Sak Yant Tattoos and Angelina Jolie

Just Angelina Jolie caused some offense with Thai people is what we'll discuss in this post. First, what Sak Yant (Buddhist religious tattoo) did Angelina have done? The answer is she had the 5 rows Buddhist tattoo (Haa Taew in Thai). As you can see from the picture, there are 5 rows of Thai old scripture. Each of the rows gives Angelina or any wearer of the tattoo some special powers or 'spells'. The spells range from living a longer life to being protected and having better luck all the way to having an increased sex drive.

Why did it cause offense then?

This is a hard question to answer but I suppose like with any religion, there will be extremist views that can mean that the wearer of the religious tattoo should be a devout Buddhist. So in the case of Angelina Jolie, if she doesn't practice Buddhism religiously then it could cause some offense to see her wearing a traditional Thai Sak Yant Buddhist tattoo. Another more simple reason could be because she's from Hollywood and isn't Thai. Shallow but could also be the reason.

What to Do if you want one?

Go ahead and do the Buddhist tattoos ritual. Thai people are a peaceful bunch on the whole and won't mind at all if you have a Buddhist tattoo as long as it's not placed to low on your body. This might cause some offense as it is the least sacred part of the human body (the head being the most sacred part). It's our advice to have it as high up on the body as you could, withouth going overboard and having it on your head!