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Published on December 18, 2007

Angelina Jolie has 13 of them, including a Buddhist prayer she acquired in Thailand. Johnny Depp has collected so many over the last two decades that he's lost count and sexy Thai soap Sumonrat "Pee Mai" Watanaselarat has recently been spotted sporting some new words just below her shoulder blades. Not to be outdome, Preeti "Bank" Baramee-anan of Clash has his parents' names inked on his arms.

Tattoos, once associated with prisoners or criminal gangs are now trendy, though sport too many of them in too visible places and you may still have problems landing a job, say, in a bank.

One man, whose entire body is covered in tattoos, has spent three terms in juvenile detention centres for drug abuse. He's also been locked up as an adult.

"I've had tattoos since I first went into Baan Karuna, a juvenile detention centre. When we had nothing do, we'd get inked. They are cool", says the man, who's now 25. "Sometimes I'd get a tattoo because I felt stressed."

When he went to adult prison, there was no space left on his body for any more tattoos. He's since been released but with little education - he left school after Grade 4 - he's not been able to find work.

"It's a vicious cycle. He'll go back to selling drugs as Thai society generally doesn't accept people that are covered in tattoos as reliable employees," says Pleanjai Taekasem, head of the Criminology Research and Development Centre of the Department of Corrections.

Pleanjai recently completed a study of prisoners' tattoos and the problems of social acceptance. The research, which was supported by the Thailand Research Fund was conducted on 420 tattooed prisoners nationwide.

Half of the jailbirds had their first tattoos in prisons, even though tattooing is prohibited, and 50 per cent reported getting their first tattoos between the ages of 15 and 20, with three in 10 getting inked below the age of 15. The most popular prints include dragons, carp fish, and modern graphics and the areas most popular for being inked are the torso, shoulders, hands, arms and legs. Sewing needles, cooking oils, and ballpoint pen inks are among the usual tools.

The main reasons the prisoners gave for wanting a tattoo were that the body art is beautiful and fashionable and a way of releasing stress. None cited the so-called traditional Thai belief that tattoos can guard against weapons and bad lucks. This is in contrast to 10 per cent of prisoners who were tattooed before entering jail who believed that tattooed people are nung neaw or sticky skinned, meaning that bullets cannot get through.

"Being nung neaw, is the matter of mind," says Kru Noo Kunpai, a well-known tattoo guru, whose clients include Jolie.

"It's like wearing amulets; the tattoo is a tool of faith that warns you not to misbehave. The tattoo master and well as the person wishing to be inked has to uphold the signs and letters of the monks," he explains. "And a tattoo cannot help you if you misbehave. The tattoo master must also play his part and not do it out of greed."

Tattoos should not be associated with the criminal element, says Prathan Wattanavanich of Thammasat University's department of criminology. It's an old-fashioned view that has no relevance in today's society.

In 1512, a French anthropology named Henri Estienne introduced tattooed indigenous Brazilians to the Europeans, Prathan adds. Their tools were diamonds, thorns from plants, and the teeth of fish or rats.

By the early 1800s, the Europeans were influencing the Brazilians, according to Jose Ignacio de Carvalho of Rio de Janeiro, and tattoos of names and the crucified Christ were being sported mainly by criminals and labourers.

Rattana Klaiprae, a tattoo shop owner, says he became so fascinating with body art that he imported a tattooing machine and opened a shop.

"My wife and mother scolded me when I had my body tattooed. But I see it as beautiful art," says Rattana.

His shop offers tattooing services with prices ranging from Bt300 to Bt40,000 and is popular with both male and female customers.

"Although there have been plenty studies about tattoos being associated with crime, it's never been shown how the criminals differ from non-criminals who also have tattoos," says Prathan.

Aree Chaisatien

The Nation