The Thai society is predominantly an agrarian one.
Rain plays an essential role in the cultivation of rice and other staple crops.
Thai farmers believe that rain is a gift from the deities up above.
When it fails to fall in the monsoon season, crops suffer from drought.
Crop yields are affected
So a ceremony to ask for rain from the deities must be held.
Isan people know that drought is caused by weather changes.
The deities are displeased with this, and therefore refuse to let the rain fall in the rainy season.
So when things have gone wrong, it is necessary to ask for the deities’ mercy by holding a ceremony.
A cat has a very important role in this ceremony, because of the fact that it dislikes water.
When it rains, when a cat gets wet, it miaws.
So the rain summoning tradition stemmed from this old belief that if a cat is to get wet (by being spashed with water), its cry is related to pleading for the clouds to break.
In the rain-making ceremony Isan people make a pleading by reciting rain-making verses known as “tao mae nang maew” or “ hae nang maew”, literally meaning the parading of a female cat.