PHUKET: — The Culture Ministry has attacked the growing trend for tourists in Phuket and other parts of Thailand to have religious images tattooed on their bodies.
It has ordered provincial governors across the country, including Phuket, to crack down on such tattoos, igniting a debate on the human rights implications of forbidding the practice.
Culture Minister Niphit Intharasombat told told reporters Monday that Phuket’s Culture Office had uncovered an “alarming trend”: tourists have images such as those of the Buddha, Ganesh and Jesus Christ tattooed on their arms, legs and ankles.
It is culturally inappropriate and erodes respect for religion, Mr Niphit said.
But the ministry is likely to face an uphill battle to end the practice. The service is highly popular and tattooists can charge extra for such work, with some jobs costing upwards of 20,000 baht.
Mr Niphit downplayed the likelihood that the tattoos could be a genuine expression of spiritual belief.
The tattoos were just part of a fashion trend among tourists, who most likely did not believe in the religion and were ignorant of the true significance of the image.
As a result, Mr Niphit said the ministry’s Subcommittee on Safe and Creative Media had decided to order the governors of all Thai provinces to ban foreigners from getting tattoos of religious images of any faith.
Governors would be asked to convene meetings of those involved in the industry to ask for their cooperation, he said.
“At the meeting, we noted that these tattoos were all over the country, in particular in tourist destinations such as Khao San Road, Tawanna and Chatuchak Market in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket,” he said.
“We have to help prevent images that are respected in various religions from being tattooed onto the body.”
People with visible religious tattoos who engaged in “bad behavior” such as “sitting drinking alcohol and arguing” would damage the faiths through association, Mr Niphit said.
It seems that the Culture Ministry has a lot to do about nothing recently. Why aren’t they worried that Thais wearing Buddha amulets engaging in “bad behavior” such as “sitting drinking alcohol and arguing” would damage the faiths through association?
Mr Niphit said the ministry’s Subcommittee on Safe and Creative Media had decided to order the governors of all Thai provinces to ban foreigners from getting tattoos of religious images of any faith. I think the operative word here is “foreigners”. Human rights? Perhaps not. Double standards? Quite obvious. But what this sort of proposals really shows, is that some people either have nothing else or say or don’t know what to say.
Wait a minute. There’s more.
But, he added, if people had such images tattooed to their ankles or “inappropriate organs”, it could be seen as insulting to religion.
Inappropriate organs? Wow. How are they going to check?
