6 Great Tattoo Studios in Phuket
Where to Get the Most Beautiful Tattoos (including Sak Yant) in Phuket
Tattoo studios are popular in Phuket, with 10 to 15 shops operating in Patong Beach alone. Practiced since Neolithic times, the art of tattooing has had a varied history of objectives and perceptions: from its original use as a medical treatment (dots tattooed on acupuncture points) to a sign of rebellion against the system (in prisons for instance). Nowadays, tattoos are regarded in a more mainstream light given that many celebrities – David Beckham, Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp to name a few – display obvious tattoos.
In Thailand, ‘Sak Yant’ religious tattoos are extremely popular, due to the powers they are purported to bestow. Originally only performed by practitioners of magic and Buddhist monks using long, sharpened bamboo sticks (mai sak), they are still believed to protect the wearer from bullets, knives or any serious threats. Nowadays, and despite a warning from Thai government in 2012 to forbid non-ecclesiastic people to create Sak Yant tattoos, they are still created in most (if not all) tattoo studios in Thailand.
Tattooing is a serious business which requires lots of skill, and above all, strict hygiene. In Phuket, most tattoo shops strictly adhere to the rules, using brand new needles for each client and sterilized tools as well as giving out handy tips on how to facilitate the post-tattoo healing process. If you wish to take back a permanent souvenir from your Phuket holiday, here are five recommended tattoo studios run by talented and professional artists. They do superb work using electric tattoo machines and/or genuine bamboo sticks.
Siam Ink
Located at the entrance of the Paradise Hotel Complex in Patong Beach, Siam Ink tattoo studio has been open since 2008. Employing four tattooists (including international award-winning artists), this parlour uses both bamboo sticks and tattoo machines and performs all styles of tattooing, including custom-made layouts following their customers’ tastes and requirements, free-hand, repairs and cover ups. The studio is large and spotlessly clean with a modern design. They are accredited by the Thai Health Department and charge 3,000 baht per hour for tattoos.
Opening Hours: Mon to Sat 12:00 – 24:00, Sun 18:00 – 24:00
Location: On the left at the entrance of Paradise Hotel Complex in Patong Beach. You can’t miss the green big bike in front of the shop.
Tel: Dana – 081-6769411, Ong – 089-4710963
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Golden Needle
Golden Needle tattoo studio is located in Phuket Town, near Rama IX Park. The owner of this multi-award-winning tattoo shop, Chart Khemtong, has a predestined name in Thai as ‘khem’ means needle and ‘tong’ means gold, which explains the name of the shop. With 20 years’ experience in tattooing, Chart is one of the most talented tattoo artists in Phuket. Golden Needle studio is a nicely decorated, compact wooden house (check out the lampshade entirely made of used tattoo needles). Working with two employees, Mee and Kai, Chart specialises in oriental designs. Famous UFC and MMA fighters have been tattooed at Golden Needle which uses only electric tattoo machines. Hygiene is priority number one here, and the prices – which start at 1,000 baht - are according to the complexity of the design.
Opening Hours: Daily 12:30 – 21:30
Location: At the southern entrance of Phuket Town, on Chaofa East Road, near Rama IX Park
Tel: 081-2717152 or 076-246461
Patong Tattoo (Mit & Wat)
Mit and Wat are brothers who have been working in the tattoo business since the end of the 90s. Their studio at Loma Park in Patong has been open since 2002 and they’re quite famous on Phuket’s tattoo scene for their polite professionalism. Working with bamboo sticks and a tattoo machine, they can create any design, whether it be Japanese, Thai, Sak Yant, or simply according to their customers’ wishes. Prices start at 1,000 baht (for a simple small black design) and increase according to the difficulty. They also do piercing. Mr Mit opened a second shop, @Ink at Bangtao Beach (see below).
Opening Hours: 10:30 – 20:00 closed on Sundays
Location: Soi Loma in Patong Beach
Remarks: Member of Association of Professional Tattoo Artists (APTA)
Tel: 081-7471146 or 089-9092357
@Ink Tattoo
Located opposite Surin Tesco Lotus Park on Bangtao Soi 2, @Ink opened in 2013. Mit (the owner of Patong Tattoo) opened this studio in association with Kai, an experienced tattooist born in Bangtao itself. Set in a contemporary style shopping plaza featuring restaurants and bars, @Ink is a neat and clean air-conditioned tattoo studio. Here, you also can get temporary tattoos (body paint and airbrush), and all permanent tattoos are done with an electric machine. Free-hand, cover ups, Sak Yant, all styles are available and prices start at 1,000 baht. Read More...
Opening Hours: Daily 11:00 – 22:00
Location: Opposite Surin Tesco Lotus Park on Bangtao Soi 2
Tel: Mit – 081-7471146, Kai – 084-8407964
Aussine Tattoo
Aussine Tattoo may be small in size but it’s large in talent. This studio is a nine square-metre room located opposite the entrance of Holiday Inn Busakorn Wing on Rat-U-Thit Road in Patong. Five tattooists work here (not all at the same time though): Adam, Eddie, Jui, Can and Mint, and all tattoos here are created with tattoo machines, with custom-made designs or images brought by their customers. Curiously enough, Australians are the folks who are most likely to get a tattoo in Phuket, hence the name of the shop which has been open since 2008. Here again, all-style of tattoos are available – tribal, Japanese, Celtic, Sak Yant, and so on – and their prices start at 1,000 baht for small black tattoo to go up to 60,000 baht for a detailed and coloured full sleeve.
Opening Hours: 10:00 – 22:00
Location: In Patong Beach, on Rat-U-Thit Road, opposite Holiday Inn Busakorn Wing’s entrance
Tel: 086 690 2909
Old Man Tattoos
One of the most experienced tattooers in the Phuket region, John began his tattooing career in 1993 using traditional Thai bamboo techniques to make beautiful Thai inspired tattoo’s. Four years later John opened his first shop then located in Kata. Old Man Tattoo’s was established in Phuket Town in 1999 and remains the longest running tattoo shop in Phuket Town, well known for quality tattooing work and attention to hygiene. Inspired by artists such as Filip Leu, Paul Booth and Sid Siamese – John specialises in oriental/japanese, black and grey, Thai designs and cover-up’s created in his own unique style.
Opening Hours: 10:30 - 22:30
Address: 134 Phang-Nga Road, Amphoe Muang, Phuket 83000
Tel: 081-5359498
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