in november 1955, the thailand royal rainmaking project (thai: โครงการฝนหลวง) was initiated by king bhumibol adulyadej. he discovered that many areas faced the problem of drought. over 82 percent of thai agricultural land relied on rainfall. thai farmers were not able to grow crops for lack of water. the royal rainmaking project debuted on 20 july 1969 at his behest, when the first rainmaking attempt was made at khao yai national park. dry ice flakes were scattered over clouds. reportedly, some rainfall resulted. in 1971, the government established the artificial rainmaking research and development project within the thai ministry of agriculture and cooperatives