An Exclusive Interview with Thailand’s Fengshui master Tossaporn Sritula
A Singaporesighs.com Exclusive
Text by S.T. Leng
Photos by Eugene Tang

7 simple fengshui tips for everyone

To visitors from the West, fengshui, or geomancy, is a usually thought of as curious mix or Asian myths and beliefs. Some think that because it relates to the forces in the heaven and earth, it is a most inscrutable and inaccessible practice. Not so, according to Mr Tossaporn Sritula, a well-regarded fengshui master from Thailand, who says it is all about balance and anyone can easily apply the basics in their everyday life.

Fengshui is everywhere in Asia, especially in Chinese-dominated countries such as Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. But Thailand’s Tossaporn Sritula stands out as a most atypical practitioner of this ancient art. Mr Sritula is young (early 30s), speaks fluent English, and in a neat suit, comes across more like a Wall Street executive on casual Friday than anyone who in the business of divining fortunes.

Mr Sritula has been practicing fengshui for a long time. He revealed that it’s been his fulltime occupation since graduating from university with an engineering degree, even though he knew much earlier on that he has this special gift in fengshui and had been studying with his uncle, a fengshui master of considerable repute in Thailand, since he was 12.

The Sritula name is today a well-respected one in Thai society. From his uncle, Tossaporn inherited an expertise that also encompasses fortune-telling, astrology, palmistry and numerology – but he practises it with a striking high-tech twist. For Mr Sritula is a new-generation fengshui master; his Blackberry is loaded with proprietary software that allow him to do an assessment on the go. And his office of 10 staff ensures that his Thai-language hotline is available 24/7 and that he appears regularly on local newspapers, magazines and TV programmes. Going by his two-month wait list, Mr Sritula is certainly one of Thailand’s most sought-after fengshui masters, with clients from the entertainment, IT and construction industries in Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, the UK and US.

He shared with Singaporesights,com the following tips:

1) What is fengshui. Fengshui is about balance. Practising fengshui means learning to see and manage the complementary yin and yang qualities in every aspect of your life. Simply put: yin is cool, soft, wet, calm, subdued and corresponds to the night; yang is warm, hard, dry, lively, energetic and corresponds to the day. A home should be yin-dominant, while the office should be yang-dominant. If you have been in the same place for a long time, you may have grown blind to the signals. So it is always wise to take a fresh look once in a while and update your surroundings accordingly to enhance your wellbeing.

2) The bedroom. Mr Sritula said: “Your bedroom is where you recharge your batteries, and the space should be calm.” That means the bedroom is not a suitable place for yang objects such as electronic devices or exercise equipment. Also important is to not have the bed reflected in a mirror. You should not look at yourself while sleeping, so that the yin state is stable. One more tip: don’t sleep with your pet, it will interfere with your love luck.

3) The office. Your workplace should be yang-dominant – bright and full or energy. That means big stacks of files crowding your desk is no good. They are still and connotes a broken state, decidedly yin qualities that dull your effectiveness. The front door is important for any business, and signages and lighting should be carefully considered.

4) The home. It’s possible for the home has too much yin energy, such as when the walls are painted a dark colour, so some adjustment towards yang is necessary when this is the case. Also, every room in a house should be used regularly. A pet is known to reflect the yin or yang quality of a house. If your cat or dog appears lethargic all the time, that means there is too much yin. Personal health is linked to your house too: too much yin will compromise the yang part of the body, such as the leg. The quality of a bedroom is most important, especially for a person’s health. The front door is likened to a mouth, so keep it clean and avoid any plants with dagger-like leaves.

5) The home - husband and wife. The bedroom, the most important room in a house, should be keyed to the husband, while the kitchen, the second most important (for money and luck), the wife. In the kitchen, the stove (fire) and basin (water) should not face each other as they are conflicting elements. However, for a restaurant business, the opposite is true.

6) Static and dynamic fengshui. Static fengshui refers to conditions that don’t change, such as the direction of a door or house. Dynamic fengshui changes with time. There are nine fengshui periods, each of 20 years. Since 2004, we are in period eight, so any home renovation should be carried out in a way that taps the period’s good fortunes. When a complete renovation is impossible, try a simple rearrangement of the furniture or elements within the house.

7) Trust your gut feel. When choosing a new home or office, Mr Sritula says first impressions are always important, “like when a boy first meets a girl”. But nobody is all-good or all-bad. It’s the match – some matches are good, others not so.

“Fengshui relates to a specific individual, and its application is necessarily personalised. And it can be applied to many things. It’s a knowledge that I use to help many people,” Mr Sritula said.

On Singaporesights.com’s logo, he said the colour red is auspicious for any media business, such as broadcasting or telecommunications, but cautions against using it for any service business. When asked about the subject of lucky numbers, which Asians can be very fussy about, he remarked that this is largely cultural, although he thinks the number zero is to be avoided as it denotes uncertainty. He also pointed out that the number “4”, the most dreaded in Chinese culture for it means death, is, surprisingly, a good one for a media and communications business, while “2” and “6” are good for the service and entertainment/beauty trades respectively.

Looking ahead, Mr Sritula revealed that a new hotel project that he consulted on is now being developed in Phuket. At the 120-room fengshui-themed property, to be named “B-laytong”, the staff will take note of a guest’s birth date and time during check-in and make the necessary arrangements to enhance his or her wellbeing throughout the stay. Singaporesights.com looks forward to give you a tour when it opens.

S.T. Leng is a freelance writer based in Singapore.