In short
- Taksa is a chart of eight planets set around the eight directions. It shows what role each planet plays for someone born on a given day.
- Start at your birth-day planet, which is your Boriwan, and count clockwise: Ayu, Det, Sri, Mula, Utsaha, Montri and Kalakini.
- Colours to avoid (Kalakini): Sunday: light blue / navy · Monday: red · Tuesday: yellow / cream · Wednesday day: pink · Wednesday night: orange · Thursday: purple / black · Friday: grey / black · Saturday: green.
- Taksa isn’t only about what to wear. It is used for choosing names, and it has guided the colours of royal celebration emblems.
When someone says “born on Monday, don’t wear red” or “wear green to work”, they aren’t repeating one fortune teller’s taste. They are reading a system called Taksa, long part of Thai astrology. The good news is that it is simpler than it sounds: one chart, counted clockwise.
The Taksa wheel: eight planets, eight directions
Taksa places eight planets around the eight directions. Following the Royal Society’s dictionary: the Sun (1) in the north-east, the Moon (2) in the east, Mars (3) in the south-east, Mercury (4) in the south, Saturn (7) in the south-west, Jupiter (5) in the west, Rahu (8) in the north-west and Venus (6) in the north.
The numbers belong to the planets; they aren’t the counting order. Walk round the wheel clockwise and you get 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 5, 8, 6, the sequence Taksa has always been memorised by. Rahu stands for people born on Wednesday night; Ketu has no place on this wheel.
The eight positions and what they mean
Once you know your birth planet, every planet on the wheel becomes one of your positions. The meanings below summarise several schools, as gathered in Amnat Paksasuk’s study. Some teachers word them a little differently; for some, Mula is home and parents and Montri is whoever protects you.
- Boriwan: you and the people around you, your partner, children, friends and those you look after.
- Ayu: health, wellbeing and long life.
- Det: power, reputation, honour and career.
- Sri: grace, goodness, charm and good fortune.
- Mula: roots, property and inheritance.
- Utsaha: diligence, perseverance and study.
- Montri: patrons, position and the people who back you.
- Kalakini: obstacles, setbacks and what to steer clear of.
Step by step: someone born on Monday
- Find your birth planet. Monday is the Moon (2), in the east. This is your Boriwan.
- Move clockwise to the next planet. Mars (3) is your Ayu.
- Keep going. Mercury (4) is Det, Saturn (7) is Sri, Jupiter (5) is Mula, Rahu (8) is Utsaha and Venus (6) is Montri.
- The last planet before you come round again is the Sun (1), your Kalakini. That is why Sunday’s red is the colour Monday-born people are told to avoid.
Each position takes the colour of the planet that lands on it. So for a Monday birth, green from Mercury is the Det colour, good for work, and purple / black from Saturn is the Sri colour.
The colour table for all eight birth days
The table below picks the five positions people ask about most; the rest are in the chart above. The planet colours are the same set our Lucky Charm Finder uses.
| Birth day (own colour) | Det · career | Sri · luck, charm | Mula · property | Montri · patrons | Kalakini · avoid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday (red) | Pink | Green | Purple / black | Grey / black | Light blue / navy |
| Monday (yellow / cream) | Green | Purple / black | Orange | Light blue / navy | Red |
| Tuesday (pink) | Purple / black | Orange | Grey / black | Red | Yellow / cream |
| Wednesday day (green) | Orange | Grey / black | Light blue / navy | Yellow / cream | Pink |
| Wednesday night (grey / black) | Red | Yellow / cream | Pink | Purple / black | Orange |
| Thursday (orange) | Light blue / navy | Red | Yellow / cream | Green | Purple / black |
| Friday (light blue / navy) | Yellow / cream | Pink | Green | Orange | Grey / black |
| Saturday (purple / black) | Grey / black | Light blue / navy | Red | Pink | Green |
Taksa in real life: royal emblems
Taksa isn’t confined to fortune-telling books. The Fine Arts Department has used it to explain the colours of several royal celebration emblems. The 2006 emblem for King Rama IX, who was born on a Monday, uses yellow for his birth day together with green as the Det colour, exactly as in the Monday example above.
The 2022 emblem for Queen Sirikit, the Queen Mother, who was born on a Friday, uses light blue for her birth day, white as the Det colour and pink as the Sri colour. Count from Venus on the wheel and you land on the Moon for Det and Mars for Sri.
Taksa and names
Each planet also has its own group of letters, so Thai naming avoids the letters that fall on the Kalakini of your birth day. As published by the Royal Institute, the letter groups are:
| Planet | Its letters | Kalakini letters for |
|---|---|---|
| Sun (1) | อ and all vowels | Monday |
| Moon (2) | ก ข ค ฆ ง | Tuesday |
| Mars (3) | จ ฉ ช ซ ฌ ญ | Wednesday (day) |
| Mercury (4) | ฎ ฏ ฐ ฑ ฒ ณ | Saturday |
| Saturn (7) | ด ต ถ ท ธ น | Thursday |
| Jupiter (5) | บ ป ผ ฝ พ ฟ ภ ม | Wednesday (night) |
| Rahu (8) | ย ร ล ว | Friday |
| Venus (6) | ศ ษ ส ห ฬ | Sunday |
For example, people born on a Sunday are told to avoid ศ ษ ส ห ฬ in their names. As for which position a name should start from, schools disagree: some say a man’s name should begin with a Det letter and a woman’s with a Sri letter, others teach it differently.
Using Taksa sensibly
Taksa is a belief and a tradition, not a scientific fact. Schools also give the planets slightly different colours: the Moon yellow or creamy white, Saturn purple or black, Rahu black, grey or dusky purple, Venus light blue or navy. If you find a table that doesn’t match this one cell for cell, check which set of planet colours it uses.
A comfortable way to use it is as a small tie-breaker: pick your Det or Sri colour for the little things you carry every day, and when torn between two colours, leave out your Kalakini one. But if you love a colour and feel confident in it, that confidence is worth just as much.
Common questions
What colours are for people born on Wednesday night?
Rahu’s colours, grey or black. The Det colour is red from the Sun, and the Kalakini colour is orange from Jupiter.
Can I wear my Kalakini colour if I like it?
Yes. Taksa is a belief, not a rule. Many people avoid it only on big days, such as a job interview or signing a contract, and wear the colour they like the rest of the time.
Why do colour tables differ from site to site?
Every text counts Taksa the same way, but a few planets have different colours depending on the school, notably the Moon, Saturn and Rahu. The positions match; only some colour names change.
Sources
- Royal Institute Dictionary: “ทักษา” and “อัฐเคราะห์” (Thai)
- Amnat Paksasuk (2013), “Taksa and Thai naming”, Vannavidas, vol. 13, pp. 76–94 (Thai)
- Fine Arts Department: the colours of royal emblems (Thai, PDF)
- Sarakadee magazine: Taksa astrology (Thai)
- Sarakadee magazine: Det and Sri letters in naming (Thai)
