Getting a magical tattoo in Thailand

Originating in Cambodia in the 10th century, Yantra are sacred tattoos that spell out Buddhist chants and are often accompanied by images of serpents, tigers, elephants and other powerful animist spirits. Back then, they were believed to make the wearer impervious to arrows, furnish them with mystical powers, and bring good luck. Today yantra are still popular in Cambodia, though neighbouring Thailand has emerged as the world centre of the art. Sak Yant, as it is called in Thai, are used by gang members for protection from the law and by women to attract good men.

Sak yant are also popular among every day Thais who get inked in a nod to the ancient moral codes of Buddhism. The most popular Sak Yant is the Five Lines — Angela Jolie has one on her back. Each line represents a spell which, when chanted 108 times, can take the wearer to a high level of meditation. Swans — considered a symbol of nobility, kindness, richness and happiness in Thailand — are another popular Sak Yant, along with portraits of Ganesh, an elephant-headed Hindu god worshipped throughout South-East Asia as the deity of fortune, success and the removal of obstacles.

Ganesh is also the official emblem of the Department of Fine Arts in Thailand and the tattoo of preferences for artists and those working in creative industries. One of the best places to get a Sak Yant of your own next time you visit Thailand is Bangkok Ink, a tattoo studio near Bangkok’s central Sukhumvit Road district. It’s also a tattoo school and the only one of its kind in Thailand that instructs foreigners in the fine art of Sak Yant. Students generally stay for two or three months and start on pig skins. But as their skills develop, they move on to Thai models who get tattoos for free. “There aren’t many tattoo schools in Australia,” says Alex, a tattoo student from Melbourne.

“The only way to learn over there is by scoring an apprenticeship, which is next to impossible because tattooists don’t want to create more competition for themselves.

“The other way is to teach yourself — what we call ‘scratchers’ — tattooists who ink themselves and friends from home. Coming to Thailand was the only good option for me.” Today, nearly all tattoos are applied with tattoo guns that use electromagnetic coils to jiggle a needle that’s fed by a small reservoir of ink.

But at Bangkok Ink they can also be applied the old-fashioned way: by tapping sharp rods into inkwells in the same way a Victorian-era sketcher used a quill.

Traditionally these rods were made of bamboo, but steel rods with sewing-machine-like needles attached to one end offer the artist better control. “Our bamboo tattoos cost more than tattoos done with a gun as it’s a very specialised job. It also hurts more,” says Bangkok Ink’s founder Martin Kendall from the UK.

“But it doesn’t damage the skin as much, so you get less bleeding and no scabs. It also heals much faster and you can get much more accuracy using metal rods.” bangkok-ink.com