It is hard to break through into a deeper appreciation of what is happening here. I definitely feel like an intruder, although I am not being treated like one. The Thais have been practicing magical and protective tattooing for centuries. Wat Bang Plot has been a part of this tradition for a long time. Standing on the temple veranda, watching monks tattoo the young men is so exotic to my western eyes. Tattooing in the west has been reduced to a trendy fad. There is still magic and power inherent in the process- People get tattooed in the west because they are looking for answers to big, unanswerable questions. The tattoo provides a possible link to the answer if you let it, but so much has been trivialized and marginalized. Taken over by shallow, pop-cultural impulses. Watching the monks and young men sitting in the temple is a unique glimpse into the core power that makes people need to be tattooed.