Last week, ModBlog reader Ric sent an email to me, saying:
Thought you might be interested in some pictures I took in march from a vendor in a Mall in Phuket. His body was covered with traditional, very detailed, Thai tattooing. So far, I hadn’t had the chance of seeing such extensive work. In particular in a mall.
Thanks for sharing these Ric, this is definitely not something I’d see in a mall here.
Comments
13 responses to “Traditional tattoos in Phuket”
Looks very beautiful. The back piece will blur quite a bit in time i gather, but that’s propably not the point, how clear it will look over the years.
Very cool art work. Love to know what the meaning(s) behind it are.
I enjoy when modblog features tattooing from other cultures.
The diversity is important. Thanks Jen.
I stayed in Phuket for a month recently – I went over at the end of March – and there was a HUGE tattoo convention starting on the 18th of April. The posters were awesome enough, nevermind what artwork the imagination beholds.
http://www.sak-yant.com/
thats a webste about sak yants
unfortunately its not very updated
…..
really nice work.
Sak yants are prayer tattoos. there are 108 points on the body and each one of them has a different purpose and meaning specifically. I received a sak yant on my sternum at the tatoo temple, Wat Bang Prah, outside of Bangkok. The particular symbol/prayer that was written I had no control over, nor did I pic any artwork. I simply pointed at the location I wanted and away he went. My particular pryaer ensures that I do not die a wrongful death. More specifically, I will not die from an evil hand or by gun shot or stab wound. I was forewarned by the artist monk no to test this. the delicate process of the two-pronged rod makes me believe that the tattoo will not blur together as much as one would expect. I saw many devotees with very detailed extensive works that were older than 20 years and they were still in tact. Many people believe in the prayers more so than wearing the sak yant. many of the devotees will have the tattoo done in essential oils so the prayer is there but not the permanent mark.
E – So do I. It’s something that definitely relies on the input of readers from around the world. Myself, I’m here on the east coast of Canada so I’m limited in what I see. I really love it when readers send in stuff like this.
Dave – Thank you for that explanation. I had no idea what I was looking at only that is looked incredible.
Wow! I’d love to see close ups of the back piece!
@everyone. Thx for the comments !!
@meridiem. out of respect for the guy, i didn’t send all the close ups i had. the art he had on him was completely out of control and seemed very personal. it was so nice of him to let me shoot him like that
I used to be a Buddhist monk in Thailand, and though I already have tattoos, I was forbidden by my teachers from having any sak yant because they are for ‘bad boys’!
The script is Khom (that’s how the Thai pronounce it anyway), an ancient Khmer language that the Buddhist scriptures were transliterated into after having been passed down verbally for many hundreds of years. When the tattoo is completed, the monk recites a protection chant and blows it into the tattoo.
Beautiful in appearance, and in tradition…
Stunning.
This is way cooler and way more interesting than another pretty boys/ girls contest. Posts like this are why I keep checking modblog.