PHUKET'S future, as foretold by Thailand's leading tarot card reader, is . . . well, let's keep you in suspense for a while, the way a top fortune-teller should.
Tarot reader Khuntong Asunee Na Ayudhaya will be telling fortunes on April 17 and April 18 at Phuket City's Baramee Thum shop, near Tesco-Lotus.
We'd tell you the address, but his 30 sessions of readings over the two days have already sold out at 1500 baht a session, so there's no point.
Popularity comes with being the best in the business.
We asked the obvious questions of Khun Khuntong, who is based in Bangkok: how did you become a tarot reader? Was it written in the cards?
Well, in a way, he told us. Khun Khuntong's father was an astrologist, so there was no telling what career lay ahead for him.
Khun Khuntong loved creative art, even writing hard rock music. He went to the US to study for a degree.
There was no real prospect of a tarot career written in the stars.
However, the cards kept cropping up in his life. In movies, everywhere. So he began to learn a little about them.
A year in Bangkok working with Yamaha developing his music skills led him to Macau, the former Portuguese island close to Hong Kong, and a contract as a deejay for two years.
''There was a beauty salon near where I lived, run by a Thai woman,'' he said. ''I worked in the evening and began reading the cards at the beauty shop during the day.''
Women working in the casino and entertainment industry quickly discovered his skills.
By the time he returned to Thailand, he was almost as good at reading the tarot as working as a deejay.
His two worlds combined neatly in a column in a newspaper where he predicted the fortunes of newly released songs.
A book followed. ''I started reading tarot cards at a restaurant run by a friend, just two or three days a week to begin,'' he said.
''Before long, I was at the Monthen Hotel in Bangkok, which is the centre for astrologists.''
At the time, about 20 years ago, a reading cost 200 baht an hour.
Who could have forecast dramatic inflation and increasing popularity for predictions?
''I had two or three customers a day back then,'' he said.
A magazine, Praew, ran an interview and suddenly he had 14 customers a day, every day. (We can assure you that Phuketwan foresaw great things were to come for him long before that.)
Naturally, his book on tarot card reading, the first in Thailand, was another success.
And on Friday and Saturday, some 30 fortunate Phuket people will reap the benefit.
Khun Khuntong, now 55, mostly teaches others these days how to read the cards. He was last in Phuket three years ago, and had a feeling that he'd be back one day.
And his forecast for Phuket?
Well, written in the cards is some trouble ahead. The island drew just two coins out of a maximum of nine in the cards.
This put Phuket on the same level as Pattaya, and we all know what kind of fortune Pattaya had just last weekend . . . wasn't there a resort invasion, and the collapse of what should have been a hot few days for the tourist industry?
Phuket may fare better.
''Comparing Phuket to Pattaya, the tourists are much nicer people with more money to spend on the island compared to Pattaya,'' he said.
''The wrong kind of people go to Pattaya. The right kind of people come to Phuket.
''Investment is better here. Phuket can expect to have a five-to-eight coin future before very long.''
Tarot students can contact Khun Khuntong on 081 8113267.
Tarot reader Khuntong Asunee Na Ayudhaya will be telling fortunes on April 17 and April 18 at Phuket City's Baramee Thum shop, near Tesco-Lotus.
We'd tell you the address, but his 30 sessions of readings over the two days have already sold out at 1500 baht a session, so there's no point.
Popularity comes with being the best in the business.
We asked the obvious questions of Khun Khuntong, who is based in Bangkok: how did you become a tarot reader? Was it written in the cards?
Well, in a way, he told us. Khun Khuntong's father was an astrologist, so there was no telling what career lay ahead for him.
Khun Khuntong loved creative art, even writing hard rock music. He went to the US to study for a degree.
There was no real prospect of a tarot career written in the stars.
However, the cards kept cropping up in his life. In movies, everywhere. So he began to learn a little about them.
A year in Bangkok working with Yamaha developing his music skills led him to Macau, the former Portuguese island close to Hong Kong, and a contract as a deejay for two years.
''There was a beauty salon near where I lived, run by a Thai woman,'' he said. ''I worked in the evening and began reading the cards at the beauty shop during the day.''
Women working in the casino and entertainment industry quickly discovered his skills.
By the time he returned to Thailand, he was almost as good at reading the tarot as working as a deejay.
His two worlds combined neatly in a column in a newspaper where he predicted the fortunes of newly released songs.
A book followed. ''I started reading tarot cards at a restaurant run by a friend, just two or three days a week to begin,'' he said.
''Before long, I was at the Monthen Hotel in Bangkok, which is the centre for astrologists.''
At the time, about 20 years ago, a reading cost 200 baht an hour.
Who could have forecast dramatic inflation and increasing popularity for predictions?
''I had two or three customers a day back then,'' he said.
A magazine, Praew, ran an interview and suddenly he had 14 customers a day, every day. (We can assure you that Phuketwan foresaw great things were to come for him long before that.)
Naturally, his book on tarot card reading, the first in Thailand, was another success.
And on Friday and Saturday, some 30 fortunate Phuket people will reap the benefit.
Khun Khuntong, now 55, mostly teaches others these days how to read the cards. He was last in Phuket three years ago, and had a feeling that he'd be back one day.
And his forecast for Phuket?
Well, written in the cards is some trouble ahead. The island drew just two coins out of a maximum of nine in the cards.
This put Phuket on the same level as Pattaya, and we all know what kind of fortune Pattaya had just last weekend . . . wasn't there a resort invasion, and the collapse of what should have been a hot few days for the tourist industry?
Phuket may fare better.
''Comparing Phuket to Pattaya, the tourists are much nicer people with more money to spend on the island compared to Pattaya,'' he said.
''The wrong kind of people go to Pattaya. The right kind of people come to Phuket.
''Investment is better here. Phuket can expect to have a five-to-eight coin future before very long.''
Tarot students can contact Khun Khuntong on 081 8113267.
Tarot cards were originally made for card games and not for divination. Tarot card games are still played today in places like France and Italy. It would be a good thing if the media would tell the whole story about these cards. Tarot is not only used for telling fortunes. Tarot is also a type of card game.
Posted by tarotgameplayer on April 16, 2009 14:02