an ordinary table and chairs. It could be a living-room or

dining-room in a private Thai household, and in fact

that's just what it is. Only the curtain screening it to pro-

vide privacy from the passageway beyond, suggests that

this is more than just an ordinary room.

A man and a woman are sitting opposite each other

at the table. The woman asks the man a question,

earnestly but a little shyly and hesitantly. The man's face

holds an expression of sympathy and understanding; he

ponders for nearly half a minute before answering, then

does so in a quiet, calm and reassuring manner.

Is he a psychiatrist? No, not in the Western sense of

the word; but he performs a very similar function. He

advises, counsels, and above all allays fears. He is one of

those much sought-after people in Thailand — a fortune

teller. 

When the woman entered the room after waiting

her turn among the three or four people in the separate

room outside, like a doctor's waiting room, the fortune-

teller first asked her name and the exact time and date of

her birth. He wrote the details carefully in a book in

order to cast her horoscope, for this particular fortune-

teller is an astrologer.

There are many fortune-tellers in private practice in

Bangkok, and a great many more upcountry. Most of

them are astrologers; only a small fraction are palmists,

for astrology can give much more accurate predictions

than palmistry as far as dates and times are concerned.

There are also other recognized methods such as 'doo

laksana' ('ngo heng in Chinese) in which the fortune-

teller studies the person's facial characteristics and

general behavior.

Thai Astrologers' Association, located opposite the

temple of Wat Bovornives in Bangkok. Of these, about

twenty experts are available at the Association's

premises to provide horoscopes

and astrological advice for anyone

who wants their fortune read. The service takes part at

small tables in a huge room, sufficiently far apart for

on weekends clients average about a hundred each day.

The fee for each client is only one US dollar.

course of basic training is given. It consists of lectures

tively), and also on palmistry and other related techni-

ques. On completion of the course and the passing of

an examination, students are given the Association's

diploma. After that, it's up to the individual to gradually

gain experience in astrology through forecasting his or

her clients' fortunes. Most of those who take this

recently-established course just want to learn astrology

as a hobby; they come from

all walks of life. But in Thailand

 anyone who becomes a successful professional

astrologer, besides telling his clients'

fortunes, may also make his own in the process.

For astrology is tremendously popular in Thailand

— far more so than in the West. Apart from predicting

the fortunes of individuals, it is used to find the 'rerk' or

auspicious time and date for almost every occasion im-

aginable, public and private — from the highest royal

and state functions to laying the foundation-stone for a

hotel, office building or hospital, setting up house in a

new home, starting a journey, getting married or cutting

a child's top-knot.

This belief in astrology is firmly rooted in Thailand's

past, when kings and other army commanders had to be

competent astrologers themselves in order to predict the

auspicious time for joining battle with the enemy. It is

believed that the Thais began studying astrology for this

purpose in the Sukhothai Period some six to seven

hundred years ago, and that it came from India. King

Rama I, Pounder of the present Chakri Dynasty, was

himself an accomplished astrologer. He personally cal-

culated the 'rerk' or auspicious date and time for the

raising of Bangkok's 'Lak Muang' or City Pillar which

IV) was also a skilled astrologer.

Opinions vary as to which type of people most often

visit astrologers today. According to one expert, it's

mainly businessmen, who want to know if their invest-

ments will prosper, the best time to buy or sell, and so on.

The astrologer tries as far as possible to provide helpful

answers; he will say, for instance, you should act now —

or you should wait a couple of months. Some astrologers

have clients who come back regularly every week —

surely a sign of confidence!

Others say that far more women than men come to

have their fortunes told. There's also a regular stream of

young people who really come to the astrologer to find

out about their love-life, but are too shy to say so directly.

They hem and haw, asking about their future — will they

pass their exams, will they get a good job and so on —

until finally they get around to the real point.

But whatever the client's age, sex and walk of life, the

astrologer must also be a good psychologist, thinking

only of his or her client's well-being. If he sees bad news,

he tempers it, he is gentle and advises the client to take

care.

The main preoccupations of most clients are with

money, success, love, work and health. The fortune teller

lets the client pour out his or her troubles, and then gives

the best possible advice which not only will make his

clients feel better, but will help them to chart their own

best course. In his own way the fortune-teller is also a

healer, a doctor. This probably explains the Thai name