Chess: Medium For Fortune Telling by A Thai Fortune Teller

Amunnata Lamwanna is a popular fortune teller in Thailand who make use of a set of chess to predict the future. She is known as Ajarn Nong, her prophetic name. This unusual of technique of fortune telling was develop by her. She just came from a failed marriage, gave birth to a premature child and became homeless when she got a job in public relations where she works for a famous fortune teller. This gave her an idea to pursue the same career. After studying everything under the stars, she became fortune teller and adopted her current name Ajarn Nong. Her idea of using chess as a medium for fortune telling started when she saw some people playing chess in a park.

“I invented a way of fortunetelling using a chessboard set up to show the position of the stars in Thai-style astrology, as well as cards and feng shui, in which each star indicates your horoscope. The method was completed in 2010, and the first person I used it on was my husband,” she explains.

Her service for fortune telling cost B1,000 to B1,500 ($30 to $50). her clients can also apply for a year of subscription that cost $200. She will ask the client to pick five chess pieces and place them on the board. ach piece has its own meaning – the pawn is Venus which represents everything feminine, altruistic and open, while the horse is the Earth and represents the deceiving and working man. The King which embodies Jupiter, portrays a person with a cold, calculated and very rational personality while the Queen – Saturn, is all about passion and impulse. Although Ajarn doesn’t know the true rules of the game, she observes how her customers move the pieces on the board to determine future events in their lives. Among her usual clients are soldiers and law enforcement officers who are curious to know when will they get promoted. “Most people who ask for my services are concerned about legal problems, business or want a consultation on a possible job promotion,” she says.