His Majesty is an extremely perceptive observer of nature and he is highly skilled in adapting his observation to developing new ideas that solve many problems.
On the 14th of November, during the heavy floods throughout the country, His Majesty advised those concerned in solving the problem that the Monkey Cheeks Project provides the solution to the flooding problem in the Bangkok Metropolis.
His Majesty elaborated that If we hand a banana to a monkey it will quickly peel the banana and eat it. It then stores the banana in its cheeks which has the capacity to hold a whole hand of bananas. The monkey will slowly chew and swallow the bits of banana when it wants to. The example of storing the bananas in the cheeks is an example of how we should drain the stagnant flooded waters on the east and west of the Chao Phraya river.
The Monkey Cheeks project is a water organization system for the flooding season to prevent as well as reduce flooding in the lower Chao Phraya river by draining the water ways such as ditches and canals (or klongs) into small reservoirs. This is similar to the monkey holding the banana bits in its cheeks. Water is drained into the sea when the sea water level reduces.
The Monkey Cheeks project is one that relies on nature to solve problem in the flood prone areas. It demonstrates His Majesty the Kings acute awareness of how nature works.