I remember my first one about ten years ago. I took a Discman (remember those?) and a great Underworld album. The tattoo was on my back so I sat backwards on a chair and leaned against the back, put in the headphones and zoned out to the music. The pain was warm and pleasant.

My next six were in various places, with different degrees of pain… both sides of my ribs being the most prickly. Each time, I just tried to zone out like that first time (funny I never repeated the headphones though) and the pain sort of enveloped my whole upper body and felt sort of electric. It was great… down-right addictive.

Do it straight. I highly recommend it.

Good luck.

I would agree with “In Memory Of”

I’ve been reading through the replies and posts and debating whether or not to bring this up (because I didn’t want you to think I was having a specific go at you Phil)… but when Mathew started talking about removal with a scalpel… I feel this may turn out to be one of those threads that (should in my opinion) be referred to long into the future… my point being:

If you are going to get a cheap tattoo in Thailand, you should be aware of the consequences.

I’ve lived and worked in SE Asia and have extensive experience in Thailand. I’ve seen many many ‘bamboo’ tattoos and I’ve never once seen one done in a truly hygienic way. Usually, the tattooer pulls needles from a cardboard box (no blister packs here!) and drops them into some alcohol for a moment… then he fishes them out with un-gloved hands and gathers them together in a little brush formation… he then wraps cotton thread (from a dirty old spool used by every other tattoo session) around them attaching them to a stick (many of these sticks are made from a chop-stick shoved into a bit from an old TV aerial)… then they light an old candle and drip cheap dirty paraffin wax all over the thread and smooth it out. More often than not, they will then tap the pointy edge of the ‘brush against a flat surface to straighten all of the needles into an even line. I have seen this done onto a steel counter top (which dulls the needles and creates burs which will microscopically rip open your skin) and I have even seen it done on the side of a grubby cigarette lighter.

OK now they have a dull and contaminated tattoo implement which they proceed to dip into cheap Chinese-made inks containing who knows what.

I should start a website just of all the stories and images I have seen and heard from people who got their bodies messed up from a cheap Thai tattoo – and the new craze with so-called bamboo tattoos is the real scary part, because everyone is going around saying “It’s not like a real tattoo… you don’t have to cover it up… it doesn’t scab… you can swim straight away… lets all go to the full moon party and swim in piss-infested water!”

Sorry Phil… I know there’s no way to convince you that this isn’t a personal attack on you… but I expect that this thread will get read a lot and I felt that I should put this out there.

I humbly remove my self from the soapbox.

-Wak

If you feel that you don’t have the artistic skills to design it yourself, then its fine to go in and ask your tattoo artist to design it for you. You’ll have a consultation with him/her and you’ll have a chance to tell them what style you are thinking about, what colours etc. You can also go through some Flash together and pick out things you like or don’t like. It will sometimes cost you a design fee (which is of course fair enough) but it will be worth it go get something you feel comfortable about.

In a nutshell, don’t worry about not knowing how to design it – just get in there and book a consultation with an artist.

Good luck!

I’m surprised that he could miss that himself. Is English not his first language? And you said that it was on the stencil? Didn’t you check the stencil before he started up the machine?

Good luck.

Since this isn’t the first global financial hard times… perhaps a search into some of the imagery from the last great depression. Some of the artists, writers and musicians that communicated the hardships of the common man and labor camps etc. like Woody Guthry, Utah Philips, Steinbeck etc. Maybe you’ll find some inspirartion there.

Good Luck.

Welcome…

What are you doing in Sydney?

-Wak