A look at Thai Traditional Tattoos

So let’s discuss a little about the mystery of Thai tattoos and what it means today and in history. Well, first up let’s look at the history. Firstly Thai tattooing is usually a phrase that means Sak Yan tattoos which are religious Buddhist tattoos. These were not from Thailand it must be added. In fact, as with the Buddhist religion as a whole, it originated in India more than 2 millenniums ago. So when did this artwork finally come into Thailand? Well, around about the time of the Ayyuthya reign when it was the capital of Thailand which was around 1350 to 1750. Thailand was then known simply as Siam. Siam is still used in the country for example Siam paragon in Siam center of Bangkok. It still translates to the Kingdom of Thailand before they changed the name. So what were the Sak yan Thai tattoos for in Ayyuthya? In fact, warriors of the day would get early Thai tattoo monks to emblazon them on their body to give them special powers during battle. And not just like a power boost, they would also be obsessed as are a lot of Thais these days with luck, superstition. So a Sak yan tattoo that would be given by a well-practiced monk in exchange for some gifts was intended to improve the life of the wearer in one way or in several ways.



Amazing Thai tattoos that would award the wearer with five different blessings is called a Haa Toew or 5 row tattoo. This is quite an amazing blessing I’m sure you’ll agree. The magic is said to improve you sex life too which is amazing. Also your strength and your vitality are improved no end after the blessing of the monk.




But remember before flying over to Thailand to get this lucky blessing tattoo that you really should understand that in order to receive the sacred blessings you will need to do a number of things in the following 2 years, such as abstaining from a number of sins. Sorry! That’s what put me off as well in the end. I wanted it because of the blessing factors and because I thought they looked good too, but when I heard about what you have to do after having it, I didn’t want to offend Buddhist culture in anyway.