Back in 2003, Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie visited Thailand and had herself tattooed by Ajarn Noo, aka Akraphat Kanphai, a master of sak yant, Thailand’s spirit tattoos. Since then, sak yant have attracted an ever-increasing global audience. More celebrities and thousands of tourists followed in Jolie’s wake, who has herself since returned to Thailand several times to get inked again.
Sak yant have been around for centuries, of course and are an integral part of Thai working-class heritage. In a country where culture is largely dictated from the top down, these spiritual inkings are a form of street-level self-expression that cannot be censored by governments or cultural guardians.
I first became interested in these inkings when I visited Wat Bang Phra, a temple in Nakhon Chai Si District near Nakhon Pathom, an hour to the west of Bangkok, in the early 2000s. Here, once a year in February or March, thousands of sak yant devotees come together to get tattooed by the temple’s monks or attendant ajarns (teachers), and to celebrate a tradition that mixes Buddhist, Hindu and animist beliefs and superstitions to create a spiritual world all its own. Sak yant also exists in other parts of Southeast Asia, most notably in Cambodia, but it was Jolie’s fame that really created global awareness.
Sak yant are by no means decorative—each tattoo has a particular meaning, be it to imbue the wearer with good luck, good health, wealth or charms to attract partners.
In the wake of international attention, there’s been a revival of the tradition and monks and countless ajarns work all over the country, the latter mostly in their own homes, inking both Thais and foreigners. Perhaps it’s no surprise then that The Siam, one of Bangkok’s most upmarket and eclectic hotels, opened its very own sak yant studio in its famed Opium Spa a decade ago. Since then, some 700 guests have been inked on the premises by different ajarns.
The Siam is owned by Krissada Sukosol Clapp, a well-known Thai singer and actor and was conceived by Bill Bensley. Located in the north of Bangkok, right on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, the hotel has just 39 suites and villas and is crammed with antiques and curios from around the world—everything from centuries-old Buddhist carvings to life-size figurines of Yoda and E.T.
So perhaps it’s not entirely surprising that The Siam is the only hotel in Thailand offering its guests the opportunity to get a sacred tattoo during their stay.
The hotel has created an entire experience built around receiving the tattoo. Guests are taken to a local temple where they receive blessings from the monks if they so wish.
“The Rolls-Royce version of doing sak yant,” The Siam’s management suggests.
Today, it’s my turn, and I am at The Siam to meet Ajarn Poom, one of three sak yant masters working at the hotel.
Ajarn Poom was first introduced to sak yant by his father, who was also an ajarn but passed away when his son was 13.
“I wanted to learn how to apply sak yant because I saw my father tattooing people when I was a kid. I saw his customers experience khong khuen, a kind of trance, after getting tattooed. I saw people change into Hanuman and climb coconut trees after receiving a sak yant of the monkey god.”
Ajarn Poom has been working out of his studio in Thonburi since he was 27 and has inked countless locals and foreigners.
“I was a monk at Wat Suwannaram Ratchaworawihan, studying under Phra Ajarn Pued, a renowned monk who himself was a direct disciple of Ajarn Tiang Nuammana—one of the four legendary grandmasters of sacred Thai tattooing, known for creating some of the most powerful and iconic yantra designs in the country. I saw people cut themselves with a knife, and nothing happened.”
While Westerners were once the primary foreign clientele, today the majority come from China, followed by Vietnam and South Korea. “They find me via social media, particularly through TikTok. More than half of my clients are female. They want charms to attract men.”
Ajarn Poom sees no difference between working at home and coming to work at The Siam. “It’s the same, I just don’t work here as often.”
I leave it up to the sak yant master to decide what sacred tattoo I am to receive. He picks a Na Deva, a tattoo that is believed to invoke celestial deities from across the universe to offer protection, blessings, and divine grace—shielding the bearer from harm and ushering in auspicious fortune. The tattoo is surrounded by beautiful ancient letters that denote Pali (Buddhism’s liturgical language) in Khom letters, an old Khmer alphabet.
Ajarn Poom uses a long steel needle (its tip replaced after every session), quotes a series of incantations and starts inking my upper left arm. Hygiene in the studio is excellent, the ajarn wears disposable gloves, and the needle is changed after every application. It takes about 20 minutes to tattoo the ten centimeter yant onto my arm.
“Many visitors begin with curiosity. But after witnessing or experiencing the results of sacred rituals—like making offerings or vows at Thai shrines—they develop genuine belief,” Arjarn Poom explains.
As for those who get tattooed at The Siam, Ajarn Poom has a simple explanation: “Guests feel more comfortable here,” he suggests. “Some are perhaps scared or don’t have the time to go to the home of an ajarn.”
According to The Siam, 80% of those getting tattooed are guests. And of those, 80% booked the experience in advance. The hotel is hoping that it will connect with its guests on a deeper level, as the tattoo is likely to remind guests of their stay for life. Some guests return again and again, a testament to the addictive thrill of receiving sacred tattoos.
As I receive my Na Deva, an oddly relaxing experience, a feeling of positivity washes over me. I love getting tattooed anyway, and as Ajarn Poom recites a Pali prayer, I feel better equipped to face our troubled world with renewed energy.