Nong Khai sold out for fireball spectacle.

(From Bangkok Post)

Byline: Nong Khai

Naga fireball fever peaks tonight in Nong Khai, where tens of thousands of revellers are expected to line the Mekong river bank to view the annual phenomenon.

Legend says the mythical Naga serpent spits fire from the river bed. Scientists say it is a natural event, the result of gases produced by a complex biological process.

They cannot explain why the fireballs tend to emerge only on the full moon night of the 11th lunar month, which is also the end of Buddhist Lent.

Cynics claim the spectacle _ known as Bang Fai Phraya Nark _ is staged and the fireballs largely man-made, possibly by people …