3 hours ago, Iron Tongue said:

 

You can wash & scrub some of it off, but some will remain on the outer skin layer until your body sloughs it off and is replaced by new skin growing out.

 

Ok, 15 days then. Hardly the life changing stupid decision that some are making it out to be.

The missus got a black henna tatoo on her back in Boracay in the Philippines years ago.  I implored her not to do it but the tatooist had convinced her it was genuine henna, a natural harmless product.  By 2.00 am she was in agony and her back all red and swollen.  She was in pain for two days but luckily it subsided after that without trace.  

 

After that I researched it and found the "henna" is mainly a chemical black dye as the OP says and may contain little or no natural henna which is brown, difficult to work with and takes a long time to dry.  Maybe people are not so lucky as the missus and may end up with septic wounds for months and permanent scarring.  They may also become permanently allergic to black dye used in clothing and hair dye.  

 

Although illegal in the UK and most sensible jurisdictions black henna was not illegal in countries like Spain and Greece (but may be now) and many Brits came home from hols in those countries with permanently disfiguring injuries from "temporary" tatoos.  

 

Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines all priortize extracting cash from tourists over all safety concerns.  So it is no surprise that this dangerous practice is still legal in those jurisdictions.  Granted this American was ill advised to get a tatoo on his face but tatoos with this substance should be illegal in all civilized countries.

 

 

Next time, use a Sharpie. 

On 11/18/2025 at 2:34 PM, webfact said:

Tourists should be careful about what they put on their bodies, no matter how harmless it seems.

 I would suggest also "in', "into" 'around" "under" 'above' and 'beside" as well.

4 hours ago, Suetape said:

.  Take responsibility for your stupid actions fool.  

I don’t think it’s a case of not taking responsibility for his action. I think he’s just issuing a warning to others to not make the mistake he made. 

What a complete belly end!

On 11/18/2025 at 10:57 AM, Gottfrid said:

Stupid enough to make a face tattoo, then live with the pain, man.

True, but then gain tattoo artists are willing to take the money knowing the possible outcome.

Some things don't need to be banned to stop using them.

Unscrupulous so called artists

 

On 11/18/2025 at 2:57 PM, Gottfrid said:

Stupid enough to make a face tattoo, then live with the pain, man.

I agree I do not know what gets into the head of these idiots that want tatoos on their head and face.As opposed to tatoos on arms and legs and body they can be covered up but not the facial ones so you can't  hide them so you are marked man forever....you can't legislate against stupidity.

4 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

“ hey what getting a face tattoo? “

” you outa your mind ? “

6 beers later 

 

 

“ lets go do that face tattoo “

” yeah !, its only henna, what could possibly go wrong ? “

Did he have six beers?  If it were only henna, no problem, as ordinary henna comes off and does not contain the chemicals that caused his issues.  So, how is someone informed that black henna can cause permanent damage to human skin? Signs might work if everyone spoke the same language, but like the "movement" to adopt Esperanto years ago, which was a pipe dream, requiring shop operators to deliver the same news, it is even dimmer. It reminds me of the media coverage of skin whitening for women a few years ago. 

 

But AI just might come to the rescue with two-way simultaneous communication in any language.  Let's hope it happens before the Ring of Fire volcanoes end all of our best-laid plans. 

 

 

5 hours ago, TTSIssues said:

I am mystified by all the comments saying how stupid he is to get a face tattoo.

 

he didn’t 

 

Henna is widely used as a temporary drawing on skin that wears off after a few days. That’s wildly different from choosing to have a face tattoo.

 

I have never heard of black henna rather than just “henna” - so yes, it’s clearly a dangerous substance that the vendor should not be painting directly on someone’s skin.

 

i feel for the guy. 

The only thing I would hve added to the warning is the location.

 

These shops if they can be called that setup in locations where they know brain power is not at it's highest. LOL

 

If it is dangerouos and they want tourism thenthe police should be3 shutting these places down. 

 

 

Why didn't he get this as a permanent tattoo? It looks so cool and  then he only went in half-hearted....

Can’t teach stupid.   !!  
 

On 11/18/2025 at 10:34 AM, webfact said:

The impromptu decision during a night out with friends 

 By the looks of it, under the influence of something or other?

On 11/18/2025 at 11:12 AM, garygooner said:

Hangover  ... Pt 2. 

 

Yeah,  and he should get a personl shhhhhhhhhhhmack in the face from Iron Mike Tyson

6 hours ago, TTSIssues said:

I am mystified by all the comments saying how stupid he is to get a face tattoo.

 

he didn’t 

 

Henna is widely used as a temporary drawing on skin that wears off after a few days. That’s wildly different from choosing to have a face tattoo.

 

I have never heard of black henna rather than just “henna” - so yes, it’s clearly a dangerous substance that the vendor should not be painting directly on someone’s skin.

 

i feel for the guy. 

I agree with you.

 

its basically an adult sticker tattoo you did as a kid.

a couple day piece of fun.

 

not a lifetime commitment. Not an actual tattoo.

 

all these comments show the lack of both IQ and emotional maturity  of posters for a kid that got a temporary body painting but didn’t know the vendor used a poisonous paint.

My Son (10 yrs old) and I were having a laugh last year at the beach and we discussed getting a henna tattoo on his arm to prank his Mother / my Wife....  (enough time over summer 2 month break to wear off before school started again)...

 

... Of course, we didn't do it - that would be silly - but the idea was amusing to us both nonetheless.

 

I never knew henna tats could be harmful - so this warning is a good one.

Should be IQ tests before going overseas

5 minutes ago, Harrisfan said:

Should be IQ tests before going overseas

You can't fix stupid ... as a simple Google search, and he would avoided any problems

 

7 hours ago, TTSIssues said:

I am mystified by all the comments saying how stupid he is to get a face tattoo.

 

he didn’t 

 

Henna is widely used as a temporary drawing on skin that wears off after a few days. That’s wildly different from choosing to have a face tattoo.

 

I have never heard of black henna rather than just “henna” - so yes, it’s clearly a dangerous substance that the vendor should not be painting directly on someone’s skin.

 

i feel for the guy. 

Took the words right out of my mouth. Well said!

Nature's stupidity tax

On 11/18/2025 at 11:02 AM, NanLaew said:

Bad timing indeed. The Thai temperance society already has 15 days to use this as a(nother lame) reason that adults shouldn't be allowed to buy and drink alcohol when they want.

The key word here is "adults". Behaving like adults is quite another thing.

8 hours ago, kiwikeith said:

It be banned because it is a dangerous chemical, so people having fun on holiday die from poisen sprayed to kill bed bugs are stupid and people that are given cheap crap alcohol die because they are stupid very sad that some people are more stupid and senseless with their comments 

Speaking of senseless comments, Your comment would make actual sense if you had learned how to use punctuation like the rest of us did in 1st grade.  

"Nayersina hopes his cautionary tale will prevent others from making similar choices."  

 

Nope. People like him never read anything important, or at all. And the only thing they ever learn is to not do the same stupid thing that just blew up in their face, and they may not even learn that. Stupid, ignorant people get that way by ignoring advice. "Cautionary tale"? Does this guy or his friends read Thai news, or even read at all? Who does he think he's "cautioning"? Us? The ones who read stories like his?  These are people who come here without the slightest idea what it's like or what they're in for. Nah, they don't read news, they just make news after the fact with their foolishness.

 

I had two rules when I came here:

 

1.) Don't get drunk (meaning that I stay within safe limits)

 

2.) Don't be stupid

 

Unfortunately this guy did both.

This was easily found in Wiki with a few clicks. Even stupid people have phones, right? And a readily available wiki app, which I consult whenever I need to:

 

Black henna

[edit]

Natural henna produces a rich red-brown stain, which can darken in the days after it is first applied and last for several weeks. It is sometimes referred to as "red henna" to differentiate it from products sold as "black henna" or "neutral henna," which may not actually contain henna, but are instead made from other plants or dyes.

Black henna powder may be derived from indigo (from the plant Indigofera tinctoria). It may also contain unlisted dyes and chemicals such as para-phenylenediamine (PPD), which can stain skin black quickly, but can cause severe allergic reactions and permanent scarring if left on for more than 2–3 days. The FDA specifically forbids PPD to be used for this purpose and may prosecute those who produce black henna. Artists who injure clients with black henna in the U.S. may be sued for damages.^[64] The name arose from imports of plant-based hair dyes into the West in the late 19th century. Partly fermented, dried indigo was called black henna because it could be used in combination with henna to dye hair black. This gave rise to the belief that there was such a thing as black henna which could dye skin black. Indigo will not dye skin black. Pictures of indigenous people with black body art (either alkalized henna or from some other source) also fed the belief that there was such a thing as black henna.

Black henna is just a made up name, it's  chemical and dangerous and if gets caught out in the sun can burn and leave a scar, which is probably what happened here. Many children have been scared this way.  Should be banned

2 hours ago, KhunLA said:

You can't fix stupid ... as a simple Google search, and he would avoided any problems

 

“you can’t fix stupid”  catchy statement... but, it overlooks how people actually make decisions like getting a black henna tattoo.

 

Henna tattoos are extremely common and widely perceived as safe, so it’s not obvious that a simple Google search is necessary.

 

Without clear, widely disseminated warnings, most people would naturally assume that such a popular, traditional cosmetic practice carries minimal risk - I never considered they were harmful.

 

Black henna, in particular, contains para-phenylenediamine (PPD), a chemical that can cause severe allergic reactions, blistering, and permanent scarring - that information that isn’t common knowledge unless one actively researches it.

 

So, while hindsight makes it easy to criticise, it’s a little sanctimonious to act as though the danger was obvious to everyone at the time or that they should be 'google searching' every decision they make.

 

In short: you can’t fix ignorance, but neither can you fix the arrogance of 20/20 hindsight.

Many people simply didn’t know the risks.

 

 

Such Chemicals should instead be banned - this is where authorities 'could' get it right... 

 

On 11/18/2025 at 11:33 AM, Real Name Hidden said:

Bears suck

 

In the woods?

8 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

I know the difference, I've spent a lot of time in India over the years where henna tattoos originated, and I still think that applying even a henna tattoo to one's face is absolutely ridiculous. 

 

Make Tatoos Great Again !

Do stupid things.....win.....🏆

3 hours ago, KhunLA said:

You can't fix stupid ... as a simple Google search, and he would avoided any problems

 

Right, so before going on holiday he should have researched black henna in case a vendor asked him if he wanted a temporary henna painting and he decided on the spur of the moment to do it. Is that what you are saying?

Or are you saying before deciding on the thing that hundreds of thousands of tourists do he should do a random AI search? Like you do before deciding on anything on holiday.....? He saw something fun, temporary, he decided to do it, not asking  Gemini or Chat GPT first - what kind of holiday is that?

So many of your copy and paste AI searches are wrong by the way, I really wish you'd stop posting them. We can all do an AI search.

BTW the Alphabet boss says do not blindly trust what AI tells you as it is often wrong, but you post it in every thread like it is gospel. Tedious.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/nov/18/alphabet-boss-sundar-pichai-ai-artificial-intelligence-trust

He was a guy on holiday, he did something temporary for fun, he got a skin irritation, he learned a lesson. No need for AI searches before you go out each day.