Thailand has a thirst for the supernatural, so much so that magicians, soothsayers and fortune tellers are all the rage, both among the populace and in the palaces of power. If in the West the art of clairvoyance evokes images of crystal balls, stuffed birds and improbable turbans, the Thai equivalents are much more sober, and hardly differ from the appearance of a bank employee. Near Thammasat University, in Bangkok, there is a road that has taken the name of "fortune teller's avenue" ("street of the seers") for the number of kiosks and fortune tellers' shops that crowd it. The street is frequented by heartbroken students but also by serious university professors looking for advice and reassurance about their careers.
Divination and astrology are also at home in public administration. Pumsaran Tongliemnak, a senior official in the Ministry of Education, says that, as soon as he was hired in the ministry, fresh out of California's Stanford University, he received this unusual advice from his superior: "You'd better go immediately to a good astrologer to tell you which day take service. If the stars help you and you start well, you will have a career full of satisfactions and without obstacles". Historians Pasuk Phongpaichit and Chris Baker have conducted research on the use of "supernatural" consultations in Thai society and have concluded that the roots are very ancient and even in the past concerned all social levels, but especially the ruling elites and the court environment. Times change but not the passion of Thai leaders for astrologers & company: if the former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra used to routinely resort to the advice of his personal astrologer in case of elections or important decisions, the current prime minister, general Prayut Chan -o-cha, does not move a step without the support of the appropriate rituals suggested by trusted magicians and soothsayers.
