Travellers' Checks | Traditional Thai tattoos on offer at Anantara Siam Bangkok Hotel – for a price

Thai property namechecks Angelina Jolie, Ryan Phillippe and Brooke Shields as sak yant recipients

Hand-tapped ink is not only available at the hotel, however, other artists are available for a fraction of the cost

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The Anantara Siam Bangkok Hotel is offering an in-house sak yant session with traditional Thai tattoo artist Ajarn Neng Onnut, who has inked Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

Adam Nebbs

Published: 2:30pm, 3 Jan 2020Updated: 2:34pm, 3 Jan 2020

Long gone, it seems, are the days when getting a tattoo in Thailand meant downing a few Singha beers then heading for Mr Boy’s Magic Tattoo Paradise for a quick “carpe diem”, butterfly, dolphin or dragon. Now it has to be a hand-tapped sak yant (or bamboo tattoo), involving a consultation with a master (or ajarn), sacred geometric designs and a list of future guidelines – words to live by – for best results.

One of the most famous sak yant bearers is Angelina Jolie, and she is mentioned up front, along with Ryan Phillippe, Brooke Shields and others, by the Anantara Siam Bangkok Hotel in a press release promoting its new in-house sak yant service. Guests staying at the hotel can engage the skills of one Ajarn Neng Onnut in the comfort of their own suite, or in a private treatment room. Prices start from US$800 for a small na symbol, and go up US$3,000 per hour for more elaborate work.

As with most cultural experiences offered by upmarket hotels, prices are much higher than you can find outside, and sites like sakyantchiangmai.com and bangkok-ink.com will have a perfectly good ajarn tapping away at you for a fraction of the price. They also provide plenty of useful information and advice. Or you could refuse to follow the herd, and just not have a tattoo at all.

Incidentally, Jolie, Brad Pitt and other celebs were tattooed by Ajarn Noo Kanpai, who takes bookings, but lists no prices, on his website, ajannookanpai-eng.com.

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