Sak Yant is a living Thai tradition of sacred tattooing, practiced by Ajarns (a Thai title meaning teacher or master, given to those recognized for deep knowledge of a sacred or spiritual practice) within the samnak (the master's sanctuary). Ajarn Thueng works within lineages passed down through generations of teachers, carrying forward designs and knowledge that predate his own practice.
Most of the people he tattoos are Thai. Foreign visitors are welcome, but they remain uncommon here. You may find yourself as the only foreigner at the samnak that day.
These are magic spells cast into skin.
Send us a screenshot of any tattoo you like, whether from this page, Ajarn Thueng's TikTok or Facebook, or anywhere else. We'll ask Ajarn Thueng for the price of his version.
You don't need to speak Thai. You don't need to know exactly which yant (sacred tattoo design) you want. And you don't need to figure everything out on your own.
Tell us what you're looking for, ask about a particular design, or simply tell us that you're interested in Sak Yant and would like to understand more. An interpreter who is highly fluent in English is available at no additional cost, so nothing is lost or mixed up in the process. From time to time, Ajarn Thueng has tattooed people from elsewhere: the United States, Canada, France, and Taiwan among them.
Many visitors arrive already familiar with certain Sak Yant designs: tigers, Hanuman, and other forms widely seen around Thailand. Ajarn Thueng's work is rooted in something older, yant preserved through the specific lineages of the teachers who taught him, carried forward largely as they were originally practiced.
That's why some of the designs shown here may look different from what you expected. They haven't been adapted to match what has become familiar. They remain close to the forms passed down within a particular lineage.
That difference is not incidental. It's what makes this particular body of work distinctive: older forms of Sak Yant, preserved and carried into the present.
A note on names. These yants carry the name of the monk or lay master who first developed and then taught them: Luang Por ("venerable father"), Luang Pu ("venerable grandfather"), and Ajarn ("teacher"), used for monks and lay masters alike.
See a tattoo you like? Screenshot it and send it to us for the price of Ajarn Thueng's version.
Ajarn Thueng was ordained as a monk and studied for years under Luang Por Prathueang Atikkanto of Wat Nong Yang Thoi in Phetchabun, a monk renowned for his invulnerability magic and his tattooing. After his teacher's death, he went on to study under several more monks and lay masters, learning specific protective, love, and fortune designs from each.
The knowledge also runs in his family. His great-grandfather studied under masters active during the Second World War era. That knowledge passed down to Ajarn Thueng's grandfather, a folk healer, who later passed it to Ajarn Thueng himself.
Ajarn Thueng tattoos using the khem pha pak (เข็มผ่าปาก), an older hand-poke needle style, and works with designs preserved through his teachers' traditions, including some of the original, older forms of patterns that have since changed elsewhere.
He speaks of his work as carrying the tradition forward rather than reinventing it.
Believers since ancient times have held that these tattoos bring protection from accidents, weapons, and harm; invulnerability; escape from danger; victory over rivals and competitors; love and attraction; favor with superiors and people in power; and success in business and trade, among others.
Alongside tattooing, Ajarn Thueng performs khrop sian, a head-covering blessing meant to bring luck and protection to those who receive it. He also offers sak nam man, tattoos done in oil rather than ink. They leave no visible mark, done purely for the belief behind them rather than for how they look.
Like many Thai tattoo masters, Ajarn Thueng also makes and consecrates amulets, in the same tradition as his tattoo work. His years of skill as an artist and as a practitioner of the tradition carry into this side of what he does as well.
Send a screenshot of a tattoo you like, or simply tell us what you're looking for.
Ajarn Thueng's samnak draws more than people seeking tattoos. Disciples return for recurring ceremonies, including a monthly full moon holy water blessing and an annual wai khru ceremony each August, and for an ongoing volunteer initiative among his students known as Sid Khongthon Volunteer. Past efforts have repaired a rural school library in Phetchabun, supplied a school in Ratchaburi with equipment, meals, and scholarships, and funded new restrooms for students in need. During Thailand's COVID-19 lockdowns, disciples from Thailand, China, and Singapore stocked a shared pantry outside the samnak for anyone affected by it.