I had many plans my first trip to Thailand and one of them was to get a tattoo. Unfortunately plans and Thailand often go awry and I ran out of time. My second trip I had so much going on I completely forgot about getting a tattoo. My last trip my brother was along for the ride and he was absolutely getting ink done here and it finally came to pass that I got a tattoo.

In my trips I’ve been in quite a few tattoo shops in Bangkok and Pattaya and I can tell you for a fact it is very safe to get a tattoo in Thailand. Some of the shops aren’t any bigger than a small room and some are very large but they all put the customers health and safety first. New needles are always used and opened in front of the customer, they all have working autoclaves, and work areas are sterilized constantly. The shops I’ve been in all used American inks as well. When asked why the answer was “it’s the best”. So, don’t listen to anyone telling you old needles are used or the shops aren’t safe. If you should be in a shop anywhere in the world and they won’t open the new needle in front of you or it doesn’t seem clean…walk.

There are many tattoo shops in Thailand, in Pattaya alone there must be 500, some as small as a telephone booth. Not only are there many shops but equally as many talented artists doing the work. I did a lot of research before I got work done and originally narrowed it down to 3 shops but finally settled on 13 Crowns on walking street in Pattaya. My brother got his work done first, a very colorful dragon, and I was impressed with their work and everyone in the shop was great. I settled on a dragon myself but all black with a red eye.

If you plan on getting ink done while in Thailand do some research of the shops in the areas you’ll be and I’m sure you’ll be pleased with the end results. If you’re in Pattaya head to walking street and look for a bicycle chopper outside a small narrow shop with a sign that says 13 Crowns…you won’t be dissapointed.

My brother ended up getting a second dragon and my girl got a small back tat too…you can see them in the Gallery section or you can click here Getting Ink Done.