NAKHON PHANOM, Oct 6 Normally quiet, a lively atmosphere is flowing through the Thai-Lao border areas.
Hundreds of Lao are crossing the Mekong River into this province to join the illuminated Lai Rua Fai boat festival in Nong Khai, Lao people arrive to buy goods for activities marking the end of the Buddhist Lent.
The annual Lai Rua Fai festival in Nakhon Phanom is began October 1 and is set to end Thursday.
Including the Red Cross fair, the festival highlights light-and-sound shows and a trade fair sponsored by districts and local government offices.
Hundreds of stalls of of discounted products and foods over a distance of about three kilometers stretch along the Mekong River in Nakhon Phanom municipality.
This attracts a large number of Thais from around the country as well as Lao tourists and shoppers. Visitors from other provinces register for border passes to cross the Mekong River to visit places of interest in Thakhek district of the Lao Khammouane province.
Outbound traffic overwhelms the tourist port of Nakhon Phanom municipality and the border checkpoint on the Third Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge.
Inbound traffic is also heavy as large numbers of Lao people are visiting Nakhon Phanom for shopping and leisure. Ferries plying the river between the tw countries are packed. Hundreds of millions of baht are expected to change hands in the northeastern province in the festival.
In Nong Khai’s Phon Phisai district, shoppers unusually grow in number as Lao people are actively arriving on ferries to buy goods.
Most of them buy a lot of foods and beverages ahead of celebrations for the end of the Buddhist Lent. Some people buy electric fans, refrigerators and televisions.
A Lao trader said that atmosphere in Laos was very lively in the lead-up to the end of the Buddhist Lent.
Most Lao people make donations–including electrical appliances–at Buddhist temples in the morning and a large number of the people are awaiting the phenomenon of Naga fireballs in the Mekong River, especially on the Lao side at Ban Pak Ngum village in Bolikhamxai province opposite Phon Phisai and Ratana Wapi districts of Nong Khai.
The visitors are buying lots of products in this festive period.
