Nong Khai

The Prap Ho Monument before the old city hall (now a museum and cultural center) memorialises the dead of the Haw wars.^[5]

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 (20–30 ft) 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.^[6]

Nong Khai's main sight is Sala Keoku (alternatively spelled as Sala Kaew Ku, also known as Wat Khaek), 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.^[7]

Notable figures from twentieth century Buddhist history have lived in Nong Khai – the world renowned Buddhist scholar and leading meditation teacher Ajahn Sumedho was ordained in Wat Sisaket in Nong Khai.^{[citation needed]}

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  Streets of Nong Khai, provincial capital of Nong Khai Province.
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  Nong Khai Aquarium
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  Phrathat Nong Khai

The area has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen: Aw).