the article " The King and the Cloud – the story behind the Royal Rainmaking Project "

02/12/2020

The King and the Cloud – the story behind the Royal Rainmaking Project

Suvat Chirapant

Droughts have always prevailed in the plateau of Isan, the Thai nickname for the northeastern region of Thailand, where almost half of its population are farmers. Dependent on rainfall to sustain their crops, farmers would traditionally gather at the beginning of the wet season to shoot homemade Bang Fai rockets to the sky to ask the weather god to release the monsoon upon the earth. According to folklore, the higher and louder the rockets blast into the sky, the better. The deity will likely be more pleased with the offering and allow plentiful rainfall for the season’s harvest. READ MORE