I had the experience of going to a local village just out of Chiang Mai and watching a friend get a traditional Thai Tattoo. It was not a machine drawn by some hippie want to be, in a night market - but one done by a former monk in a private house. The tattoo was applied by a long bamboo stick and a couple of needles attached to the end dipped in ink and speared into the skin.
Baan Noi, moo 1, Doi Saket, Chiang Mai
www.northernthailand.com/tattoos
Send your feedback or queries to been.there@guardian.co.uk
Search Been there