getting a new tattoo tonight in Thailand

[Semi-Sly]

Hi guys:

Well I finished my stint being an ordained Buddhist monk.  What a great and challenging experience that was.  I had to shave off my beard when I arrived there and part of the initial ceremonies to become a monk involved having one of the monks shave off my hair and eyebrows with a DE razor.  No fancy shave cream, and no clipping the hair before shaving; just a bucket of cold water and a bar of soap - and wham bam shaved bald in under three minutes!

What an experience!  If you are interested I will write about it when I get home next week and have a normal keyboard.

I went through the disrobing ceremony yesterday and left the monastery.  I took a bus back to Chiang Mai and am staying tonight in a guest house here before leaving for home on Monday night.  While I am here I want to experience getting a tattoo in the old manor with a bamboo stick and a needle.  I have an appointment for tonight.  It is going to be a mixture of a traditional Sak Yant tattoo with new school tigers inside if it instead of just line-type tigers.   It will be placed on my lower back.

[Mike E. P.]

Randy, it would be great to hear the details of your trip. Have a good trip home.

[Hieu Tran]

Wow, look like you got nice experiences on your trip to Thailand. Monks shave their head really fast and smooth.

I saw Thai tattoo on monk's body on the internet. It's great. I love tattoos but can't have one at this time. It's would be great if I can see yours.

Congrats anyway BBBA

[TheSlyBear]

Wow. Sounds like an incredible journey. Would be great to hear more about it.

[baldjoeg]

HI Randy,

Wow, what a great experience. I would be interested in hearing more about it when You get back. Hope that you have a safe trip home. Take care buddy.

[Hingatao]

I'm jealous!

[Sir Harry]

Have a safe trip home, Randy! Can't wait to hear more details!

[Semi-Sly]

This is the only photo I have of the Tattoo.  The next day he colored in the tigers.  This was all done with bamboo sticks that needles tied to the ends of them; one to five needles, depending on what he is trying to do.

It actually doesn't hurt as much as a machine tattoo does, (except for the fact that it was done on my lower back which is a very sensitive area!}  The needles don't go down as deeply as the machine needles do.  They use less ink.. And, where a regular machine needle is being moved regardless of whether the needle is up or down, there tends to be a slicing/tearing/scarring of the skin.  In bamboo needle tattooing the artist only moves the needle when it is out of the skin.

[TheSlyBear]

Wow. That is amazing and beautiful. I cannot wait to see it colored in.

[SlyMike]

That looks great!  Look forward to seeing it coloured in.

[Mike E. P.]

Wow.  Great design, Randy.

[tobler1]

I like it.  Do you know roughly what the Thai says?

[baldjoeg]

Nice tatoo Randy. I would like to see it when it is finished.

Glad you had a great trip.

Take care.

Joe G.

[Semi-Sly]

I like it.  Do you know roughly what the Thai says?

The writing is Sanskrit.  In general, this was a tattoo worn by Thai soldiers during their many wars with the Burmese and the Lao.  It was a "lucky" or "magic" tattoo which was supposed to give the wearer protection in battle and the ability to persevere even if wounded.

I liked the tattoo for the traditional artwork and the application but I don't believe in magic.  Also, I don't like what some monks are doing in Thailand by perpetuating these pre-buddhist myths and by "selling" these tattoos to foreigners.   The real monks in Thailand are really quite upset by this activity.  And, I didn't want to "rip off" what was a sacred tattoo to another man, so I had the traditional tigers replaced with slightly more modern looking and colored ones.  But I still had the tattoo done in the traditional manner with bamboo rods and needles - but by a professional tattoo artist; not by a so-called "Monk". 

Randy

[tobler1]

Thanks for the explanation.  I didn't realize that was Sanskrit, but that makes sense since I know the Buddhist scripts that the Thais use are all in Pali, which is pretty closely related to Sanskrit.