Take the invention nicknamed the “monkey’s cheeks,” which he designed to address the perennial floods that Thailand experiences. His Majesty remembered seeing as a child the way that monkeys would store chewed bananas in their cheeks so that they could eat them late, and built a system of small reservoirs that worked using a similar principle – storing excess water during heavy rains that could be used later for irrigation. The system of the “monkey’s cheeks” is still being used across Thailand today. Many of the King’s inventions fit this pattern – merging conservation with human development. He was decades ahead of the curve in recognizing that what was environmentally sustainable was crucial to the long term health of communities.