Irreverent, informed and downright eclectic crime fiction and reportage from Southeast Asia and beyond
Last month, we had a visit from veteran tattooist Bruce Bart and his wife Jennifer. They were on an Asian road trip and were looking for a tattoo master in Thailand. Their search, quite an adventure, eventually led them to Sacred Skin and to the house I share with my wife, photographer Aroon Thaewchatturat. This [...]
Sacred Skin has been reviewed by Scott Rothstein at the Art Found Out Blog. “… Sacred Skin is an equal collaboration between author Tom Vater and photographer Aroon Thaewchatturat. The seductive and intimate images are as important to this book as the text. While Vater writes about Sak Yant, Thaewchatturat’s portraits show the complexity of [...]
The Pattaya Daily News reports that a Buddhist monk in Nakorn Sawan has been expelled from his monastery after tattooing the backs and buttocks of several teenagers, including a couple of fifteen year old girls. The paper reports that the sacred tattoos, known as Sak Yant in Thailand, were supposed to improve the teenager’s academic [...]
French German TV channel ARTE will be broadcasting an eight minute documentary, part of the culture magazine Metropolis, on Thailand’s sacred tattoos and on my new book, Sacred Skin on September 17th! Exact broadcasting schedule to follow. Visit the book’s official website!
My new book, Sacred Skin – Thailand’s Spirit Tattoos, has been reviewed by Thai Guide to Thailand blog this week. “Information in easy to understand plain English about Sak Yant, the Magic Tattoo or Buddhist Tattoo has been hard to find – until now. Sacred Skin – Thailand’s Spirit Tattoos is a new book by [...]
Sacred Skin has garnered its first review on Amazon.co.uk. The very favorable review describes the book as “a glimpse into the spiritual heart of Thailand mostly denied to even frequent visitors to this complex country”.
Looks like Thailand’s spirit tattoos are taking the world by storm. My new book on Sak Yant, Sacred Skin, with images by Aroon Thaewchatturat, has been featured alongside another upcoming title on the same subject, Sacred Tattoos of Thailand, by Joe Cummings (with images by Dan White), in the July issue of the Southeast Asia [...]
Yes, photographer Aroon Thaewchatturat and myself are extremely pleased to have Sacred Skin featured on July´s cover of Bangkok 101, the city´s high profile monthly magazine. The reviews that have been pouring in for our new book have been both numerous and incredibly positive, ranging from TIME Magazine to CNN and we could harldy have [...]
I have just been interviewed by Donald Gilliland, owner of Dasa Book Cafe, Bangkok’s best second hand bookshop, for his popular blog Garlic Never Sleeps. I answer questions about the life of a writer working in Asia, about past publications and my new book Sacred Skin, and also talk about some of my other (music) [...]
Visionary World Publisher Hans Kemp has created a short film on Khong Khuen, the trance state entered by Sak Yant (Thai Spirit Tattoos) devotees at the anual Wai Khru festival at Wat Bang Phra, a Buddhist temple west of Bangkok, last month. Watch and marvel and travel to the very heart of Thai culture, far [...]