The young men who are being tattooed by the monks are willfully receiving a transferal of power from the monk. The tattoo image, the oil or ink, the pain and permanence is the physical representation of that power and faith. This is a serious ritual intended to improve, affirm and underscore the life of the young man who wears the tattoo. The purpose can be as secular as wanting to become bulletproof or uncuttable or extreamly esoteric and intangible. It is all magic.

There are no women to be seen and I wonder if women get tattooed at all or to the extent that men do. Thai Buddhist monks are not supposed to touch women in any way and I wonder if this prohibition prevents the accessibility to the practice for Thai women.