Irreverent, informed and downright eclectic books and reportage from Southeast Asia and beyond
In the words of Chinese traveler Chou Ta Kuan who lived in Angkor for a year in the 13th century: “When the king goes out, troops lead the escort; then come flags, banners and music. Palace women, numbering from three to five hundred, wearing clothes decorated with flowers, with flowers in their [...]
Yesterday, Achan Neng Onnut, a Sak Yant tattoo master who supported the research of my new book Sacred Skin, the first English language publication on Thailand’s sacred tattoos, celebrated Wai Khru Day. During the course of the day, hundreds of his devotees visited his home in Bangkok to pay their respects to the master and [...]
A Bangkok Post review of my new book Sacred Skin - Thailand’s Spirit Tattoos, co-authored with photographer Aroon Thaewchatturat, has just been reposted on the Awesome Tattoos blog.
The review includes an interview with Aroon.
Photo taken at Bangkok International Airport.
Achan Neng Onnut, one of several tattoo masters featured in my recent book Sacred Skin, the first English language publication on Thailand’s spirit tattoos, Sak Yant, has posted a number of images of the shoot for two documentaries on the book.
Check out the images here.
Director Marc Eberle shot an 8 minute docu on Sacred [...]
“Sacred Skin Thailands Spirit Tattoos, the new two-hundred page, eight-by-ten-inch guide to sak yant protection tattoos by Tom Vater, with color photography by Aroon Thaewchatturat, is a beautifully organized, visual treat for both tattoo artists and collectors. Divided into easily navigable sections (Sak Yant, Master and Devotees, Sacred Images, [...]
On a recent trip to Cambodia, I noticed that my first non fiction book Beyond the Pancake Trench is still being sold as a bootleg photocopy in Siem Reap bookshops.
I was browsing the shelves of a pirate DVD shop in Phnom Penh a couple days ago, when I found, much to my surprise, that The [...]
2011 proved to be a mad, mad year for me and I’d like to thank all the people who supported me over the past twelve months. Living it all was almost too much. Here’s to the great times this year.
The publication of Sacred Skin, the first book on Thailand’s sacred tattoos, was a major milestone [...]
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 [...]
Finally, the DVD for The Most Secret Place on Earth is out, about a year after the film surfaced on YouTube! There are some great extra, never before seen interviews with the film’s main characters but unfortunately the footage is all in German, as are the subtitles. Given that the film has garnered so much [...]
Very nice to see my new book Sacred Skin, the first English language publication on Thailand’s sacred tattoos, known as Sak Yant, got a mention of a dermatological site in the US.
Sacred Skin was photographed by Aroon Thaewchatturat, designed by NEW and published by Visionary World. I wrote the text.
Check out this brief review of [...]