Eclectic crime fiction & informed, irreverent non-fiction from Asia & beyond
Sacred Skin – Thailand’s Spirit Tattoos, photographed by Aroon Thaewchatturat, gets a couple new plugs/ reviews. The Apsara Diaries write “The book ‘Scared Skin’ focuses on Thai devotees and the Wai Khru; a once a year gathering of tattooed devotes. The book gives you a clear, in-depth understanding of Yantra and its magic.” Over at […]
Continue ReadingGerade ist die neue 16. komplett überarbeitete Auflage von Reise Know How Thailand erschienen. Für das 900 Seiten lange Buch sind mein Kollege Rainer Krack, Fotografin Aroon Thaewchatturat und ich wieder weit gereist und haben uns das Königsreich neu angeschaut. Zudem hat das Buch ein neues, farbigeres und fotofreundlicheres Lay-Out. Reise Know Thailand ist auch […]
Continue ReadingJennifer Jerome interviews me about Thailand’s sacred tattoos for The Chiang Mai City News this week. Read her story Ink of the Gods: The Myth and Magic of Sak Yant here. And check out my bestselling book on Thailand’s spirit tattoos, Sacred Skin, with incredible photography by Aroon Thaewchatturat. Sacred Skin is available in good […]
Continue ReadingAroon Thaewchatturat‘s photographs of Thailand’s sak yant wearers, featured in our highly acclaimed book Sacred Skin, published by Visionary World in 2010, are going international. The Gewerbe Museum in Winterthur, Switzerland opens its first TATTOO exhibition today and large prints of Aroon’s images, blessed by eminent sak yant master Achan Neng Onnut, are part of […]
Continue Reading“I tried to capture not just the devotees’ tattoos but who they were. My models were rather shy at first. Most of them were male and taking their clothes off for a female photographer was definitely a challenge for them. But after I had taken a few shots, their confidence increased and they conveyed a […]
Continue ReadingCheck out new travel magazine Wicked World which launched this week! Great stories that originate off the beaten path, far away from guidebooks and iPhones… Wicked World exists to promote the kind of travel related writing that wouldn’t normally find an outlet in more mainstream publications. We’re not here to sell expensive guided tours, round […]
Continue ReadingI’ve been interviewed by acclaimed travel blog Where Sidewalks End, about travel, crime fiction, Sacred Skin, Burma and The Devil’s Road to Kathmandu.
Continue ReadingLast 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 […]
Continue ReadingIn 1999, I first visited the Moken sea nomads/sea gypsies in Ko Surin Marine National Park in Thailand. I had been recording indigenous music around Asia for the British Library for some years. Thailand had not been on my usual routes, I spent most of my time in India, Pakistan and Nepal in the 90s. […]
Continue ReadingSacred Skin receives a great review from Danny Keens, Producer of 60 Minutes, on Amazon. Wonderful!!! When I stumbled upon this print collaboration between author Tom Vater and photographer Aroon Thaewchatturat I was taken completely by surprised and totally mesmerized. You see, I’m not the sort of person who would have considered a tattoo and […]
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