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.
Drought is solved by the
Royal Rainmaking Project.
The project has proved successful since the first experiment in 1969. In 1971, the Government established the Artificial Rainmaking Research and Development Project within the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. Since demand for artificial rain has increased over the years, the Artificial Rainmaking Research and Development Project has been continuously upgraded and developed.
In 1999, HM King Bhumibol discovered a new technique to gain more cloud density to increase the amount and extent of rainfall. He named the new cloud-seeding technique "Super Sandwich". More new techniques are being discovered and introduced to the people involved. His Majesty's ingenuity for inventing the rainmaking technology has been widely recognized and has made Thailand the centre of tropical rainmaking activities in this region.
Among the awards His Majesty received is a gold medal for the Royal Rainmaking with mention from the Brussels Eureka 2001 as the invention that is beneficial to the public.
Documents and textbooks about rainmaking have been produced, by royal permission, in accordance with the King's guidelines to serve as reference for other following operations. The King himself always gave advice on rainmaking techniques. Royal rainmaking operations have greatly benefited farmers throughout Thailand by solving the water shortage problem and increasing agricultural production to a considerable extent. His Majesty, thus, is eulogised as Father of Royal Rainmaking.