Crackdown ordered on religious tattoos in Phuket

[Admin]

Crackdown ordered on religious tattoos in Phuket
Phuket Gazette 2011-06-01

OH MY BUDDHA! Religious tattoos have a long tradition in Thailand,
but Phuket authorities fear their growing popularity among foreign
tourists is little more than a fashion trend.

PHUKET: -- The Culture Ministry has attacked the growing trend for tourists in Phuket and other parts of Thailand to have religious images tattooed on their bodies.

It has ordered provincial governors across the country, including Phuket, to crack down on such tattoos, igniting a debate on the human rights implications of forbidding the practice.

Culture Minister Niphit Intharasombat told told reporters Monday that Phuket's Culture Office had uncovered an “alarming trend": tourists have images such as those of the Buddha, Ganesh and Jesus Christ tattooed on their arms, legs and ankles.

It is culturally inappropriate and erodes respect for religion, Mr Niphit said.

But the ministry is likely to face an uphill battle to end the practice. The service is highly popular and tattooists can charge extra for such work, with some jobs costing upwards of 20,000 baht.

Mr Niphit downplayed the likelihood that the tattoos could be a genuine expression of spiritual belief.

The tattoos were just part of a fashion trend among tourists, who most likely did not believe in the religion and were ignorant of the true significance of the image.

As a result, Mr Niphit said the ministry's Subcommittee on Safe and Creative Media had decided to order the governors of all Thai provinces to ban foreigners from getting tattoos of religious images of any faith.

Governors would be asked to convene meetings of those involved in the industry to ask for their cooperation, he said.

“At the meeting, we noted that these tattoos were all over the country, in particular in tourist destinations such as Khao San Road, Tawanna and Chatuchak Market in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket,” he said.

“We have to help prevent images that are respected in various religions from being tattooed onto the body.”

People with visible religious tattoos who engaged in “bad behavior” such as “sitting drinking alcohol and arguing” would damage the faiths through association, Mr Niphit said.

Acknowledging that Thai law did not prevent people from getting such tattoos, he said the ministry needed to coordinate with relevant agencies to draft measures to prevent the practice.

He would also propose to the National Culture Committee that a law be drafted that forbade the use of religious symbols for commercial purposes. The law, if passed, would affect both those who offered and used such services.

Ladda Tangsupachai, director of the ministry's Cultural Surveillance Center, warned that if “people who showed their bodies for a living” such as “prostitutes” and “go-go dancers” had such tattoos, it would erode respect for religion.

But Human Rights Commissioner Wasan Panich pointed out that while Thai law prevented people from violating the Thai flag and other national icons, there were no such laws concerning religious symbols.

Any law banning the use of such images for commercial purposes must not violate people's rights, because the term “commercial” had a broad meaning, he said.

“If people have Buddha images tattooed on their body, on their arms or chest for example, you can't forbid that because it's not insulting,” he said.

“Anyone can get these tattoos because it's their right to do that to their own body.”

But, he added, if people had such images tattooed to their ankles or “inappropriate organs”, it could be seen as insulting to religion.

“For example, if a foreigner got a tattoo of the Buddha on their ankle, Buddhists would see that as insulting to their religion,” he said.

“But if a foreigner gets a cross on their ankle, Buddhists probably wouldn't think anything of it, but other foreigners might not be satisfied.”

“Because of that, the basic principle is that you must respect the rights of the individual, but you must not violate the rights or beliefs of others,” he added.

– Kom Chad Luek

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Thailand says religious tattoos taboo
AFP News 2011-06-01

BANGKOK, June 1, 2011 (AFP) - Thailand has ordered a crackdown on foreign tourists having religious images tattooed on their bodies while visiting the kingdom, official media said Wednesday.

Tattoos with images such as of the Buddha may offend Thai people, Culture Minister Nipit Intarasombat was quoted as telling reporters.

He said his ministry had asked regional governors, particularly in tourist hotspots, to inspect tattoo studios and ask them not to use religious patterns, according to the state-run National News Bureau.

It said he would push for a law banning people from etching sacred images onto their skin.

[Admin]

Ink wars

What do artists and customers think of the proposed ban on religious tattoos?
Published: 5/06/2011 at 12:00 AM
Bangkok Post: Newspaper section: News
 
Fancy a Buddhist tattoo?

That tattoo you're sporting on your ankle better not be religious, or you will upset the government.

The Culture Ministry is asking tattoo artists to stick to offering religious tattoos above the waist, as it believes such sacred imagery, even when displayed on the flesh, should be treated with respect.

Many blame Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie for the rise of ''tattoo tourism'' _ a rash of religious tattoos worn almost anywhere on the body _ which is needling one government minister.

Culture Minister Nipit Intarasombat said last week he would ask the Office of the National Culture Commission to issue guidelines banning tattoo artists from using images sacred to Buddhism or any other religion in their patterns. Mr Nipit was concerned by the number of foreigners coming to Thailand to obtain tattoos with images of Buddha, Ganesh and other religious symbols.

Ms Jolie has twice visited Thai shores to obtain tattoos from a master tattoo artist, including an enormous tattoo of a tiger which she wears on her lower back, just above her backside.

The Bangkok Post asked tattoo artists and former customers around town what they think of the proposed ban.

Areas with the highest concentration of tattoo parlours also seem to be those with a high number of foreign tourists, such as the Khao San, Patpong and Nana areas.

Som, who works at Fine Art and Tattoo, a tattoo parlour off Patpong Road, said she agrees with the proposed ban. ''Many foreigners don't understand the symbols, and they want a Ganesh below the waist, like on the hip or ankle.''

She said tattoo artists feel spirits inhabit them as they work, so at her shop they agreed not to tattoo designs with religious significance, which might skew the symbiosis they need to work. She said they worried about bad karma.

''The khru, the protector of your art, will be upset and punish you.''

She added that the worst offenders are shops in Phuket where money is the primary motivator, and advises those who want such a tattoo to carefully study its meaning and significance.

''Even for Buddhists, sacred images below the waist are really bad. It's the same as putting a Buddha statue in a nightclub or toilet _ it's done without thinking.''

Thon, a tattoo artist of 14 years whose Y2J parlour lies on Patpong 2 Road, believes a ban on religious imagery would be wrong.

While he agrees that religious imagery shouldn't be tattooed below the waist, he doesn't think the government should have any say in what is ultimately a personal decision. ''I also worship my khru, and I've never drawn religious tattoos on lower body parts,'' he said.

''But if customers come in with strong faith, if they know our traditions, I am glad to do it for them.''

If they ask for such an image merely for the sake of fashion, he'll refuse, he said. ''Sacred tattoos are no good on people who don't believe in them anyway.

''It's against our constitutional right to ban religious tattoos, because we have a right to express our faith.''

Tattooing is an integral part of Thai culture, he said.

''People have to endure great pain, and pay a lot of money for tattoos that will be on their bodies for the rest of their lives. Do you think they do it just for fun or fashion?

''They think about it very carefully before coming to see me.''

''The ministry, instead of banning this and that all the time, should consider educating people, foreigners and Thais alike, about this tradition.

''What the ministry should do instead is ban commercialism in Buddhism. It's everywhere these days.

''Coyote dancing in temples, selling sacred objects, misconduct in temples and temples profiting from amulets _ go fix those.''

As for people who already have religious tattoos on parts of the body that might be offensive, he said: ''I think society will be the judge. Because a tattoo stays with you forever, this judgement will also stay that long.''

One tattoo artist on Khao San Road, who asked not to be named, said the proposed ban would be hard to police.

''Most tattoos have some kind of spiritual significance to the customer,'' she said.

''Who's to say what's religious and what's not?''

Perusing photos of tattoos outside the shop was a German tourist named Marco.

He said he wanted an ''Eastern-style'' tattoo as a reminder of his travels, but not in a pattern or position that Thais or others might find offensive.

He would ask several people before making a decision, he said.

Joe Cummings, author of Sacred Tattoos of Thailand along with photographer Dan White, said he thinks the ban would probably be aimed at tattoo parlours using Ganesh and Buddha imagery as fashion accessories, not the sak yan tradition which is the focus of his book.

''But it could be applied to sak yan as well,'' he said. ''Either way, not a good law.''

Sak yan often involves designs and lines of scripture tattooed on the body with a specific aim, such as protection in battle or economic prosperity.

One sak yan master of 30 years, Ajarn Toy (who also goes by the name of Dabos Rattanamongkolmunee), plies his trade behind Wat Thong Nai on On Nut Soi 25, and is popular with Thai and foreign customers.

He works in a trance possessed by the spirit of Pho Kae, so it was necessary to talk to him in the morning.

He said he doesn't allow any pictures related to Buddhism.

''I curse the people with Buddha faces and Ganesh on their shins and hips _ it's totally unacceptable. This is not the way you show respect.

''My yan is not for fashion,'' he added.

''I have khru, and I don't mess around. But if they are going to ban all sacred tattoos, I am very against it. Sak yan is old and sacred and it's in our blood.''

Ganesh tattoos are popular with artists, musicians and writers. We asked the entertainer DJ Dragon (Mongkorn Timkul) why he has two Ganesh tattoos on his chest and neck.

''Because I love Hindu gods,'' he said. ''I worship Ganesh in his metaphorical sense ... his ideology.''

His view on the ban: ''That's f***** up! Our government should be more concerned about bringing peace to the South and, most of all, getting our country back on its feet.''

Boyd, a graphic designer, has a three-row yan on his upper back from Sompong ''Ajarn Noo'' Kanpai _ the same artist who tattooed Angelina Jolie _ to bring prosperity and career advancement. ''My yan has nothing to do with fashion,'' Boyd said. ''And you shouldn't combine sak yan and fashion tattoos _ they're completely different.

''Mine is for money and good fortune in work. I'm not sure if the yan has had a dramatic effect on my finances, but it certainly makes me a better person. Because if you do bad things, the yan will lose its power. For me it's more like a reminder to to do good.''
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[Admin]

Phuket Tattoo artists ink compromise on religious tattoos
Phuket Gazette 2011-06-11

PHUKET: -- More than 100 tattoo business operators in Phuket were called to a meeting in Karon yesterday afternoon where they were asked to “cooperate” in the latest nationwide “cultural appropriateness” clampdown on Buddhist tattoos.

The meeting followed the Ministry of Culture earlier this week announcing it would impose a ban on all religious tattoos.

The ensuing controversy and heated human rights debates, however, resulted in the Culture Ministry scaling back its initial blanket ban on all religious symbols to focus specifically on Buddhist tattoos.

“Phuket will be the initial province [of focus for the campaign], and we will follow through in every other province,” Culture Minister Niphit Intharasombat declared last week.

“The need for these discussions arose from complaints being posted on the Culture Ministry website. The posts included pictures of foreigners with Buddhist tattoos in inappropriate places,” Culture Ministry Permanent Secretary Somchai Sianglai yesterday explained to the assembly at the Thavorn Palm Beach Hotel.

“The complaints come from concerned Buddhists from all over the country, including Phuket,” he added.

While there are no laws in Thailand expressly forbidding Buddhist tattoos, long-standing cultural practices prohibit the inappropriate use of Buddhist symbols in commercially specific contexts.

To fuel their campaign, the Ministry of Culture ordered a reprint of 10,000 manuals and asked all tattoo parlor operators to keep a copy in their shops to show to clients.

The Thai and English-language handbooks define which Buddhist symbols are ruled by the Culture Ministry as “inappropriate” for commercial use.

Copies of the books were distributed among tattoo business operators yesterday.

This is not the first time in Thailand the line between business and Buddha has been crossed.

“Previously, we have had issues with Buddhist symbols being used for commercial purposes… placed on product logos, socks, shoes and products,” explained Culture Minister Niphit Intharasombat.

Ladda Tangsupachai, director of the ministry’s Cultural Surveillance Center, added, “Since the tattoo business is a fairly new career for many, some patrons are not aware of the existing [commerce and cultural] regulations.”

Tattoo operators were well prepared for yesterday’s meeting. Many had met earlier and drawn up a list of compromises to present to officials.

“If the rules forbid us to do any Buddhist tattoos, it will effect our earnings. Besides, foreigners will get these tattoos abroad from artists who don’t really know the meaning of the symbols,” said Nontiwat Jantaraprasit owner of Quality Tattoo Phuket in Kata.

“It’s better that we [do it] so we can explain the appropriation. As Buddhists, we will never provide tattoos on inappropriate parts of the body, and we always explain the importance and meanings of the tattoos first,” he said.

“Those tattoos [seen on inappropriate parts of the body] were probably done overseas by an artist who does not understand the meanings,” Mr Nontiwat added.

The list of compromises stated the artists will apply Buddhist tattoos only on the upper parts of the body, they will not distort the image of the Buddha in a [visually] negative manner and they will explain the importance and meaning of Buddhist tattoos in Thailand before applying any such tattoos.

Secretary Somchai concluded the meeting by saying, “We will collect all the information and opinions and report to Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha and related officials.”

He added that results for the debates would take time as officials “do not intend to force the issue, but prefer cooperation”.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Health has allied with the Ministry of Culture in the tattoo clamp down.

With an eye on the spread of infectious diseases, Public Health officials will be inspecting tattoo parlors throughout the country to ensure health standards are being adhered to.

[Jamaw]

I think it's wrong to insult a culture or religion but Thai's tell is Buddhism is not a religion! A law can only be a law if it can be enforced! So what if the people get such tattoo's outside of Thailand, will they be arrested for displaying them in Thailand?

[isanbirder]

If the tattoos are "on inappropriate parts of the body", they shouldn't be showing them in Thailand anyway, Jamaw!

[Jamaw]

isanbirder  -  I totally agree. It seems the authorities have let this slip and allowed for so long. The problem is farangs come, get blasted drunk and forget where they are! I've seen it in Dubai, you have have a drink, a good time in Dubai but some forget it's an Arabic/Muslim country and go too far!