Thai university approves ethics review of Maha Taksa astrology study

By AI, Created 10:41 AM UTC, May 20, 2026, /AGP/ – Mae Fah Luang University’s ethics committee approved a qualitative study of the Thai Maha Taksa astrology tradition under international human-subject research standards. The project is now interviewing senior teachers and students, with a synthesis of the canon expected later this year.

Why it matters: - The approval gives an academic and ethics framework to a Thai astrology tradition that is usually studied outside formal universities. - The study could turn an oral knowledge system into a documented research subject, which may affect how Maha Taksa is taught, preserved and evaluated. - The decision also signals that traditional knowledge research can move through the same human-research safeguards used in other fields.

What happened: - Mae Fah Luang University’s Human Research Ethics Committee approved a qualitative study of the Maha Taksa Canon on Sept. 22, 2025. - The approval was signed by the committee chairperson and registered as COA 182/2025 under Protocol No. EC 25159-18. - The review falls under the Declaration of Helsinki, the Belmont Report, CIOMS Guidelines and ICH-GCP. - The committee said the work treats the Maha Taksa Canon as a knowledge system that can be taught, transmitted and studied as such, separate from any claim about prediction accuracy. - The committee can be reached for verification at research ethics committee contact. - Public announcement of the decision was delayed until the qualitative interview phase began this spring.

The details: - Dr. Kowit Nambunmee, an associate professor in Mae Fah Luang University’s School of Health Science, leads the study with co-researcher Tharinya Kaviya. - The research team is interviewing 20 senior teachers of the tradition and the students they trained. - The project uses methods from knowledge management and oral-tradition research. - Nambunmee framed the central question as a teaching question: what can be learned, recorded and passed on when an oral tradition enters a formal academic setting. - The interview phase is underway. - The team plans to publish a synthesis of the Maha Taksa Canon, with first outputs expected late this year. - Xian Chiang Co., Ltd., the parent company of Destiny.ac, funds the research. - Volunteers were recruited through Destiny.ac’s offline and online channels, including its Line community, under the approved protocol. - Mae Fah Luang University says it retains independent direction over study design, conduct, analysis and publication. - Destiny.ac is a Thai metaphysical knowledge platform co-founded by Tagumporn “Gut” Thansiphop and Tanasurn “Non” Thansiphop. - Mae Fah Luang University is a public autonomous university in Chiang Rai, Thailand, and its ethics committee is accredited by SIDCER-FERCAP.

Between the lines: - The approval gives the project institutional legitimacy, but it does not validate the astrology tradition’s claims. - The study appears positioned as a preservation-and-documentation effort as much as a research project. - Tagumporn “Gut” Thansiphop, a Thai astrology expert and co-founder of Destiny.ac, said the university’s recognition is exciting for people who study the system. - Public interest in astrology remains broad, with Pew Research reporting in May 2025 that three in ten U.S. adults consulted astrology, tarot or fortune tellers in the past year. - The broader astrology market is estimated at more than $15 billion worldwide, and the app segment is projected to reach $9 billion by 2030, according to MarkNtel Advisors. - The tradition’s framing in the release links Maha Taksa to Indian astrology, Hellenistic astronomy and ancient Mesopotamia. - The system uses birth weekday rather than birth month or birth year, and maps weekday rulers to the classical elements of earth, water, fire and wind. - The release says Maha Taksa also connects its system to physical health, mental health, behavior, personality traits and purchasing behavior.

What’s next: - The research team will continue interviews with teachers and trained students. - The project expects to release its first findings and a synthesis of the Maha Taksa Canon later this year. - Researchers and interested parties can request the ethics certificate or seek verification through the committee contact on file.

The bottom line: - Mae Fah Luang University has put a traditional astrology system into a formal research pipeline under internationally recognized ethics rules, giving Maha Taksa a rare academic foothold.