because the people of northeast thailand have a deep belief that fire-known in thai as"fai"-possesees the power to kill devils and cast out hardship,fire figures prominently in most of the region's customs.
AMong these is the lai ruea fai festival,literally translated as the illuminated boat procession,which coincides with the fifteenth night of the waxing moon of the 11 lunar month.
There are several legends about the origins of lai ruea fai but actual truth remains a mystery.
According to an ancient buddhist legend,the festival's main objective is to pay respects to a footprint of the lord buddha found on the banks of the nammatanti river in india,where nagas the gigantic snakeshaped creatures of legend were said to live in the water. as the legend has it,the nagas invited the buddha to visit their subterranean homeland and asked him to give them a sermon. before the buddha left,they also asked him to leave an imprint of his foot in the moist soil on the bank.from then on,angels,human beings and animals all came to the holy spot to pay respects to the buddha's footprint.
Yet another ancient legend maintains that the festival was initiated to commemorate the buddha's return to earth after preaching to his mother in heaven during the three-month buddhist rains retreat.
How ever, what we do known for certain is the fact that the objective of the festival is to make merit by placing donations for poor people living along the liver in blazing boats