of the natural phenomenon, has also been preparing venues to receive visitors during the festival. The district office reported that the areas Baan Naam Pe, Baan Tha Muang, and Baan Tarn Choom villages had seen more than 400 naga fireballs shot from the rive in the sky last year, adding that it believes the number of visitors would be close to that of last year, even though the festival would be held on the weekdays this time around. (TNA)