Why Do Thai Girls Love Getting Tattoos?

[SoCal1990]

When you spend time out in Thailand’s ex-pat nightlife districts, you do notice one thing: tattoos are everywhere. It seems like every other girl who is on the game has ink, whether it’s a delicate floral design, bold tribal pattern, some mysterious Thai script or Buddhist icons, or just a messy mountain of ink. So, what’s behind it all? Is it fashion, or is there something deeper at play?

 

Some say tattoos are tied to personal childhood histories. Could it be that many of these girls, coming from tough backgrounds, broken homes, or rural poverty, use tattoos to express themselves or take greater ownership of their bodies? For some, could tattoos act as a kind of emotional shield, a way to visibly display their stories, struggles and psychological wounds for the world to see?

 

Or maybe it’s less about pain and more about standing out within the nightlife culture? Tattoos are more trendy now in Thailand, especially among some groups of younger people. For sex workers, working in an industry where appearance matters, is it possible that tattoos are just another way to stay fashionable or attract customers who find ink sexually intriguing?

 

There’s also the question of freedom. Could tattoos be a form of class rebellion in a society that often judges women harshly? These girls seem to face some stigma already because of their work or circumstances, so is getting a tattoo their way of saying they don’t care what anyone thinks? Maybe it gives them a sense of control in an otherwise unwelcoming world.

 

Of course, not every tattoo is a sign of something deep. Maybe some of them just like the designs they choose. After all, tattoos can be seen as a status symbol for some too. For a girl who has moved from a small, poor village to the city and started earning some money, maybe getting a tattoo is simply a way to show off all of her success.

 

Are tattoos about fashion, rebellion, personal expression, trying to seek more attention or something else? Or are they no more than a blatant marker of emotional scarring of someone from a rough background who is now working out in the nightlife?

[CharlieH]

Troll comment with a derogatory generalisation has been removed/

[Patong2021]

No need for a complex explanation when a commonsense simple explanation suffices: The vast majority of tattooed prostitutes have mental illness. Being inked is also part of the subculture. 

 

Multiple studies have documented the link between mental illness and the likelihood of people to be heavily tattooed and to favour face, neck and full sleeve type tattoos. There is no denying that prostitutes often have multiple mental illness conditions. They also engage in high risk behaviours. Examples of studies are;

 

International Journal of Dermatology 2019 Jul;58(7):816-824 : Are tattoos associated with negative health-related outcomes and risky behaviors?  Karoline Mortensen PhD, Michael T. French PhD, Andrew R. Timming PhD

Individuals with tattoos were more likely to be diagnosed with a mental health issue and to report sleep problems. People who had tattoos were also more likely to be smokers, to have spent time in jail, and to have a higher number of sex partners in the past year.

 

Annals of Epidemiology 2012 Jan;22(1):51-6: Who gets tattoos? Demographic and behavioral correlates of ever being tattooed in a representative sample of men and women, Wendy Heywood 1, Kent Patrick, Anthony M A Smith, Judy M Simpson, Marian K Pitts, Juliet Richters, Julia M Shelley

Men with lower levels of education, tradesmen, and women with live-out partners are more likely to be tattooed. Tattooing was also associated with risk-taking behaviours, including smoking, greater numbers of lifetime sexual partners, cannabis use (women only) and ever having depression (men only). Tattoos still appear to be a marker for risk-taking behavior in adults.

 

Commonsense also differentiates between youthful misadventure, drunken folly and intentional group affiliation such as the tattoos done by elite athletes who will ink the Olympic insignia or their team banner.

 

[KhunLA]

If you leave the P4P area, then you'll notice lots of other folks are all tatted up also, though not as noticeable, since dressing a bit more conservative.

 

Take the blinders off ... if you leave the P4P sois 

[SAFETY FIRST]

1 hour ago, SoCal1990 said:

Some say tattoos are tied to personal childhood histories. Could it be that many of these girls, coming from tough backgrounds, broken homes, or rural poverty, use tattoos to express themselves or take greater ownership of their bodies?

Crikey, Aussie chicks are one of the most tattooed in the world. 

 

All those Aussie birds have issues. 

 

I KNEW IT 

 

[brewsterbudgen]

It's not just bargirls, many military/sailor types and martial arts guys seem covered in them.

[baansgr]

Because they are free, nothing a pervert punter likes more than putting a mark on them👍

[pub2022]

Has the mental disorder suffered by those who cover their bodies with tattoos not yet been discovered?

[MalcolmB]

Because they are dim witted and are too lazy to get a real job.

 

they probably do get a few more customers. My studies have shown that these girls have a high pain threshold and are 200% more likely to do anal.

But they are less likely to find a long term monger who will take them back to his country and pretend she was never a whore. 
 

When they are not on their backs they are on their phones flicking through TikTok, perhaps influenced by that.

 

The whore areas in Thailand also have a lot of tattoos shops. Easily accessible.

 

 

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, SoCal1990 said:

Are tattoos about fashion, rebellion, personal expression, trying to seek more attention or something else? Or are they no more than a blatant marker of emotional scarring of someone from a rough background who is now working out in the nightlife?

I always thought it was an expression of self hatred, they quite often cut themselves as well.

[KannikaP]

42 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

It's not just bargirls, many military/sailor types and martial arts guys seem covered in them.

And as for Premier League footballers? I tend to notice the ones without tattoos showing.

[BritManToo]

19 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:

When they are not on their backs they are on their phones flicking through TikTok, perhaps influenced by that.

Common to almost all young women.

[Yagoda]

Covers up baby damage.

 

But, as far as I like, which is the only thing that counts in the whole universe, it depends on the whole look. Some of the Yakuza backs I find annoying. Lots of tattoos on a hot chick generally show issues, which is cool too, since the crazier ones are better in the sack.

[MalcolmB]

9 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Common to almost all young women.

Most normal women have jobs where playing on tic-tok is not allowed during work hours.

 

So the hookers are exposed to many more hours per day of it. 

[OneMoreFarang]

I am pretty sure they do it because everybody else in their peer group does it.

Many new girls who start in that business don't want to be the new inexperienced girl who everybody recognizes as that.

So that try to do what all the others do: Drink, smoke, tattoos, gamble, etc.

And once they do that, they are part of that group, and then it becomes difficult to get away from that group, because with all those tattoos they are marked for life.

Personally, I prefer the beginners without tattoos. But obviously there are not many of them. 

[NoDisplayName]

3 hours ago, SoCal1990 said:

Are tattoos about fashion, rebellion, personal expression, trying to seek more attention or something else?

 

P4P sluts?

 

It's advertising, same reason "tramp stamps" are fashionable for porn "actresses."

 

They're all basically interchangeable, their names are meaningless.

 

But when Bubba goes back to his regular life, he can tell his friends to look up this really great flock in Pattaya.  She works at this bar with a whatsit on the sign outside.

 

Her name?  Dunno, but she has this huge tattoo of a matador covering one entire upper thigh and a charging bull on the other!

 

"Olé, Olé, Olé"

[Walker88]

I think it's a fad that had its day, and is now in decline, except among certain other demographics like obese old expats.

 

On those occasions where I have mistaken an agogo for a museum, and thus wandered inadvertently inside, I have noticed fewer tatted women as of late, and in conversation have been told by many women that they never intend to tatt up. That leads me to believe it's winter for the tatt fad. Coming soon: clean skin will be all the rage.

 

Tatts limit job opportunities, should these women ever wish to take a massive cut in pay and move on. The colored ink has recently been linked to cancer, too, and any tatt can cause autoimmune disorders, especially Lupus. Is a dying fad worth that?

 

When I walk by tatt parlors with windows, the folks I tend to see on the couch getting stuck tend to be older foreign males. I cannot remember the last time I passed a shop and saw a Thai woman getting inked. I've also noticed a few clinics advertising laser tatt removal, and plenty of people sitting inside waiting for their appointment. Sadly, I don't think those full back tatts come off.

 

Your skin is your personal canvas, and folks are free to put whatever graffiti they want on their one body, but I have never seen anyone who would not look better absent the tatts. Lots of guys in my gym spend hours getting pumped, but the results are lost under the noise of arm, leg, back and neck ink.

 

Perhaps I'll engage in some more 'research' at an agogo and observe the percentages of tatted vs clean.

[AlexRich]

I guess they do it because everyone around them does it. As do people in the West. An “expression of individuality” is no more than the age old “following the crowd”.

 

My Dad had them because he was in the military, and they all did it for the reasons above. He had them before they were fashionable and got embarrassed about them in later years. I’ve never had a tattoo and never will. 
 

It’s like buying a patterned sweater and wearing it every day for the rest of your life. 
 

When I see them on women I cringe. 

[RSD1]

15 minutes ago, Walker88 said:

I think it's a fad that had its day, and is now in decline, except among certain other demographics like obese old expats.

 

On those occasions where I have mistaken an agogo for a museum, and thus wandered inadvertently inside, I have noticed fewer tatted women as of late, and in conversation have been told by many women that they never intend to tatt up. That leads me to believe it's winter for the tatt fad. Coming soon: clean skin will be all the rage.

 

Tatts limit job opportunities, should these women ever wish to take a massive cut in pay and move on. The colored ink has recently been linked to cancer, too, and any tatt can cause autoimmune disorders, especially Lupus. Is a dying fad worth that?

 

When I walk by tatt parlors with windows, the folks I tend to see on the couch getting stuck tend to be older foreign males. I cannot remember the last time I passed a shop and saw a Thai woman getting inked. I've also noticed a few clinics advertising laser tatt removal, and plenty of people sitting inside waiting for their appointment. Sadly, I don't think those full back tatts come off.

 

Your skin is your personal canvas, and folks are free to put whatever graffiti they want on their one body, but I have never seen anyone who would not look better absent the tatts. Lots of guys in my gym spend hours getting pumped, but the results are lost under the noise of arm, leg, back and neck ink.

 

Perhaps I'll engage in some more 'research' at an agogo and observe the percentages of tatted vs clean.

When you are conducting you research, have a look at some of the tattoos that are just lines of scripted text that appear in random spots along the body, both vertically and horizontally. I assume they are being utilized by forgetful people who are making "notes to self". But perhaps I am wrong and these text anthems portray much deeper meanings. 

[scubascuba3]

I put it down to they are befriended by tattoo artists who want to cover them, kinda ownership

[Mark Nothing]

Pay for play girls love getting new tattoos because it is another income stream for them to milk tourists.  

 

The morning after, she takes her customer to her husband's tattoo parlour and receives a commission plus a new tattoo.  Two for one.

 

Unaware she is lessening her value in the marketplace. Young and virginal is more desirable to customers then used goods.  Tattoos indicate they have been around the block multiple times.

 

 

[G_Money]

I don’t mind them on the ladies.

 

Brings a new level of kink to the game.

[CanadaSam]

I think it's kind of disrespectful to our maker, who made the female body absolutely beautiful, and in my mind, kindof perfect!

 

Trying to change it's Godly beauty by man-made ink, is like trying to paint over the Mona Lisa, with water colours, by a retarded child.

[Lacessit]

IMO peer group pressure has a lot to do with getting tatts.

 

It's sad, because getting a visible tatt announces to the world one is in a certain socio-economic class, which anyone in law enforcement zeroes in on.

 

There's also what happens with skin ageing and body shape changes.

 

I can remember in Chiang Mai a girl leaving the condo. Obviously a sex worker, covered in tatts, very skimpy clothes on a really lovely slim body. I was wondering why someone so beautiful would disfigure herself so badly.

[Hummin]

6 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

No need for a complex explanation when a commonsense simple explanation suffices: The vast majority of tattooed prostitutes have mental illness. Being inked is also part of the subculture. 

 

Multiple studies have documented the link between mental illness and the likelihood of people to be heavily tattooed and to favour face, neck and full sleeve type tattoos. There is no denying that prostitutes often have multiple mental illness conditions. They also engage in high risk behaviours. Examples of studies are;

 

International Journal of Dermatology 2019 Jul;58(7):816-824 : Are tattoos associated with negative health-related outcomes and risky behaviors?  Karoline Mortensen PhD, Michael T. French PhD, Andrew R. Timming PhD

Individuals with tattoos were more likely to be diagnosed with a mental health issue and to report sleep problems. People who had tattoos were also more likely to be smokers, to have spent time in jail, and to have a higher number of sex partners in the past year.

 

Annals of Epidemiology 2012 Jan;22(1):51-6: Who gets tattoos? Demographic and behavioral correlates of ever being tattooed in a representative sample of men and women, Wendy Heywood 1, Kent Patrick, Anthony M A Smith, Judy M Simpson, Marian K Pitts, Juliet Richters, Julia M Shelley

Men with lower levels of education, tradesmen, and women with live-out partners are more likely to be tattooed. Tattooing was also associated with risk-taking behaviours, including smoking, greater numbers of lifetime sexual partners, cannabis use (women only) and ever having depression (men only). Tattoos still appear to be a marker for risk-taking behavior in adults.

 

Commonsense also differentiates between youthful misadventure, drunken folly and intentional group affiliation such as the tattoos done by elite athletes who will ink the Olympic insignia or their team banner.

 

 

 

So many treat these girls like trash without any emphasis at all. Tattoos seems to be linked to psychological behavior such as struggle, mental illnesses and abuse 

 

A study of a community sample of women (Reference Romans, Martin and MorrisRomans 1998) found that being tattooed was associated with more psychiatric symptoms, borderline personality characteristics as well as increased alcohol use. Childhood sexual abuse was reported

 

 

Read more

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/advances-in-psychiatric-treatment/article/tattoos-what-is-their-significance/D2C57CCCA55C75378A8804FAF55147E2

[Dan747]

 Some of the Guys in Iraq/Afghanistan wore Bicep Tatts as "Special Ops Want a Be's!!"

[herfiehandbag]

5 hours ago, RSD1 said:

When you are conducting you research, have a look at some of the tattoos that are just lines of scripted text that appear in random spots along the body, both vertically and horizontally. I assume they are being utilized by forgetful people who are making "notes to self". But perhaps I am wrong and these text anthems portray much deeper meanings. 

You mean rather like velcroing your name tape on upside down in the military - so in moments of great excitement you can glance down and remind yourself what your name is!

 

I think you have cracked it!

[jaywalker2]

9 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

No need for a complex explanation when a commonsense simple explanation suffices: The vast majority of tattooed prostitutes have mental illness. Being inked is also part of the subculture. 

 

Multiple studies have documented the link between mental illness and the likelihood of people to be heavily tattooed and to favour face, neck and full sleeve type tattoos. There is no denying that prostitutes often have multiple mental illness conditions. They also engage in high risk behaviours. Examples of studies are;

 

International Journal of Dermatology 2019 Jul;58(7):816-824 : Are tattoos associated with negative health-related outcomes and risky behaviors?  Karoline Mortensen PhD, Michael T. French PhD, Andrew R. Timming PhD

Individuals with tattoos were more likely to be diagnosed with a mental health issue and to report sleep problems. People who had tattoos were also more likely to be smokers, to have spent time in jail, and to have a higher number of sex partners in the past year.

 

Annals of Epidemiology 2012 Jan;22(1):51-6: Who gets tattoos? Demographic and behavioral correlates of ever being tattooed in a representative sample of men and women, Wendy Heywood 1, Kent Patrick, Anthony M A Smith, Judy M Simpson, Marian K Pitts, Juliet Richters, Julia M Shelley

Men with lower levels of education, tradesmen, and women with live-out partners are more likely to be tattooed. Tattooing was also associated with risk-taking behaviours, including smoking, greater numbers of lifetime sexual partners, cannabis use (women only) and ever having depression (men only). Tattoos still appear to be a marker for risk-taking behavior in adults.

 

Commonsense also differentiates between youthful misadventure, drunken folly and intentional group affiliation such as the tattoos done by elite athletes who will ink the Olympic insignia or their team banner.

 

That explains Joe Rogan, I guess

[Elkski]

This is an intriguing topic.  Why?   I watch the "big pictures el panorama" you tube channel and so many girls have tats.  Of course he videos mostly in the market that stays open all night.  I think anytime this women are showing cleavage and wearing sexy nightlife clothes they are not the good ones to be chasing for long term relationships.  They do look like fun.   I always liked finding the amazing hard bodies under the baggy T-shirt conservative dresses ones.   

[BangkokReady]

10 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I always thought it was an expression of self hatred, they quite often cut themselves as well.

 

I heard a theory about issues with self-image leading to tattoos.  It's something like they want their outside to look like how they feel inside.  Maybe they want people to see them as dirty, as they fear surprise or disappointment when people find out what they do.