Written May 23, 2008
My 5th Grade teacher, a nun, instructed her students that any souls arriving at the Pearly Gates with a tattoo on their deceased body would be dispatched immediately to Hell. Tattoos were a mortal sin for Catholics and despite having abandoned my Catholic faith I have retained the fear that a simple tattoo threatens my immortal soul.
Not so for the tattoo enthusiasts congregating in Pattaya this weekend.
It’s tattoos away for the 2nd World Tattoo Arts Festival this weekend.
Tattooing is an ancient art dating back to Neolithic times as evinced by skin art on several Ice Age corpses, however the word tattoo comes from the Samoan syllables for striking twice. This Polynesian tradition spread around the world on the backs, forearms, and faces of whalers and naval sailors. The Thais have been tattooing their flesh to ward off evil spirits for centuries, however it is only recently that the art has achieved semi-mainstream attention.
My niece got one for Christmas. A butterfly on her ankle.
Those tattoo fans gathering in Pattaya will be a little more decorated than my niece and thanks to the over 200 tattoo parlors in Pattaya they will be able to add to their living museum at a price far more affordable than in the West, although any drunks seeking to brand their face with the name of the nearest bar girl will be surprised to be discover that most tattoo artists will refuse their business, since alcohol thins the blood, making for a less than desirable image of their host.
This festival is the brainchild of Joy Wong, daughter of Pattaya’s first tattoo specialist, who is attempting to raise the ethical consciousness of both tattoo affecionados and artists.
She stresses three main rules.
Tattoo no one under twenty, use clean instruments, and never give a tattoo to a drunk or someone loaded on drugs, the last rule difficult considering there are over 6000 bars in Pattaya. 200 tattoo parlor, 6000 bars, 100,000 drunks.
Accidents are sure to happen, but this weekend is all good clean fun.
For a history of tattoos go to this URL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattoo