The introduction to Sacred Skin, Tom Vater and Aroon Thaewchatturat’s new tribute to Thailand’s sak yant, or sacred tattoos, begins with an agonized exclamation: “Uaaahh!” So it should. While modern tattoos are efficiently applied with an electric machine, sak yant are hand-hammered into your wincing body with a long needle.
But no pain, no gain — and, if you believe the enthusiasts, the rewards are out of this world. Devotees credit sak yant with warding off sickness, attracting lovers and helping them emerge unscathed from car crashes. A housewife caught in last year’s crackdown on antigovernment protesters in Bangkok tells the authors, “People around me got shot but my tattoo protected me.”
