Royal rainmaking technology
In 1955, while flying to visit villagers in the Phuphan Mountainailand, His Majesty noticed that although there were plenty of heavy clouds along his flight path, they failed to bring rainfall to the parched lands below.
His many trips upcountry also informed the King that water scarcity, and the cycle of flooding and drought, had brought extreme hardship to farmers. With no scientific help, they usually relied on supernatural rituals to ask for rain.
To overcome the problems, His Majesty first introduced a concept of check dams that help slow down the flow of water and reduce the risk of flash flood.
Analysing the available scientific data, His Majesty made it known to one of his close aides, MR Debriddhi Devakul, of his firm intention to search for a way to bring down ‘’more rain than that given by nature’’.The Royal Rain, or artificial rain project, was thus born. The first successful attempt was made in 1969. Further tests helped to refine the technique.
According to His Majesty, artificial rain-making comprises three steps: Triggering, fattening and attacking. Potential rain clouds were seeded, built up, dragged and forced to yield rain with precipitation of a reasonable amount of water over target areas.
In 2003, the European Patent Office granted a patent, numbered EP1491088, to His Majesty the King for “weather modification by royal rainmaking technology”.
Thailand’s help has often been sought by other countries in applying this technology to combat drought.