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Siam Si online: Thai fortune sticks (เซียมซี)

At a Thai temple you kneel, hold a question in your heart and shake the cup until one stick drops out. This online Siam Si follows the same steps: choose your intention, take a moment to frame your question, shake the cup with a tap or by shaking your phone, then read your stick's verse and interpretation. All 28 texts were written for this site; everything runs in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere.

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What is your intention?

Choose the area of your question

How it is done at the temple

The steps most often described in Thai guides. Each temple may have its own customs: follow the guidance on site.

  1. Pay respect before the sacred image, light incense if the temple offers it and make an offering within your means.
  2. Kneel, hold the cup with both hands and silently say your name, then one clear question.
  3. Tilt the cup slightly and shake it gently until a single stick falls; if two fall, put them back and start again.
  4. Read the number and take the matching slip, often kept in a cabinet of numbered drawers.
  5. In Chinese shrines, throw the red crescents to confirm the answer.
  6. Keep a favourable slip; leave an unfavourable one at the temple.

All 28 sticks

Read any stick in the set, with its level and image.

Sources for the format and customs: Thai academic research on the Siam Si of temples in Phetchaburi (sets of 28 slips); a Chulalongkorn University study of around fifty sites; Wongnai, Thairath and TrueID guides on how to draw and use the crescents. Verses and readings: original texts written for this site.

A cultural belief, best read as a moment of reflection. No promise of luck, gain or healing. For health, see a professional; for money or a dispute, a qualified adviser.

Siam Si online: Thai fortune sticks (เซียมซี)

How it works

  1. Siam Si (เซียมซี, from the Chinese 籤詩, "stick poem") came to Thailand with Chinese merchant communities. It was first found in Chinese shrines and later spread to Thai temples. The principle never changes: a bamboo or wooden cup (กระบอกเซียมซี) holds numbered sticks (ไม้ติ้ว); you shake it until a single stick falls, then read the slip bearing that number. The predictions are usually written in verse.

  2. Why 28 sticks? Thai academic research on the Siam Si of temples in Phetchaburi found sets of 28 numbered slips in every temple studied, and Thai guides note that Thai temples rarely go beyond about thirty numbers, while Chinese shrines often use larger sets of 60 or 100. The tool therefore follows the most common Thai format. A Chulalongkorn University study covering around fifty sites also shows that texts are often translated, copied and adapted from one temple to another: every temple has its own set, so stick 12 here is not stick 12 at any particular temple.

  3. The 28 verses and readings were written specially for this site, in the spirit of traditional slips (images from nature, a kind tone) but without copying any temple's text. Each stick has one of four levels, inspired by the usual wording on Thai slips (very favourable, favourable, middle, caution), a poetic image, a general meaning, a reading for six areas of life and a piece of advice. The balance is specific to this set: 5 very favourable sticks, 9 favourable, 8 middle and 6 of caution.

  4. The draw is fair: every stick has a one in 28 chance, picked with your browser's secure random generator. As at a temple, two sticks sometimes fall together; custom says you put them back and shake again, and the tool recreates this now and then. On a phone you can allow the motion sensor to really shake the device; otherwise the button works just as well. Your question is never typed or stored: it stays in your head, as tradition intends.

  5. The steps shown follow the most widely shared Thai guides (Wongnai, Thairath): settle your mind and silently say your name, ask a single clear question, shake the tilted cup with both hands, then, in Chinese shrines, confirm with the two red wooden crescents (ไม้ปวย). For the crescents the tool uses the majority reading: one flat side and one round side mean "yes", two flat sides "no clear answer", two round sides "no". If you dislike the result, these guides say you may shake a second time, you should not ask the same question more than three times, and an unfavourable slip is left at the temple rather than taken home.

  6. Siam Si is a cultural practice and a moment of reflection, not a scientific prediction: nothing links the stick you draw to what will happen. Take the reading as an invitation to think about your situation. For health questions always see a professional; for important financial or legal decisions, ask a qualified adviser.

These tools give general information. They do not replace the advice of a doctor or a qualified professional.

Go furtherFortune telling

Frequently asked questions

How do I do an online Siam Si properly?
Choose your intention (work, money, love, health, travel, legal matters or general), take a few seconds to frame one clear question silently, then shake the cup with the button or by shaking your phone. When a stick falls, tap it to read its verse and the reading for your intention.
Why are there 28 sticks?
It is the most common format in Thai temples: research on temples in Phetchaburi found 28 slips in every temple studied. Chinese shrines often use larger sets of 60 or 100 sticks.
Are these the texts from a real temple?
No. Each temple has its own set of slips, and they are not ours to reproduce. The 28 verses and readings in this tool were written for the site in the spirit of traditional slips, so stick 12 here does not match stick 12 at any given temple.
What should I do if I draw a bad stick?
According to Thai guides, you may shake a second time; if the result is still unfavourable, accept it as a call for caution. You should not ask the same question more than three times, and an unfavourable slip is left at the temple. Many also see it as an invitation to make merit (ทำบุญ) and act with more care: that is the spirit of the custom, not a punishment.
Can I draw more than once?
Yes, but custom advises one question at a time and no more than three draws for the same question. The tool counts your draws and suggests a new question afterwards.
What are the red wooden crescents (ไม้ปวย)?
Two red wooden half-moons thrown in Chinese shrines to confirm an answer. In the majority reading, one flat side and one round side mean "yes", two flat sides mean "no clear answer, rephrase", and two round sides mean "no". The tool offers this throw after your draw.
Can Siam Si really predict the future?
It is a belief and a moment of reflection with no scientific basis. Treat it as a prompt to think about your situation. For health, money or a dispute, rely on a professional's advice.

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