Sak Yant

maique

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sanuk tour

8 min readFeb 20, 2015

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Getting a sacred tattoo in Bangkok

After posting a couple of photos on Instagram of a Sak Yant tattoo I received while in Thailand, a number of comments asking for advice/tips prompted me to write this post. While doing my research I’ve had the luck of finding a lot of information, and some really cool people who also answered some questions I’ve had, so I decided I should do the same, maybe someone will find the information helpful.

Half way during a month long trip through Thailand with Rita I started thinking about adding a Sak Yant tattoo to the things I should do. Rita agreed with it, and so the search began.

You see a lot of Sak Yant while in Thailand, and not just on the farangs.. ;-) It seems you can get it just about everywhere. A lot of tattoo studios advertise Bamboo / Stick / Traditional Thai tattoos, but somehow it wouldn’t feel right to me getting a sacred tattoo next to a resort, or a pub filled with drunk tourists.

A lot of working class Thais have them, you can spot them on your tuk-tuk drivers, on policemen and soldiers, and a LOT of the monks we met had them too.

First I considered going to Wat Bang Phra, on the outskirts of Bangkok, but some concerns about hygiene, and the fact that the monks decide what they’ll tattoo and the actual placement of the tattoo left me a bit uneasy. So far I’ve had all my work done at the same place, by the same artist, and he does decide a lot about my tattoos. But I’ve known him for over 15 years, and we have that kind of relationship. I was not ready to give the same kind of leeway at the Wat. Also the wat is a bit off the grid, and our time was ticking.

We decided we would meet an Ajarn to get the Sak Yant and one name kept popping up: Ajarn Neng. I started looking for more information about him, and everything I came across felt just right.

So… first things first, getting in touch with him. You can find the contact information on his site. We went with email and the reply came quickly, via his english speaking assistant. We had a four day window, and the appointment was made for the first of those days, 1030 AM on a Saturday.

There’s also information on how to get there on the contact page, but some people made it seem a bit of a chore. A bit more searching and I came across a post with written instructions for the last part of the way. That would be very handy, and I downloaded the image to my iPhone.

The day came and we took the SkyTrain to Bang Chak station, and proceeded to the entrance of the correct soi, Sukhumvit Soi 93. At the entrance of the soi you’ll find a bunch of moto-taxi (if they’re not there it’s because they’re doing a job, and will be back in no time).

We showed the first one the note with the instructions, he seemed to get it straight away, and I did a two with my fingers, trying to communicate we would need a couple of them, as there were a couple of us. Silly me, as he just inched forward, and told us to climb aboard. Soon we were riding with him, Thai style, both of us hanging on. It was a short ride, but so so fun.

We arrived at the Ajarn’s place in under 10 minutes, well before the appointed time. Enough time for a cigarette and to meet a couple of the neighbours. They know what you’re there for, as this is a residential neighbourhood, and plenty of foreigners come here to meet Ajarn Neng. No english was spoken, but we were offered a place to sit while waiting, and some food if we were hungry. We politely declined, but kept on trying to communicate. There’s a lot of talk about the fact that Thais are loosing their famous Thainess, and you can see that in a ton of places, but not here. They were sweet and gentle, and tried really hard to make us feel at home.

We stood at the door for a little while, and soon we could see someone moving inside. At 1030 sharp the Ajarn opened the garage door and invited us to sit in a plastic chair, right by a very cool erawan statue, with an incense bowl in front of it. There was already another man waiting, he had arrived shortly after us. He went back inside and did his prayers with is wife. The wife came out and placed some incense on the bowl. As soon as they were done we were invited in, and he sat on his chair.

Ajarn Neng doesn’t speak a lot of english, but he gets his point across very easily. His voice is very gentle and soothing and makes you feel at ease.

The place is filled with buddhist imagery, and I kneeled facing the hermit masks, incense in hand, praying. His wife kneeled beside me and told me what I should repeat. I was pretty nervous but managed not to screw up. As soon as we were done his wife motioned me to face the Ajarn, and he picked up a cigarette and a tablet, where he had my appointment email opened, just checking if I was the one. He asked me what I’d like to get, I said Gao Yord. He picked up a stencil for the Gao Yord, positioned on my arm, and it was too big for the space. He said something to his wife, who quickly flipped through a photo book, and found the one I ended up getting.

He asked me if I was ok with it, I was, and he hand drawn it on my arm. A big red marker for the main lines, and then a ballpoint pen with all the details. I was asked again if it was ok with me. It was, so we proceeded.

His wife spoke to me, and said I should put the money on a tray that was already arranged with some flowers, and she then passed it to me, and I offered it to Ajarn Neng. He carefully chose and picked up a stick from a set he had on his side, burned it with the lighter and dipped it in a bowl filled with alcohol. An assistant was called over to help stretch the skin. Ajarn Neng spoke again and told me I should repeat ‘So Tha Ya’ in my head while he performed the Sak Yant, and he was on his way. Tap tap tap.

I was pleasantly surprised, it didn’t hurt a bit. You can really feel the sting, for sure, sometimes a bit stronger, depending on the area being tattooed, same as ‘regular’ machine tattooing. But it’s was nothing compared to the memory of a tattoo I got on the other arm, done western style.

All through the process more people kept arriving, and soon there was a handful of people sitting down on the samnak. I kept my eyes closed most of the time, repeating the So Tha Ya in my head, and opened them from time to time, to check how far we were and how did he actually tattoo the Yant into my arm.

When it was ready he placed a golden leaf square on top of it, and sprinkled it, and me, with holy water while chanting a longer prayer. And it was done. I felt like I was waking from a dream, a peaceful one. It didn’t take too long, maybe 40 minutes, but I was only aware of that when it was over and I checked the time on my watch.

It was like being in a place where time stood still while he was tattooing. He handed me a business card with a prayer I was to repeat three times every morning.

Si Na Ta Si Ma Ni No Ye, Na Ye No Thit Sit, Wa Pha Thit Sit.

We left the samnak and decided to walk a bit. I needed some walking time. It was also a chance to walk by a regular Bangkok street, not surrounded by tourists. Found a coffee place in someone’s ground floor, and had an espresso, and then we ready to hop on a taxi for the final stretch back to the Skytrain, and central Bangkok.

It was an amazing experience, one I will surely repeat when we visit Bangkok again. Hopefully in a not so distant future.

(Video shot by Rita)

How To Get There / How to find it

Google Maps search : Soi Niran Villa 24, Khwaeng Bang Chak, Khet Phra Khanong, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10260, Thailand

The way from BTS Bang Chak to Samnak Ajarn Neng

Get the BTS to Bang Chak station
Walk back to Sukhumvit Soi 93
Get a moto-taxi / taxi (Pick the moto-taxi, it’s something you should do while in Thailand)