Royal Rainmaking Project

The Thailand Royal Rainmaking Project (Thai: โครงการฝนหลวง, RTGS: khrongkan fon luang) was initiated in November 1955 by King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

DRRAA employs 71 pilots who fly 39 cloud seeding aircraft from Royal Rain Operations Centres in Chiang Mai, Nakhon Sawan, Khon Kaen, Rayong, and Surat Thani.

[11] In February 2018, with Bangkok suffering under a haze of ultra-fine dust, the government turned to the DRRAA to seed clouds to create artificial rain over the city.

The Pollution Control Department issued warnings that particulate levels had soared to 94 micrograms per cubic metre of air in some areas, far above the safety limit of 50 mcg.

The prime minister assured Thais that, "...[rainmaking] should bring some relief at least in the short term,..." Fumes from vehicles, construction sites, and factories in adjacent provinces contribute to the smog that contains dust known as particulate matter PM2.5.