During World War II, what shortage helped prompt Thailand to promote noodles?

During World War II, a rice shortage helped prompt Thailand to promote noodles.\n\nSevere flooding in September 1942 inundated agricultural areas, especially rice fields, across parts of Thailand. The resulting shortage made rice harder to obtain, so the government encouraged people to eat noodles instead. Pad Thai was introduced during this period and became closely associated with the campaign.\n\nThe story is sometimes simplified into the claim that the government invented Pad Thai from scratch. The broader historical picture is more complicated: rice noodles and stir-fried noodle dishes already had culinary precedents, while wartime policy and promotion helped popularize a distinctive national version. The dish therefore reflects both practical food policy and nation-building.\n\nThe shortage was specifically rice-related, not a shortage of oil, fish, or sugar. Wartime trade disruption and flooding also contributed to wider privation, but the immediate shortage cited in this account was rice.