PHUKET: Tattoo taboos on Phuket appear to be at the top of the Thai Ministry of Culture's list of Things Not to Do.
The department's permanent secretary called 110 shop owners and artists together for a meeting on Phuket yesterday.
From the reaction of Phuket tattoo shop owners, we detect a growing level of frustration that the Ministry appears to have focused on them so intently lately.
And according to at least one Phuket tattoo shop proprietor, there are very few expat visitors who ask for the religious tattoos that the Culture Ministry seems to think are in inappropriate places on too many tourists.
He says this is a ''one in every thousand'' tattoo issue. That's a minuscule number, so small that some observers might conclude there should be more important topics to pursue.
Department Permanent Secretary Somchai Seanglai told yesterday's gathering at the Thavorn Palm Beach Resort in Kata that there was no plan to change the law, merely to find out what was the situation regarding religious tattoos.
As one Phuket tattoo shop proprietor told us he'd had three recent visits from the Ministry of Culture, it's hard to understand how they can not already know what's ''going on,'' literally.
The permanent secretary was told yesterday that many overseas visitors to Thailand actually have tattoos inked outside Thailand, so for any ban to be effective, all international tattoo shops should be invited to the next meeting.
It's probably time for the Ministry of Culture to allow the ink to dry on this one.
However, horror stories of tattoos do abound, and the latest representation of what can go wrong comes in 'The Hangover II' when one of the characters wakes up to find he has a Mike Tyson tatt on his forehead.
In real life, though, the mishaps are a little funnier.
We laughed at the Phuket tattoo tale of an Australian tourist who wanted to celebrate the triumph of his football team, the Cats, in 2007.
Having consumed a few beers, the visitor very carefully presented written instructions to the tattooist, just to make sure there were no mistakes.
He wanted the Cats' logo and the words ''Day Premiers 2007'' on his right arm. What he got was a tattoo saying ''Right arm. Gay Premiers 2007''.
The department's permanent secretary called 110 shop owners and artists together for a meeting on Phuket yesterday.
From the reaction of Phuket tattoo shop owners, we detect a growing level of frustration that the Ministry appears to have focused on them so intently lately.
And according to at least one Phuket tattoo shop proprietor, there are very few expat visitors who ask for the religious tattoos that the Culture Ministry seems to think are in inappropriate places on too many tourists.
He says this is a ''one in every thousand'' tattoo issue. That's a minuscule number, so small that some observers might conclude there should be more important topics to pursue.
Department Permanent Secretary Somchai Seanglai told yesterday's gathering at the Thavorn Palm Beach Resort in Kata that there was no plan to change the law, merely to find out what was the situation regarding religious tattoos.
As one Phuket tattoo shop proprietor told us he'd had three recent visits from the Ministry of Culture, it's hard to understand how they can not already know what's ''going on,'' literally.
The permanent secretary was told yesterday that many overseas visitors to Thailand actually have tattoos inked outside Thailand, so for any ban to be effective, all international tattoo shops should be invited to the next meeting.
It's probably time for the Ministry of Culture to allow the ink to dry on this one.
However, horror stories of tattoos do abound, and the latest representation of what can go wrong comes in 'The Hangover II' when one of the characters wakes up to find he has a Mike Tyson tatt on his forehead.
In real life, though, the mishaps are a little funnier.
We laughed at the Phuket tattoo tale of an Australian tourist who wanted to celebrate the triumph of his football team, the Cats, in 2007.
Having consumed a few beers, the visitor very carefully presented written instructions to the tattooist, just to make sure there were no mistakes.
He wanted the Cats' logo and the words ''Day Premiers 2007'' on his right arm. What he got was a tattoo saying ''Right arm. Gay Premiers 2007''.
