The "Postmodernization" of a Mythical Event: Naga Fireballs on the Mekong River

Fireballs, allegedly shot from the Mekong River in northwestern Thailand by a mythical serpent known as Naga, recently became the focus of a major festival that attracts many (mainly domestic) tourist pilgrims. The popularity of the phenomenon engendered public controversy over the alleged origins of the fireballs. According to the master narrative, the fireballs are launched by the serpent in order to greet the return of Lord Buddha from heaven at the end of Buddhist Lent. There are two alternative accounts: that the balls are a natural phenomenon, or that they are man made. These accounts represent a threat to belief in the supernatural origins of the fireballs, as well as to vested economic interests in the phenomenon. This article shows how a postmodern approach, which denies an exclusive modernist scientific explanation for the fireballs and permits a multiplicity of truths, could help reduce the tensions produced by the controversy. The fire ball phenomenon raises questions for the anthropology of tourism concerning the "authenticity" of allegedly supernatural phenomena.