Among the best-known and most successful of His Majesty's water provision projects has been the Royal Rainmaking programme. He began to study how clouds might be seeded to produce rain. In 1969 he carried out preliminary tests at Khao Yai National Park using a Cessna 180 and dry ice. In August 1969, he moved to Hua Hin and used two aircraft in a variety of weather conditions to determine what worked best. Initially, he financed the research with his own funds but in 1970, he sought temporary funding for a "Rainmaking Project" from the government. With it, he established the Royal Rainmaking Research and Development Institute. Based on it, he has spent succeeding years refining his techniques to accord with varying cloud conditions and to suit differing climatological and geographic areas, enjoying considerable success throughout Thailand.
Father of The Land : The King Love Thai
He continues to investigate new techniques. In 1999, he devised what he called the "Super Sandwich". After agitating and fattening the clouds, two aircraft are sent aloft, one to seed dry ice in the warm sections of the cloud base, the other to seed the cooler cloud mass at 3,000 metres elevation. Rain invariably falls on the parched land. The Royal Rainmaking Project was registered with the World Meteorological Organisation in 1982 and today shares research data with similar bodies around the world. In 1999, he created a pictorial "Royal Rainmaking Textbook" to guide others pursuing the technology. In 2001, he was awarded the Gold Medal with Mention at Brussels Eureka 2001 for this book and for the project itself. In August.2002, the Thai Cabinet designated 14 November of each year as "Father of Royal Rainmaking Day" to honour his work in the field.
"Rainmaking is like a warship; you fire the missile far, then close in order to properly hit the target. Since we have facilities for rainmaking, we should be sure to use it properly to get rain in the right places."
The Royal Rainmaking: ปฏิบัติการคนล่าเมฆ :Men hunt Cloud
Thai king permits Queensland, Australia, to use his artificial rainmaking technology
Aug 5 - His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej on Thursday gave permission to Australia's state of Queensland to use his innovative techniques of artificial rainmaking to combat the region’s ongoing drought. Prof Dr Soottiporn Chittmittrapap, secretary-general of the Office of theNational Research Council of Thailand (NRCT), said the Thai foreign ministry received a letter from Queensland's premier seeking His Majesty's approval to use the monarch’s artificial rain-making techniques to solve the drought in the state.Dr Soottiporn said that Queensland will coordinate with the NRCT and the Bureau of Royal Rainmaking and Agricultural Aviation regarding the operation process of artificial rainmaking.The premier of Queensland stated in his letter that the development of the rainmaking reflects the Thai king's wisdom which is valuable to the world community, said Dr Soottiporn.King Bhumibol has devoted himself to study and develop the artificial rain technique since 1955 as rainfall is considered crucial for the majority of Thai people whose lives depend on agriculture, while drought remains a common problem in some parts of the country, particularly the Northeast.After many experiments by His Majesty and the rainmaking team, the operation produced a successful outcome. "Royal Rain" was officially named by the Thai cabinet in 1974, with the formation of the “Royal Rain-Making Operation Office” under the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives in the following year.Royal rain-making involves a process of precipitate water vapour in the atmosphere, condensed into minute water particles as rain clouds. Further precipitation brought about by cooling brings rainfall. Thailand’s Intellectual Property Department registered a patent for the royal rain-making to the king in 2003. Two years later, the European Patent Office issued the patent named “Weather Modification by Royal Rainmaking Technology” which is valid in 30 European countries for the Thai monarch. (MCOT online news)
