Thai Buddhist Monks

Socially every Thai male is expected to become a monk for a short period of his life, usually between the time he finishes school and the time he starts on a career. In Thailand, it is a popular belief that by becoming a monk great merit is gained, merit which also accrues to parents who sponsor the ordination. Monks (recognised by their orange robes) are very highly respected and there are a number of Thai customs relating to the special status of monks in Thai society. Lay people are expected to sit or stand with their heads at a lower level than that of a monk. Because of their religious discipline, Thai monks are forbidden physical contact with women. Women are therefore expected to make way for passing monks to ensure that accidental contact does not occur. A variety of methods are employed to ensure that no incidental contact (or the appearance of such contact) between women and monks occurs. Women making offerings to monks place their donation at the feet of the monk, or on a cloth laid on the ground or a table. Powders or ungents intended to carry a blessing are applied to Thai women by monks using the butt of a candle or stick.

Thai Temples (or Wat)

Thai Buddhism has no particular day of the week when Thais are supposed to make temple visits. Nor is there anything corresponding to a mass over which a monk presides. Instead Thai Buddhists go to a temple (or Wat) whenever they feel like it. At the temple Thai people will offer traditional symbols of respect, such as lotus buds, incense and candles, at the various alters. They may offer food to the temple monks or simply listen meditatively to the monks chanting. Visitors may also seek counsel from individual monks. Most Thai people relax immediately on entering a temple compound, absorbing strength from the quiet, supportive environment. 

The Royal Stream

Near Haad Sadet on the east coast of Koh Phangan island is a favourite bathing spot of Thailand's Kings. The waterfalls are collectively known as the 'Royal Stream'. There are inscriptions left on granite boulders by various Thai kings making it is an important point of local history to Koh Phangan.

Royal rain-making project

In November of 1955 Northeast Thailand was in the grip of one of its periodic droughts. As is his custom in times of crisis, his majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej travelled to support his subjects in their time of need. The king recognised that Thailand needed some control over its climate, and he resolved to find a way to make it rain. Although wet cats and rockets were just about the only solution on offer at the time (there is a rain-making ritual in the north of Thailand whereby a wet cat is paraded through the village in a wicker basket, and an annual rocket festival in which rockets are fired in an attempt to shock the clouds into making rain) the King was not discouraged. A Thai inventor was assigned to investigate existing technology for weather modification and how it could be applied to conditions in Thailand. He soon discovered that current techniques were not really succesful, and almost no work had been done in tropical regions. For over a decade, under the King's guidance, he continued his experiments. King Bhumibol made suggestions concerning the importance of studying weather patterns, ways to increase surface humidity and stressed the need for detailed and accurate records of experiments. By 1972, to the amazement of a group of government representatives from Singapore, a team was able to produce a significant amount of rain in the Kaeng Krachan resevoir within five hours of seeding the clouds with a chemical mixture. In 1974 another devastating drought affected large parts of Thailand and the Royal rain-making team faced its first real test. The ongoing operation was directed by the Thailand King himself. To the relief of farmers this concentrated offensive brought rain to the fields just in time to save the harvest. Doubters were silenced and ever since Royal rain-making has been an integral part of Thailand's agricultural landscape. Under the Royal Rain-making Research and Development Institute the methods of rain-making have since been fine tuned to determine the appropriate mixture of chemicals and timing of the cloud seeding. These methods have gone considerably further than methods used in many other countries, establishing Thailand as a world leader in the science of weather modification. November 14 is now celebrated in Thailand as Royal Rain-making Day in memory of the moment when His Majesty the King first had the inspiration to banish the spectre of drought from his kingdom.