King Mongkut's remainder
A short Thai birth fortune traditionally linked with King Mongkut (Rama IV, Phra Chom Klao), a keen student of astronomy. Your day of birth is turned into the Thai lunar calendar; the weekday, the lunar month and the year animal are added together and only the last digit, the “remainder”, is kept. Each of the ten remainders has a short verse about the shape of your life.
The ten remainders
| Remainder | In short |
|---|---|
| 0 | the parakeet |
| 1 | the burnt house post |
| 2 | the long illness |
| 3 | comfort |
| 4 | many helpers |
| 5 | fortune turns |
| 6 | raised by family |
| 7 | the torn cloth |
| 8 | renown |
| 9 | eating in the market |
Adapted from the Thai verses: comparisons with dogs and drunkards and the prediction of chronic illness were softened into plain advice.