From fwestra@... Sun Nov 10 06:39:57 2002 Return-Path: X-Sender: fwestra@... X-Apparently-To: mysterylights@yahoogroups.com Received: (EGP: mail-8_2_3_0); 10 Nov 2002 14:39:57 -0000 Received: (qmail 38446 invoked from network); 10 Nov 2002 14:39:57 -0000 Received: from unknown (66.218.66.217) by m5.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 10 Nov 2002 14:39:57 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO mint.nl.gxn.net) (62.100.30.37) by mta2.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 10 Nov 2002 14:39:57 -0000 Received: from ns1.qinip.net (hmm-dca-ap03-d03-148.dial.freesurf.nl [62.100.2.148]) by mint.nl.gxn.net (Postfix) with SMTP id F17CE4B4A for ; Sun, 10 Nov 2002 15:39:50 +0100 (MET) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Date: Sun, 10 Nov 2002 15:39:19 +0100 X-Mailer: Net-Tamer 1.12.0 Subject: Fwd = Mekong Fireballs not a hoax, insists TAT official Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Mailreader: NTReader v0.37w(P)/Beta (Registered) Message-Id: <20021110143950.F17CE4B4A@...> From: Frits Westra X-Yahoo-Group-Post: member; u=196822 X-Yahoo-Profile: parodynl Forwarded by: fwestra@... (Frits Westra) URL: http://search.bangkokpost.co.th/bkkpost/2002/nov2002/bp20021103/news/03nov2002_news11.html Original Date: Sat, 9 Nov 2002 21:18:14 +0100 (CET) ========================== Forwarded message begins ====================== BANGKOKPOST.COM Exclusive GENERAL NEWS - Sunday 03 November 2002 MEKONG PHENOMENON Fireballs not a hoax, insists TAT official Refutes claim made by iTV documentary Ploenpote Atthakor and Mongkol Kannika The Tourism Authority of Thailand has rejected the claim in an iTV documentary that the fireball phenomenon during the Bang Fai Phaya Nark festival is a hoax. More than 400,000 visitors flocked to Nong Khai province last month to witness the annual event, during which about 800 fireballs reportedly rose from the Mekong river. The festival coincides with the end of Buddhist Lent, on the full moon night of the 11th lunar month, and local legend claims the source of the fireballs to be Naga, a mythical serpent living in the river. ``Non-believers came and saw the proof with their own eyes,'' said Nuan Sarnsorn, of TAT's office in the Northeast. In the absence of concrete evidence, the spectacle would remain a mystery, he said. But an iTV documentary, citing an academic's research, recently claimed the illusion of fireballs rising into the sky had been created with tracer bullets from AK-47 automatic rifles. Mr Nuan denied TAT had promoted a hoax, saying media interest had contributed more to the event's popularity. ``If it was a hoax, the organisers did extremely well to pull it off,'' he said. Thai Rak Thai MP Prasit Chanthathong said Nong Khai people felt the iTV documentary was misleading. They were concerned the public would start believing the report that the fireballs were created by Lao soldiers firing their rifles into the air. ``The phenomenon has been happening for several hundred years. How did anyone have a gun back then to create this show?'' Mr Prasit said. From watching the documentary he got the impression the clip showing Lao soldiers firing their rifles was a set-up. Mr Prasit said he had learned that Vientiane had investigated the soldiers shown in the documentary and punished them. ``I was told those soldiers were asked why they had wasted bullets which were expensive,'' he said, and urged the public not to immediately believe that the phenomenon was man-made. ______________________________________________________________________ © Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 2002 ========================== Forwarded message ends ========================