Getting a Couple Tattoo in Chiang Mai

We’re married – we’re allowed too 😉 !!

Yay, we got a couple tattoo! We always joked about getting one in varsity, but over the years its become less of a cute idea and more of an, okay when are we going??

Why Thailand?

So as you may know, Bangkok and Chiang Mai are world renowned for their incredible tattoo artists. Our tattoos weren’t a simple text or outline image so the professionalism and artistry were key. Secondly, we were about to leave to Laos which we didn’t expect to have too much sun time or lengthily swim sessions (we were wrong by the way – Lao is a waterfall/lagoon paradise). 

Chiang Mai Tattoos:

Ahh where to start. We were so overwhelmed by where to go that we almost gave up on the idea completely. So here is our quick feedback on our artist hunting experience:

Where to go:
Read this post by ChiangMai Citylife on the best tattoo studios in Chiang Mai. We visited a few of these great studios too and were impressed. The best studio will depend on what tattoo your looking for:

Option 1: Getting a Traditional Sak Yant Tattoo by a Buddhist Monk

This is so amazing!! This was our original idea because, wow, where else can you get a traditional bamboo tattoo by a practising Buddhist Monk. But there were a few cons that turned us away. Firstly, the monks choose your tattoo design and placement for you. Now that’s a commitment! So this type of tattoo is more for the Buddhist meaning/ experience then for our own personal visual appeal and couple significance. There’s also some debate on whether it’s okay for a monk to tattoo a woman as they technically shouldn’t touch them. Either way, it wasn’t the ideal option for what we personaly had in mind.

For more inspiration, read travel couple, Hannah and Adam’s (GettingStamped) post of their first hand experience in Getting a Sak Yant Tattoo ! So brave and so awesome !!

Option 2: Getting a bamboo tattoo by a professional tattoo artist

Here you are able to get your tattoo of choice, whether it be a chosen Buddhist design or your own infinity sign or snake ;). “But just remember the quality won’t be as good and we will have to charge you more”, said a few different artists around town. In our opinion, if you’re going to do bamboo you might as well do the whole monk experience as well, go big or go home right?

Option 3: Getting a normal tattoo by a professional tattoo artist

We were really happy with our design, so we knew this was the right route for us. 

Husband and Wife tattoo Husband and Wife:

We found THE PERFECT PLACE or shall we say, the perfect people!! This married Thai couple (as shown in our cover picture) run the Mornzter Tattoo Studio together, as a team. Just incase you think we’re being biased because we wanted our couple tattoo done by an awesome couple, we honestly didn’t know. We originally only spoke to the husband who sold us on his gentle and kind character (great qualities for someone who is about to inflict pain onto your body), his amazing artistic skills as he began to edit our design and his competitive price (by far, like half)!! FYI we paid 2700 Baht for both!

Why our tattoo?

This tattoo really means a lot. And I’m not saying that because I think its important for it to – we’re all for tattoos that have no meaning but just look cool AF. But this one does.

It’s a reminder of this trip, this big dream that we decided to make our reality. If it can teach us one thing in the future, we hope it will be that we really can have the life we want, and that dreams are really only a few quick decisions and life shifts away – if you’re able to shut out all the noise from your own personal fears and society pressures. Oh, and that our marriage is a wild and beautiful adventure – just incase we forget that somewhere along the way. 

The Kudu was obvious – it’s our favourite buck (and yes Meg Sayle that’s a thing 😉 )!  As a traveling couple we find it hard to beat an African bush experience. A sunset game drive followed by sitting around the fire with a perfectly braaied fillet steak – it can’t get much better than that! Kudus were also a part of our wedding theme. So good memories all round.

Watch it all here:

So that’s our couple tattoo.
Now go do something crazy so we feel better about ourselves 😉 !!!