In the Thai Buddhist tradition, Nagas are water spirits, guardians of treasures vast and mysterious. They are most often depicted in the form of huge serpents have sometimes five or seven heads. The Thais believe that even today one can find Nagas in the depths of the Mekhong.
The cult of the Nagas is nowaday still very much alive in south east asia.
Nagas can effortlessly assume a human form to appear to men or women with out frightening them.Such story appear in ancient legends but also very recently in the real world !
The Buddha is sometime pictured seated under the King of the Nâgas,
who protect him from rain during his last meditation before to reach full enlightment.
This image of the Buddha is called Phra Naphok in Thailand
and is the protector of people born on a saturday.
On this photo, the Buddha seem to check what the Nagas next to him is doing.
Painting of a Nâgas in temple. (Luang Prabang, Laos)
A Nâga, represented with 4 harms and a human torso on a temple door.
The King of Nagas statues and a view of the crystal in his hand.
Wat Hong Rathanaram (Bangkok).
A Nagas carving in a temple of Nepal.
Nagas on some Tibetan temples wall paintings, with their treasures
and some "nagas stones" of various colors.
In Malaysia, one can sometime also find Nagas stones,
but they are more rought and far bigger than the one found in Thailand.
Please note that their size and aspect are VERY similar to the Nagas stones
that we see on Tibetan Thangkas.
In some rare mineral boutiques one can find the precious "naga eyes".
Here, in this Bangkok vendor's display case, a veritable fortune can be seen !
A handful of Naga Eyes: "power stones" - in the Thai tradition, Naga Eyes
(or "Naga Diamonds") are considered to have many paranormal powers,
among which the protection of their carrier from any peril of water,
and to increase tenfold one's acquisition of extraordinary powers,
and greatly to facilitate the development of the strengths one already has !
The two most rare colors of Nagas eyes crystals are the green & blue, they are about 8 times more costly than other colors.
There exist also some BLACK Nagas crystals,
that are also very expensive & rare.
Nagas eggs made of alchemical glass Lek Lai Geow.
A rare sample of red nagas eye crystal that has a surface looking like moldavite.
Another sacred stone of the Nagas : Hin Patawee Kong-Kathat.
Another rare type of sacred stones of the Nâgas : Hin Patawee Kong-Kathat.
Those translucent, amber color, naturally occuring stones are collected along the banks of the Mekhong in the Mukdahan area. They are considered to be magic pain magnets
and to make the one who wear them more compassionnate and charismatic.
In the past they were mostly used by traditionnal healers.
The fossils of the Nâgas.
Two petrified nagas crests.
All those Nagas fossils (tooth, crest and egg) are displayed in Wat Pochai (Nongkhai).
Very rare fossil of the Nagas from Laos.
This "nagas egg" is displayed at Venerable LP Tiang temple.
Weirdly, it seem to be made of an iron based stone and is very heavy and magnetic.
As usual, when the issue is "power stones", there are several explanations for the existence of those stones. I am going to try in the following text to explicate the two principal explanations and to bring forward as far as possible documentation to help you comprehend these explanations. The following photos are rare and were difficult to put together.
First Explanation: the Naga Eye's being is linked to the festival called Bang Faï Paya Nag, which takes place every year in Thailand's Nongkhaï region.
In red is the Nongkhaï area.
Some video clips showing Naga fireballs
Video clip showing some Nagas sightings
This festival takes place round about the 15th to 25th of October every year, and a great crowd gathers to partake in a mysterious phenomenon. From the Mekhong silently and very rapidly orange light spheres soar. They are the size of goose eggs, and shoot high into the sky; traditionally they are called "Naga Fires".
Most rare photo of a Naga fireball
Older photographs of the same phenomenon.
This phenomenon is observable every year for several hundred miles from the Mekhong,
and also in some rivers, lakes and even ponds in this region. I have been able to chat with witnesses of this phenomenon, who say one can see it occur in secluded places,
very secluded, which totally refutes the theory that the phenomenon is man-made.
When all is said and done on this subject, from the tale of Laotian soldiers shooting flares from the opposite bank (who, pray, has ever seen such a flarerising up in silence?) to the pseudoscientific theory of gas pockets being drawn forth via lunar pull (gas pockets which burst forth only once a year at a fixed date in tune with the moon and,
at bottom made of sand ? GIMME A BREAK !)
Tradition assures us that the fireballs are gifts from the Nagas to humans, in thanks for keeping the Mekhong unpolluted here. I was able to speak to a granddaughter of a gentleman 94 years old who has always lived in this region, has taken part every year since his childhood in the Naga Fire phenomenon, and he stoutly asserts that NEVER in all those years has he seen or heard of anything that would lead one to think that the phenomenon is the result of fraud. Having myself participated in the Bang Fae Paya Nag festival of 2006,
I can aver that I saw no indicationof phoniness.
There is a film called "15 Kham Duan 11", which puts forth the notion that
the phenomenon is a fraud created by the followers of a venerable Laotian.
Disabuse yourselves.
This is not a documentary; this is a put on.
Raw samples of Naga eye cristal.
Some people say that the crystals from which the Naga Eyes are carved are found along the Mekhong in the days following the appearance of the Naga Fireballs: we are dealing with, therefore, a crystal out of the ordinary, direct from the Nagas' treasury !
I have several specimens of this mineral in my personal collection,
and can say without doubt that they resemble no ordinary crystal.
Nâgas géodes showed at the Temple of Vénérable LP Thong Gleung. Naga eyes are sometimes discovered by certain Buddhist masters residing unsmelted in a rare species of geode - "magic" - found in caves in northern Thailand and Laos. These geodes, can be found only by designated ones who have achieved a high spiritual level, and that only after a long ceremony which entails the lighting of a sacred fire to "fire" the geodes in sacred flames, thus rendering them into a liquid form from which naga eyes may be created.
In spite of many on-site inquiries in Thailand, I have not been able to find much more information regarding this second explanation. Having seen and held many of this stones, I can simply say that I have NEVER seen one containing the slightest trace of a bubble, which would indicate that the stone was once in a liquid state.
On the other hand, could it be that the mode of smelting is so strict
that the formation of bubbles is precluded ?
I lean toward the conclusion that both explanations have their value, that one sometimes encounters strange crystals along the Mekhong from which local artisans craft naga eyes, but in other cases accomplished monks produce them in another way. Obviously, there exist phoney glass Naga Eyes - distance yourself as from the plague from these unscrupulous vendors who will offer you glass pebbles as though they were true Naga Eyes. I especially think of some eBay sellers.
Whatever the explanation of their coming into being, Naga Eyes are highly sacred crystals, whose origin is shrouded in mystery and legend. It is enough to hold one in one's hand just once: the aura of power and serenity is truly sublime. It is difficult to find them - to my knowledge only three very discrete Bangkok boutiques offer them for sale.
I've decided to offer here on my site a selection of these sacred stones - you won't find them on many website. True Naga Eyes are heavy for their size, very solid, and equally very difficult to photograph (the light play about them can be bizarre).
Another mystery related to the nagas: the "Naga Queen picture".
The renowned photo of a "Naga Queen", about 25 ½ feet long,
captured in the Mekhong river on June 27, 1973.
Enlargement of the head (note that the green eye is obviously a result of tampering).
Enlargement of part of the back, please note the red fin.
Personally, while I have my reasons for believing in the existence of nagas,
I think this is a false photo, since the fish shown resembles an oarfish whose head has been tampered with, and the GI's in the photo clearly are having a good time, as though
they were pulling off a prank to make fun of local credulity.
A close inspection of the "original" of this photo on paper is very revealing.
Specimens of oarfish as long as 26 feet
have been found and mesured and a few bystanders speak of seeing
a specimen of over 50 feet long !
This lengthy fish lives in deep oceanic fissures but no way does it live in the Mekhong !
The Nagas larvae story.
Those image show a "nagas larvae" that (according to the story told to me)
was found in the Udon Thani area in the 1980's. Is it a fake ? A deformed baby fish ?
Or something else, a REAL Nagas larvae ?
The mysterious tracks of the Nagas.
This Naga trail, in Mekhong mud, was photographed by a fisherman
in the vicinity of Nongkhaï in 2002. Naga trails are found rather frequently in that area.
Here, Naga trails photographed in 2004 in a temple located in the north of Udhon-Thani. I visited this place and it give very weird vibes.
This peculiar Nagas shaped stalactite is located in the sacred cave of Tham Rap Lor.
(Wat Thep Charoen, Chumphon)
Nearly each year, during Bang Fae Payanag festival,
some weird naga's shaped tree shoots are discovered in the Udon Thani area.
Video showing various Nagas sightings, some are unclear, but some other are very troubling.
I took these two photos myself at the Mekhong in 2006 at the Bang Fae Paya Nag festival. Obviously it is an oversized animal swimming on the surface against the current !
A Naga perhaps ?
Whatever, it is neither a fish nor a duck !
There exist also some BLACK Nagas crystals, 
