Thai spectators have a blast at a traditional ethnic Mon rocket festival

A man stands next to a launching rocket during a traditional ethnic Mon rocket festival in Pathum Thani province, Thailand on May 1. Photo: Reuters

Homemade missiles fizzed, roared and sputtered across a field in central Thailand last weekend as amateur rocketeers put their skills to the test in front of hundreds of revellers.

The "Look Noo" festival originated among Thailand's Mon ethnic group as a way to honour deceased monks in the Buddhist kingdom - using a rocket as a spectacular way to ignite a cremation fire from afar.