Photo gallery: Thailand
Ostensibly the border between Thailand and Laos, the Mekong river serves more as a thread connecting the two cultures, making it a complex and fascinating prospect for visitors, far from the busy streets of Bangkok22 May 2019
The Mekong is the lifeblood of many towns along its length
From the top of Chanadai cliff in Pha Taem National Park, the view stretches across the floodplain to the Mekong and all the way to Laos on the other side of the river
Ban Pa Ao village — near the city of Ubon Ratchathani in the southeast of the Isan region — is renowned for its silk weavers and brass foundry
On religious days, villagers gather at the local temple where teams of celebrants clean, cook communal lunches and assemble colourful votive offerings
Renu Nakhon town and Nakhon Phanom town rest along the Mekong
Renu Nakhon is home to the stunning temple of Wat Prathat Renu Nakhon, where local girls perform traditional ‘baisri’ dances
Banh cuon (steamed rice rolls)
Nakhon Phanom is a busy market town with a sizeable Vietnamese community — Ho Chi Minh lived here in the 1920s
The local cuisine in Nakhon Phanom includes dishes such as maeng tup (fried woodborer beetle)
Ants’ eggs are a popular snack and are sold by the leaf-load (in this case at the central market in Nakhon Phanom)
Songkran (Thai New Year) sees locals of all ages cruising around Nakhon Phanom picking light-hearted water fights with passersby
The thrown water is thought to wash away the drenched person’s troubles and ‘makes merit’ for the water-thrower
Younger participants are gently splashed with the wet stuff in the old-fashioned way
A car driver hangs a protective jasmine garland as he recites a small prayer, Ubon
A bridge that crosses the Mun river close to Khong Jiam doesn't appear to get a lot of traffic
Preparing fish
During the three days of Songkran, Wat Phra That Phanom (rumoured to be the home of Buddha’s breastbone), is outfitted with an elaborate rig that douses the structure with ‘lustral water'
Grilling food
Nakhon Phanom
A smallholding on the banks of the Mekong close to Nakhon Phanom provides its residents with much that they need: plentiful river fish and vegetables, which thrive in the rich soil
As the sun begins to rise, a fisherman plies the waters of the Mekong near Nakhon Phanom
Part of Pha Taem National Park, Phu Krabo is a ‘lan hin’ or rock garden with a meadow covered in wild flowers including miniature orchids, Khong Jiam
A rhesus macaque monkey eating yam at the Ban Panna shrine
Mrs Bunrat Srihathong with a bowl of her noodles that she makes daily at her stall in Tan Bak Nam village on the Sri Songkram river
Weekly markets at a few points along the Mekong — including here at Tha Utten — allow Lao traders to set up stall for a few hours
A Buddha image at Phra That Tha Utten
A lucky fortune stall in the grounds of Phra That Kham Kaen temple, Khon Kaen
Scouts carrying the Thai flag join a two-kilometre long procession for the King’s Birthday Parade in Udon Thani
If the conditions are right millions of moths may hatch from the banks of the Mekong and flood the skies over Nakhon Phanom, and when they expire locals sweep them up, bag them and then use them as chicken feed
