PHRAE — Farmers in the drought-hit Nong Muang Khai district on Sunday used a doll of the popular Japanese robot cat Doraemon in a ritual to ask the deities for rain, instead of the traditional black cat to avoid animal abuse allegations.
The drought-affected corn growers in tambon Wang Luang put a Doraemon doll in a wooden cage and then placed an image of the cartoon character on the cage’s exterior which they marched around their village in the hae nang maew ritual to pray for rain.