Drought had spread throughout the region despite the cloud masses in the sky. His Majesty also discovered that many localities had encountered problems characteristic of dry land areas, most importantly shortages of water for consumption and farming. Particularly in the growing season, farmers had faced difficulty because dry spells would occur during critical cropping periods. If water were unavailable during that period, crops would fail or be damaged. Whenever a dry spell happened, usually each year, it would cause huge economic losses to farmers. In addition, industrial, agricultural and population growth had sharply increased demand for water for consumption. One clue to the problems was a shocking decrease in the level of water in Bhumibol Dam.
As the majority of the Thai people depend on agriculture, Thailand needs a large amount of water for farming activities. Formerly, Thai farmers had to wait for seasonal rain to grow crops. As a result, the crop production usually suffered from drought as there was not enough rainfall during the long dry season. HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej learned about this problem by travelling to even the remotest corner of the country. Out of the purpose to help his people, the King devoted himself to studying and researching artificial rainmaking techniques and donated his private funds to launch the Royal Rainmaking Project.