If tattooing is a mandatory ritual of the yakuza (Japanese mafia); for women of Papua New Guinea (a country near Australia), tattooed when reaching puberty as a milestone to mark adulthood or 19th-century European aristocrats tattooed to affirm their social status.. then in Thailand there is sak yant.
If tattooing is a mandatory
ritual of the yakuza (Japanese mafia); for women of Papua New Guinea (a country near Australia), tattooed when reaching puberty as a milestone to mark adulthood or 19th-century European aristocrats tattooed to affirm their social status.. then in Thailand there is sak yant.
Sak yant is a form of "magic" tattoo that is quite sacred to the Skull hoodies Thai people (sak means stabbing, yant is sacred symbols and characters that can arouse supernatural power). This form of tattoo is not only for beauty but it is also a kind of amulet.
Power sak yant
Actually tattooing as a form of self-protection is not strange. In Linh Nam Chic Quai, it is said that in the past, Bach Viet (ancient Vietnamese) people who went to the sea were often harmed by the sea, so they tattooed the water monster on their body so that they could look like themselves and ignore it. However, Thai people not only tattoo but also chant and bless the tattoo.
"Do you know why Thailand has never been colonized?", the Thai friend suddenly asked. When I was still thinking, he answered and explained himself: “Thanks to sak yant! In the past, before going to war, soldiers would go to the crazy skull hoodies temple to ask the monks to tattoo magic. Those sacred tattoos have turned Thai people into "ghost" warriors with unparalleled strength, always "invisible" before the enemy. Thanks to that, the country will be at peace."
Of course it is impossible to believe that but indeed for many Thais, sak yant has an invisible power. In particular, Muay Thai boxers believe in magic tattoos because they hope to be protected by "miracles" when competing.
Sak yant appeared from the time of Angkor, so it was heavily influenced by Khmer culture. Most of the sacred inscriptions are written in ancient Khmer script (Sanskrit).