Abstract

Fortune-telling is the practice of predicting information about a person’s life. People will go to see a fortune teller for advice on just about any issue, but many questions they have are related to mental health. One of the objectives of fortune telling as a practice is to seek counseling support, rather than simply belief in the accuracy of the predictions that are made. This thesis examines different types of fortune-telling, with and presents the results of interviews and a written survey of persons conducted in 2015 on 57 persons, mainly in Thailand. The attitudes that persons, who have consulted a fortune teller, and those who have not, is compared. More Thai persons stated that they prefer to see a fortune teller compared to those respondents from other countries. There were various types of fortune telling that were sought, with the most common being Tarot card reading, palm reading and birthday predictions. The reasons and questions are examined, with comparisons to attitudes people have to seeking a counselor or psychologist, who were much less commonly used. Two thirds of respondents went to see fortune tellers with a friend. Almost all believed in karma. The roles of fortune-telling in mental public health, and the ethics of the practice will be analyzed.