Sawt Falasteen - Nine-year-old Thai tattooist makes his mark

"I want to be a tattoo artist and open my own tattoo palour," he told AFP in his booth at a Bangkok tattoo expo, where fascinated attendees paused to film his work. "I like art so I like to tattoo."

Tattooing is a centuries-old tradition in Thailand, where tattoo parlours are omnipresent and offer designs ranging from the ancient and spiritual to the modern and profane.

Napat's father Nattawut Sangtong said he introduced his son -- who goes by the nickname "Knight" -- to the craft of tattooing to swerve the pitfalls of contemporary childhood.

"I just wanted to keep him away from his phone because he was addicted to gaming and had a short attention span," said the 38-year-old, also an amateur tattooist, who works at a block printing factory.

The father-son duo together learned from TikTok tutorials and practised on paper before graduating to artificial leather simulating human skin, and then the real thing.

Knight said he swiftly picked up the skills because art is his favourite school subject. Recognising his son's talent, Nattawut now coaches him in two-hour sessions three days a week.

"It's not just tattooing, it's like meditation," Nattawut said.

The pair run a TikTok channel together -- "The Tattoo Artist with Milk Teeth" -- where they livestream Knight's sessions and sometimes draw hundreds of thousands of viewers with a single clip.

His Saturday session at the Thailand Tattoo Expo was his public debut, as he tattooed his uncle for a second time -- marking him with an eight-inch (20 centimetre) mythical Naga serpent.

Unfazed by the techno music blaring from massive speakers, Knight predicts the creature from Hindu and Thai folklore will take 12 hours to complete.

For now, his father insists he only works on family and friends -- opening up to public clients would require more rigorous hygiene training.

But Naruebet Chonlatachaisit, Knight's uncle, is relaxed as the tattoo takes shape on his left leg. "I trust him, and I think he'll only improve," he says.

Knight was one of nearly 200 artists at the Thailand Tattoo Expo -- but drew outsized attention among the crowds of thousands of visitors this weekend.

Office worker Napat Muangsawang stopped by the boy's booth to admire his meticulous artistry.

"It's quite amazing. Tattooing isn't easy," he said. "It's not like drawing on a paper where you can just erase it."

V.Said--SF-PST