Fire In The Hole! Rocket Festival Season is Now
Explosive Joy: Adventures at Thailand's Rocket Festivals When travelers visit Thailand during rocket festival season, many imagine gentle paper lanterns floating into the night sky. What a surprise awaits them! Turns out, when Thai people say "rocket festival," they mean ACTUAL ROCKETS. Not NASA-grade precision instruments, mind you, but homemade bamboo tubes packed with enough gunpowder to make your average fireworks safety inspector faint on the spot. The Bun Bang Fai festivals, as they're properly called, happen across northeastern Thailand ( Isaan region) during the pre-monsoon season. Locals launch these DIY missiles to encourage the rain gods to water their crops. Because nothing says "please send rain" like hurling explosives into the clouds. In Yasothon province, home to one of the most famous rocket festivals, visitors might notice everyone standing REALLY far back from the launch area. "Why are we standing in another postal code?" many ...