Tattoos in Thailand

Rather than buy a lot of souvenirs when we travel, we like to collect a type of memory that we can still take everywhere we go but won’t take up room or make us want to sell it…so we get a tattoo! We easily decided we should get tattoos in Thailand If you’ve read about our trip to Costa Rica, you know Samara Tattoo blessed us with these beauties:

International ink

While we stayed in a couple different towns in Thailand, we waited for our last destination, Phuket, to get tattoos. We wanted to have as much beach and sun time as possible at Patong Beach before needing to cover up and protect our new ink. After an afternoon of research over adult beverages, we decided on Celebrity Ink. We chose them for quality of work and price. An added perk was they’re an international chain with studios around the world! And they’ve tattooed Verne Troyer, aka Mini Me from the “Austin Powers” movies AND former Pittsburgh Steeler QB Terry Bradshaw. So that’s really all the credibility I need to see. Just take my money already!

The studio sits at the end of a dark, bar-lined alley located in Phuket’s bustling pedestrian street. If my memory serves me correctly, you’ll see a row of bars on your left and a wall of “dancing lady” shows on your right. The tattoo parlor – or parlour, as they spell it. They’re an Australian-owned company. I can overlook that unnecessary “u” since they tattooed Mini Me – is on the right.

But what design?

We spent a lot of time agreeing on the style but deciding the object of our tattoo was easy: we’d had such a soulful experience at Green Elephant Sanctuary that we wanted to honor one of the special creatures we met. After choosing a mandala, we consulted with a Celebrity representative and made appointments. Kim’s working toward a sleeve so she wanted hers on a bicep. Aubrie chose her ankle and since the tops of my forearms are bare, I picked my left forearm. Then we divided to conquer.

Good timing

Luckily we were able to schedule our appointments for around the same time with three different tattoo artists, otherwise we would have spent all day at the studio. There are worse places to be “stuck,” but it was very convenient that Celebrity was well-staffed and accommodated us perfectly to get our tattoos in Thailand. Before we knew it, it was time to get started and we were happy girls. We love tattoos!

Time flies almost as fast as the needle

I fail to remember exactly how long the tattoos took, but I will say all three of our artists were efficient. Mine was well-hydrated, which is key to quality skin art. Our three guys met  to discuss our design and ensure they were all tattooing the same thing. We appreciated that and were surprised to notice very slight differences in our end results. The differences are not negative: for example, one of us has thicker lines throughout the tattoo and one elephant trunk has larger nostrils.

These differences are so slight that at a glance, you would not notice them. We are more than satisfied with the work. And we would return to Celebrity for more work in the future, if we return to Thailand or go adventuring in another Asian country or Australia. And if you know the Walters gang, you know you NEVER know where we will end up!