Nong Khai


Nong Khai is a city in northeast Thailand. It is the capital of Nong Khai Province. Nong Khai city is administered as Mueang Nong Khai District.
Nong Khai lies on the Mekong River, near the site of the first Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge, spanning the river to Laos. The Thai-Lao Friendship bridge was largely funded by a gift to the Lao government from the Australian government. It is the road and railway gateway to the Lao capital, Vientiane, 25 kilometers upriver, on the north bank opposite Thailand's Si Chiang Mai District. Construction of a rail spur to Thanaleng outside Vientiane was begun early-2007 and opened 5 March 2009.
Nong Khai is 626 km north of Bangkok by road and 60 km north of Udon Thani.

History

The Prap Ho Monument before the old city hall memorialises the dead of the Haw wars.
Nong Khai has become a popular destination during the Buddhist Lent festival when mysterious balls of light, or Naga fireballs, rise from the Mekong River. The balls resemble an orange sun. They rise out of the river approximately 6–9 meters and disappear after three to five seconds. Although the fireballs can be seen at other times, most Thais travel to see them during the full moon in October when the incidence of them is considered to be much higher.
Nong Khai's main sight is Sala Keoku, a park of colossal sculptures, some over 20 m tall. The park is the handiwork of the mystic Luang Pu Bunleua Sulilat, who bought the land in 1978 when he was exiled from his native Laos, where he had built a similar park in Vientiane in the 1950s. Synthesizing Buddhist and Hinduist ideologies, Buddhas, many-armed goddesses, a seven-headed Naga snake, and various human-animal hybrids dominate the site.

Climate